Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 45-minute teaching, Lama Zopa Rinpoche establishes a Buddhist principle through concrete examples: all phenomena, including the self, arise only through mental labeling. Using the example of Adelaide city—someone unfamiliar with it has no appearance of “Adelaide” until their mind receives that label—he extends this logic to a Buddha house, a dog, and ultimately the self on the aggregates. From this foundation, Rinpoche guides practitioners toward applying this understanding to difficult emotions: both friend and enemy, praise and blame, arise purely from how we label and interpret others’ actions. By recognizing this emptiness of independent existence, practitioners can free themselves from fixed reactions and develop genuine patience and compassion.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 11 WWNN.mp3
UUID: 8b25d75e-0ee6-4352-9011-c563c6ed368a
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: 45.0 minutes
Words: ~3,377
Now you see, now somebody who has not seen Adelaide city. Now when the person comes, when the person sees the city, you see, before he’s introduced, this is Adelaide. You know? He just sees the person sees just a city. That, you know, even when he sees, you know, from the way it looks, where it appears, you know, the person knows.
That person can tell it to be a city. So he labels, the person’s mind, he merely imputes on the place, you know, where the shops and all that, you know. So the person, by knowing, by being familiar, this kind of place is called, you know, a city. You see? So he himself labeled, he newly, after perceiving that, then he merely imputed on that, city.
But now before, before the person is introduced, that this is Adelaide. The person did not have appearance of Adelaide. Did not have, there’s no appearance of, this is Adelaide, you see. Or this, Adelaide, or, you know, I’m in Adelaide. You see, the person who’s not introduced.
You see, this is Adelaide, and he doesn’t know this is Adelaide. He doesn’t recognize it. Because he’s not introduced, he doesn’t recognize this Adelaide. So there’s no appearance of Adelaide to that person.
So the person does not think. I’m now, you see, I arrived. I arrived in Adelaide. He doesn’t think. You see?
He is not introduced. He doesn’t label by himself. This is Adelaide. He doesn’t think I’m in Adelaide. I see.
I’m in Adelaide. He doesn’t think. So, you see, right after he’s introduced, he labeled this Adelaide. Like, you see, somebody introduces this as Adelaide. Okay?
And then he believes, you know, he believed in that. When he believes, you know, he labels this is Adelaide. So after he believed, labeled this, you see, Adelaide. Then after that, then there’s appearance, appearance of Adelaide. Same thing.
Now somebody who knows Buddha House, you know, you see, somebody who was already introduced, who already placed Buddha, this Buddha House. You see, another person comes, you see, another person coming together at this house, this place, one who knows Buddha House, one who doesn’t know Buddha House. But coming to the same place. Both of them, they see the house, in that place, you know, people. The other person who, you know, you see, who are introduced and who, you know, you see, who believes, who labels, who labels, this is Buddha House.
Now for him, that appearance of Buddha House. But other person, other person who doesn’t know this is Buddha House, who does not know this is Buddha House, who is not introduced, who hasn’t believed yet, who is not introduced. This person doesn’t have, for this person’s mind, he sees the house, people, but he does not, for him, there’s no appearance of Buddha House. There’s no appearance of Buddha House. So you see now. So you can see the appearance. So now you can see, oh, you can see Adelaide. So it’s, now you can see Adelaide comes from the mind.
Appearance of Adelaide, appearance of Adelaide comes from the mind. That appearance, that person views it, you know, views it. Without a person knowing it as a city, there’s no appearance of Adelaide to that person, to that person. So the appearance, you see, of Adelaide, you see, came from the mind. Same thing with Buddha House.
You see now. So now you see, the second person, when he is introduced, this is Buddha House. When he is introduced to this Buddha House, then if he doesn’t believe, you see, if he doesn’t, he himself does not label this Buddha House, then there’s no appearance. However, when he believes, you know, after he’s introduced, when he believes, there’s Buddha House. Then after that, which means he, you know, that belief, which means he labels, you know, makes him merely impute on the, okay, yeah, Buddha House, on his mind, merely imputed. Then, you see, right after he merely imputed his mind, merely imputed on this, you know, place, on the basis.
