Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 47-minute talk, Lama Zopa Rinpoche directly challenges the belief that attachment is necessary for human life. He uses a striking analogy—a circus performer whose seemingly impossible flexibility becomes real through patient training—to show how the mind works similarly: continuous practice transforms what appears impossible into the achievable. Through Lamrim practice and applied dharma, practitioners develop genuine patience and freedom from anger and selfish thought. Citing Kadampa masters and great yogis, Rinpoche emphasizes that all of them started where we are now, advancing solely through sustained effort, never through innate capacity. He teaches the fundamental Buddhist truth: the mind is not inherently attached, angry, or ignorant, but temporarily obscured by these stains and therefore purifiable. Extended dialogue explores how appearances arise through mind and labeling. The core message: one’s development is entirely in one’s own hands, contingent only on practice.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 10 WWNN.mp3
UUID: c9ccead2-f4a6-49dd-83c0-fc62854815c6
Teacher: Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1
Collection: y What the World Needs Now 1987 Audios (Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1)
Date: 1987 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 46.7 minutes
Words: ~2,387
Even though even though though though we feel even though we see it now, it appears, you know, it is not it is not attachment. And in order to see, if there’s no attachment, doesn’t mean how can I exist? You know, how can how can I live the life? You cannot see cannot see. You say life can exist without attachment.
You cannot see. You know? So does not cannot doesn’t understand. Cannot see it out, you know, cannot see it out how the life can exist without attachment. And the the mind itself is one is as mind as the mind itself is one is attachment.
You know? Like the dirt is dirt. Like the dirt is dirt. You know? Like the kaka is kaka.
You know? Okay. Like that. Oh, you see? The mind, which is one is with attachment.
Appearing. Appearing that. Appearing. Appearing like that. Lack of understanding.
Lack of understanding, think, even believing, you know, like that. Lack of understanding the the nature of the mind, lack of understanding dharma. So, yeah, even believing like that. You know, how can one exist alive without having this this this disturbing thought? However, even though it looks impossible at the moment, you know, how can to be free from this selfish mind, to be free from this impatient character, from this anger?
But, okay, No. For example, in the circus, you know, the circus, how the people do, you know, play in the circus. So it looks like impossible. You see? It looks like impossible that I can be this.
You know? No way that I can be this. However, you see, that that becomes very flexible, the body becomes very flexible. It’s made by the body. It’s made the body flexible, well trained, it’s met by even though it’s impossible at the beginning, but difficult to do.
No way. Impossible to do the beginning, you see. Exactly like that, you see. But and because he the person used, you know, person used the body to make the body flexible. Body met, say, body met the body flexible.
So then by training, it began. Able to do the person is able to do, you know, very good. The circus show, you know, successful circus show, you know, that he can come down and stretch his hands, you know, show that I succeed, showing that I succeed, that I did it. So anyway so like this. So the mind’s development has to be done by the mind.
Like that, mind is a mind mind, you know, able to use the able to use the mind, able to the mind becomes peaceful, the mind to be transformed, and so on. That has to be done by the mind. That flexibility has to be done by the mind. So similar, you see, by train even train, like I said, by train the same thing with the mind, one can develop. By doing by doing continual training continual training, one can develop.
Okay. You see by example by a person, Even, you know yeah. It’s very difficult. You know, year by year practicing, month by month, year by year practicing Lamrim, applying the teaching, the meditations of the gradual path, and so on, know, thought transformation, you see, meditation, patience, like teaching for patience, you see, applying, every situation. Whenever somebody creates the situation of the right for anger, know, arising of the disturbing thought.
After, you know, five, six years, you know, I think I think, difficult to get angry difficult to get angry. Before before, it’s so difficult to catch the patience. Now, you see, so difficult to get angry. And even the anger even the anger rises even the anger rises, you know, just a second, you know, just a second. You see, it lasts just a second and disappears.
You don’t like that. Like that can like that can definitely, you know, can happen. So it is said that teaching by present, you know, the highly attained meditators, Kadampa Geshes, and There’s nothing there’s nothing that even trains. Even does the training. See, there’s nothing that one that is there’s nothing that does not become that is that it does not become easier.
So all the who revealed it, you see, the one who is the founder of the present teaching in this world. And all those pandits highly attained pandits, those great yogis, up to the present, you know, up to the present, you see, up to the present, those who are on the way of the development and generating the higher, you see, higher Tantra, highest Tantra, you know, realizations. Those who are on the way in they all were same as same as us before. The person who meditates, you know, same there’s no one who have been, let’s say, can who have been there. And life is learning.
Oh, you see, from the beginning. You know, from the beginning. You see? So what in in in in Like this. But you see, through continual and you see, through continual, to continue training, you know, and so on.
So they developed, see, able to growing, the impure appearances, conceptions, they will be removed. By generating, you see, the tantra realizations. So, therefore, so therefore, it is completely in one’s own hand what one does so what one does what is the what are the development, you know, development in the path of development. What is the development for the path of mind? Or how about realization, the, you know, the development of the mind?
And that is the that is in one’s own hand. That’s So it’s up to it’s up to the question whether one does whether one does continual training or not, you know, practice. So the basic the now basic reason that is nature nature of this mind is not the whole nature of this mind or the Buddha mind is not oneness with attachment, not oneness with anger, not oneness with ignorance. It’s temporary. Natural this mind, one not oneness not oneness with this, you know, the stains.
So by that sense, it is pure. It is a temporary obstacle. Like a cloth, it is like a cloth that is not one with the dirt, but it’s obscured by the dirt. So therefore, since the cloth is not one is the dirt, so there’s a possibility to wash, to separate the cloth from the dirt by washing. You know, by using the different named soaps in the water, so forth.