You see, believed, you know, then there’s appearance. After that, then there’s appearance of Buddha House to him. Then there’s appearance of Buddha House to that person. So therefore, you see, Buddha House, you see, came from mind. You know, yeah, same thing.
A dog. You know? Person, the person who knows, who labels that is dog, you see, who labels that is dog, you know, labels and believes. You see now, to that person, there’s appearance of dog. There’s appearance of a dog.
But a person, another person who doesn’t know that is dog, who is not introduced, who doesn’t believe that is dog, that person does not have appearance of dog. Just one object, you know. It appears one object. One object.
Okay. You see? So like this. So dog also came from mind. You see?
The appearance dog came from mind. Okay? So from this example, now this is now from this example, one should understand. You see now, without labeling Adelaide, no way Adelaide can exist. Without labeling Buddha House.
Without mind labeling Buddha House, no way Buddha House can exist. Without labeling dog, no way dog can exist. No way. So now, same thing, without labeling I, without labeling I on this, there’s no way, no way that I can exist. There’s no way, you know, I exist.
Okay? Now same thing as, talking about how similar. You see, this I, this I is merely imputed like that, you see, on the basis of aggregates, and this I is merely imputed on this aggregates by the thought, by the thought. And that I, that I which is merely imputed, that I which is merely imputed on the aggregates by the thought. This I, that’s this I that meditates, this I that meditates, because this I that is merely imputed on the aggregates, you see. Oh, okay. Yeah. You know, the aggregates, you see, the aggregates on which the I is merely imputed by the thought is experiencing suffering. Is experiencing suffering, you know, that controlled by the, you see, the disturbing thoughts.
Suffering of body, suffering of mind, you know, you see. So therefore, aggregates, you know, to be free from, to be completely free from the, you see, the cause, the disturbing thoughts, karma, all the results of sufferings, you know. And then, you see. Yeah. The concept is, physically sitting in the meditation position, another concept is, you see, you know, transforming into virtue.
You see, transforming into virtue. They can feel them in virtue. I see. By remembering the teachings and meditation subjects, the teachings of past. So on that, on that, is the I is. The I, which is merely imputed on this aggregates, on this aggregates, by thought, you know, on this, is merely labeled during the action meditating.
I’m, I am meditating. So, everybody, see, there’s no, now same thing with both examples. There’s no I existing without being labeled, you see, without being merely imputed by the thought on this aggregates. There’s no other I existing from the side of reality, there’s no other I.
Even though it appears, even though it appears, there’s I existing, there’s a real I, in a sense, existing from its own side, not labeled, independent. You know? Even though it appears, there’s such, there’s such, you know, real I. Something, is it something, something more than, something more than that’s the I that is, you know, merely imputed on this collection of aggregates by the thought, something more than this. Even though I appears in this way, in the reality, in the reality, in the reality, oh, yeah, this is a complete hallucination.
Complete hallucination. Complete hallucination. Reality is what is the I which is merely imputed on this, on this aggregates by the thought. So contradictory, it’s appearing and then appearance and the reality. It is complete opposite.
Contradictory. So if the appearance, the what appears is, if it is according to the reality, that is truth. That is truth. Because it’s not according to the, what appears, the way it appears is not according to the reality, the way it exists. So therefore, it is false.
False. The appearance is false. The reason why this is false is because not, not according, I see. Not according, it’s not according to the reality. So there are two things, you know, false view.
You see? The appearance, you know. You see? Things which exist appearing that doesn’t exist. Things which exist, you see, appearing that it doesn’t exist.
But, you see, while there’s garbage in the can, you know, while there’s garbage in the can, then you see, you know, you see, appearance, no. Appearance that there’s no garbage in the can. You see, that’s false. And while there’s none, while there’s no million dollars in your purse, while there’s no million dollars in your purse, then appears there’s a million dollars in your purse.
That’s false. The false, you know, that false appearance contradictory to reality. You see? Appearing contradictory to the reality. However, so first thing what we should understand, basic thing about the teaching that we wish, what we should understand is what we should awake, what we should be awakened, that yourself to become, you know, to become the liberator, that yourself to become the guide, liberator to liberate yourself from suffering, from the problems.
You see, now, I, you see, I doesn’t exist. Without being labeled, without labeling, I doesn’t exist. Without labeling the body, without labeling the body, you know, doesn’t exist. It doesn’t exist. No way to exist. Without labeling mind, no way mind could exist.
Without labeling aggregates, no way aggregates, you know, exist. The association of both the mind is on that, you see, and thought merely impute the aggregates, merely impute the aggregates. Yeah. You see? Without that, without that, no aggregates can exist. There’s no aggregates. So without the labeling, see, the phenomena, see, now, which is a formless, selfless nature, like a perceiving, perceived object. Now this, without labeling mind, on this, there’s no mind. Without labeling mind, on this, there’s no mind.
Without labeling body, this substantial, these things, you know, the substantial these things, with color, shape, without labeling, without mind merely imputing body, there’s no body. It’s very clear. So same thing with each, with each, is the same thing. Without labeling on its base, without thought labeling on its base, no karmic formations exist, no feelings exist, no compounding of the aggregates exist. No consciousness exists, and no recognition exists, nothing of this.
So now the whole thing starting from the I, the whole everything, everything, you see, nothing of this exists without labels. Nothing of this completely exists without labels, without mind merely imputing on the base. You see? So it’s enough. Just from this, you can see how starting the I, aggregates, bottom line.
Everything is empty. Empty. Empty, existing from its own side. Empty without being labeled. Empty, existing without being labeled.
You know? There’s no I. There’s no body, mind, aggregates, nothing. You see? There’s nothing which is not labeled.
Even though everything appears as not labeled, even though everything appears to our mind, we see unlabeled, existing from their own side. So you see now, the whole thing is completely empty. So like this. So you see, so like this, we should meditate. It’s very important to meditate, to feel the reality, how things are able to exist.
And reality and the, meditate, you see, how things are existing. You know, practicing awareness is being aware, you see, in the reality how things, all these things are existing in mere name. Then you see, you then you see gradually, you see the appearance contradictory, contradictory to the reality. You know? See, where you perceive, where you see, where things appear, where you believe.
You see, it is not according. And it is, you see? It’s like you see, when you maintain the reality, you know, the way things are existing, when you’re aware, you see, you are in another world. Then when you don’t, when you are not aware, when you are not aware, if you haven’t realized nature, doesn’t see everything as illusory, when you don’t meditate, when you’re not, when you’re not aware of the thing, of the, you see, how, you know, not aware nature of the I and the aggregates. You see?
One is, one is not aware, you know, in the world, you know, they are in the world of, in the world of hallucination. Now you see, like, same thing. So now, so nirvana, enlightenment, you know, not nothing, you know, not fake, not baseless, not empty, enlightenment, nothing is, nothing exists. Nothing exists.
Nothing exists, there’s nothing that would exist without being labeled. But without the mind merely imputing, without the mind, the mind, without the mind merely imputed, merely imputed on the base. Nothing exist. Nothing exist. Like the Adelaide city, you know, like Buddha House.
Everything. So that’s how everything came from the conclusion I get, how everything came from the mind, you know. It’s now. Everything that would exist is, everything that would exist is labeled. Everything that would exist is labeled.
Starting from the I on the aggregates. You know? Everything that would exist is labeled. So wherever we look at and now here, you see, we’re looking at the left, the book. Yeah.
Book, table, desk, cover, flower, microphone. You see? People, house, space, tree. You see, all the things they, what we see now, six sense objects. You know, all the objects, all the objects, you see, the label, label.
You see our label. Name has to come from mind. Label. Name. You see?
Name, name has come from the mind. Name does not come from its own side. This is understood. Even just by meditating this, you can understand nothing exists from their own side. If you are aware, at least this one, the name, everything’s label, name that has come from mind.