So similar mind is not oneness with attachment and, you know, that’s in a cause of the problems. And the mental continuum can be separated away from this, you see, mental state. But is it by actualizing the path, you see, the general the general part, the the and those parts, you know, the general part and then particular part of Tantra. So so therefore so therefore, if yeah. No no reason so therefore, there’s no reason to think, you know, that is completely wrong, thinking that I am hopeless.
Hopeless practitioner. That’s something that I cannot practice. I won’t be able to practice. I won’t be able to develop mind. See?
That’s wrong. That is the thing. I don’t believe that I won’t be able to do. That’s the hallucination. If one if one practices, if if one train, if one does to train, one will be able to develop.
You know, one will be able to develop. Yeah. So So object, the object came from mind, isn’t it? The adlet came from mind. No?
Object as it is only after it’s labeled by the people. Is it so that it came from the mind. Is it does it look as as it came from the mind? Does it Does anybody does does see that it did not come from that does it look came from mind? Does anybody anybody seem does does it seem to anybody that it did not come from the mind?
So, anyway, the level, yeah. So level, so level by object. So so therefore, so therefore, isn’t the object came from mind? Is the level of object came from mind or not? Is it?
Okay. So the object came from mind. Okay. So now, it’s just appearance of object before you label object. Is there appearance of object before it is labeled, before anybody labels the object?
Possibly. Okay. Now you see. Before before you are introduced, there is there is dog. Before you are introduced, that is dog.
No. No. No. Before you are introduced, can you stop? Who who did introduce who did introduce to you that is dog?
Yeah. Yeah. That’s that’s I’m not I’m not asking that one. What do you say that one? How to know?
I’m not asking. No. How do you kind of know that it’s dog? In reality. Yeah.
Yeah. Without somebody introducing, can you help yeah. How to how how how you can recognize that that is dog. What have somebody introducing? What he introduced or other somebody introduced, doesn’t matter, you see.
What do you know by your what do you know from your clear points or whatever. K? Without somebody introducing, how would you recognize that dog? Okay. So before you are introduced that dog, do you have appearance And before before you see that he is introduced as this dog, do sir, can you get appearance of dog on that on that on that aggregate.
I’m talking about the dog. I’m not talking about the shape of the person. But, basically, you’re talking different things. I’m not talking about the shape of the person, you see. I’m talking about the dog.
I didn’t know that. Shape, you see, you can imagine from a dream you saw, then in that time, somebody you meet, you know, or a nighttime. Yeah. So that’s okay. So before you see, now before you have used his name, do you get a can you get the appearance of dog on that before you introduce name?
Yeah? Isn’t that? Sure. Think that. Think that.
Before? Before oh, now. Now tell me something. Okay. Before you before okay.
Before Another example. Before you are told that a before you are told that a person has put things in your bag. K? Put to who who who has stolen your bag? Your bag.
You know, okay. K. K. You lost something you lost something from the house. Okay?
So before somebody tell you that the person who took things from your house. Okay? That is thief. Before you talk, do you get the appearance of thief on that? No.
Why not? But other person, you see, before other person tells him, the other person introduce you, that person, you see, has stolen. That is the key. Before telling that, when you reporting that when you see that person’s aggregates, do you get the appearance of thief or not? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why you don’t get that appearance of thief before before you are introduced from that.
You know? The label hasn’t been suggested. So okay. So now but but but you get appearance on the dog but you get appearance on the dog’s aggregates before he’s introduced dog to you. Why is that?
Why is that? Why? Why do I get the appearance of the dog? No. No.
Before you are introduced, there is dog, you get appearance of dog on on that body. See? From that body, you get appearance of dog. Isn’t it? Yes.
Isn’t it? So before you are so beef so before so before you are introduced, that is dog. You have the appearance of dog on that aggregate. Is there a dog that is not labeled by people?. Yeah.
Now now I’ll tell you one thing. So you have the appearance of dog on that aggregate before you are introduced. Yeah? Now, that now, that appearance of dog, isn’t didn’t that come from your mind? It didn’t come from your mind?
Appearance of that dog before you are introduced, that is dog. Didn’t that come from your mind? Didn’t that from your mind? Isn’t appearance isn’t appearance isn’t without mind, is appearance. Is there appearance is there appearance to this cloth?
Is appearance to this cloth? Is there appearance to this clock? No. But they did that to they’re talking about appearance to you. So you’re not talking about appearance to the clock.
To the clock, I’m saying. To the clock. Not not to you. Like, you have the appearance. Yes.
You see? Same thing. There’s a concrete appearance. Why? So the life of mine, they’ve never experienced anything.
So the appearance came from mind. Right? So actually, it’s a dog. Before you are introduced as dog, but is that came from your mind? How did that come from your mind?
How did come from your mind? No. No. No. Appearance of the dog, before you are introduced to dog, how did it come from your mind?
If you’re able to answer that, anybody. No. He introduced dog to you, he said, he had appearance of dog on that aggregates. Okay? So I’m saying, the appearance is to do with mind.
Appearance is to do with the mind. That appearance to that appearance to do that, you know, particular in that, you know, particular thing’s mind. You know? Particular level of mind. Appearance that appearance is to do a particular level of mind.
Yeah. So therefore, that if we are induced as dog, as a dog, so that came from so that’s what you see, that came from your mind. So how it came from your mind? Projected. Projected.
So You see now, the appearance of did it came did it did it came by your thinking or not? By your thinking. It it it didn’t happen without thinking or by thinking. Is that thinking conscious? Yeah.
Is that thinking conscious or are you thinking? It. No. Did did did it happen by by your or not? Then the there is I think now men, you’re not and now you’re to another level.
You’re not to the level of that. You left that, and you’re talking about another level of men. It depends. It depends.