Everything, so therefore, everything came from mind. This is one way to understand how everything can come from the mind. The nirvana, enlightenment, the whole thing came from mind. So just practice more awareness in this, meditating, you know, for hours. Very good.
It’s a great release, liberation, you know, you see, to yourself. From the, see, bondage, you know, from the bondage, from this hallucinative mind. The, this ignorance, wrong conception, which brings all of, you know, which brings all the confusion, all the problems, you know, all the, the wrong conception. You know, that’s, it’s very disturbing to a person. You see now?
Another thing. Now, let’s put more on the particular object. You see, this understanding apply, meditation apply on the particular problem, you know, object. Now you see, like example that I gave, Adelaide, Buddha House, these are precious examples. Let’s see now.
Now one person, one person who, one person is, one person praises. One person pleases. You know? One person is putting down.
One putting down you. You know? One person is praising you. Now, now you see now. You see now.
If you don’t label what this person does to you, praise, even you don’t have good qualities, you have good qualities, blah blah blah blah, you know. So loving, so compassionate, you know. So wise, you know, and this and that. That’s it. Now so now, if you don’t label, it’s good.
What he’s doing to me is good. If you don’t label, if you don’t label, this is good. What he’s doing to me is good. If you don’t label, if you don’t label, this is good. You see?
Now, when he, while he’s speaking, if he’s praising, you wouldn’t have the appearance of good. You know? He’s doing something good for me. Praising. If you don’t label on his talk, good.
You see? If you don’t label good, there wouldn’t be appearance of good. You see? There wouldn’t be appearance of good. So there wouldn’t be, they wouldn’t be appearance good.
So you see now, and the same, same thing, you see, same thing, if you, you see, if you don’t label, oh, this is a good person. If you don’t label, this is a good person, friend. You see? Friend. You know, you feel friend, close.
You see? Because you labeled his action towards you as good. And that feels good because you labeled, so it feels good. So you labeled friend. So it feels friend to you. Oh, so you see, like this.
For now, you can see that the friend completely came from your mind. What he does to you, good, that came from your mind. Now the enemy, the, you see, the person who tries to bring down you. Now same thing, if you don’t label that, what he does to you, if you don’t label, it’s bad. If you don’t interpret, if you don’t interpret, it is bad.
If you don’t interpret, it is bad. You see? His criticism, this would not appear as criticism. If you don’t, if you don’t label that as a criticism, criticism, you know, bad, it wouldn’t, his talk will not appear bad to you, will not appear criticism. If you don’t label it, it is, if you don’t label it criticism, it will not appear as criticism.
Okay? So criticism came from your mind. So now the person who becomes enemy, by labeling what he does as criticism, bad. You know. So, enemy, you see.
So now if you don’t label that person, on that, that aggregates, enemy. If you don’t label, there’s no appearance of enemy at all. You see now, immediately, you see? But yeah. Now, now if you, now while he, yeah.
Now while he’s criticizing, criticizing with out of anger. So as I mentioned yesterday, you see, remembering the meditation teachings on patience. Now you, which means you interpret that as good. What he does to me is good. Because it is good, because it is beneficial for you, to develop your mind.
So you interpret it good. But when you interpret it good, you don’t label that person as enemy, except as the best, most kind friend because great benefit, you know, that it leads you to enlightenment. So you see, now so now, from this, you know, experiences, you can see enemy, friend, both came from the mind, from your mind, who judges, who discriminates. You know? So, actually, so now you can see that clear, there is no friend or enemy from their own side.
It’s completely empty. It’s completely empty. Nowhere you can find from the tip of his hair down to the toes. Nowhere. So you see, from its own side.
Real, you know, from its own side, nowhere. It’s completely empty there. It’s completely empty on there, on that base. So now, so now, you see, so now you see, you interpret this one as good. And then, you see, sign, you see, label, you know.
And then, and attachment, interpret this one bad, harm, you know, the, you know, you allow yourself, you see, you label and you allow yourself to be angry.