Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 62-minute teaching, Lama Zopa Rinpoche shows what must happen internally for a Kṣitigarbha retreat to transform the mind rather than remain rote practice. He diagnoses the root problem: grasping at a permanent self and clinging to saṃsāra—both rooted in ignorance. He then lays out the remedy across five stages: recognizing saṃsāra’s futility, realizing the self’s emptiness, perceiving impermanence everywhere, moving from self-cherishing to bodhicitta (genuine concern for all beings), and for advanced practitioners, using subtle Tantric methods to work with the mind’s subtle body. The session closes with concrete guidance: refuge-taking, visualization of Kṣitigarbha, and dedicating merit for all sentient beings’ liberation. For retreat practitioners.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 02 KR.mp3
UUID: ea62e2f8-7d99-482f-a45b-515c4821731b
Teacher: Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1
Collection: z Kṣitigarbha Retreat Hong Kong (Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1)
Date: 2005 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 62.1 minutes
Words: ~2,986
So we’re going to do some—so we do the—then, after that, we do that things, then we visualize Buddha. Buddha absorbs within you, then you visualize Buddha, Sarasvati, Gama. Then we do the, say, Sevenfold practice, the mental offering, Lamrim prayer. Then we do the chant of Bodhisattva Shikshasamuccaya prayer, the mantra. Okay?
Yes. Yes. So if you are familiar with those preliminary prayers, if you’re familiar with the meanings, then if they’re phonetic, you can chant together. Otherwise, you just read the meanings of the—yeah. So it can be done like that.
But how should the reach in the kindness is like—is done. So here, visualize Guru Śākyamūni Buddha first. The founder and president of Buddhism who—you know, we just explained all those extensive qualities of Buddha Śākyamūni. Who introduced to us? Very kind and compassionate, introduced us to the complete path so that us sentient beings’ wishes and happiness get actualized quickly.
And is able to liberate. Most importantly, that is liberating from the oceans of saṃsāra suffering. Not only that, able to achieve full enlightenment. Which continues. They do not engage in unwholesome paths.
So privileged ones do not engage in unwholesome ways, engage in perfect wholesome deeds. So do you want some guidance? So the very essence of practice in Buddhism is to do the mind. Basically, to do the mind. The emphasis is not something—the emphasis is not to change outside, but to change the mind, transformation of mind. In other traditions, emphasis on the outside change, dress and so forth, you know, change the outside looking—hair, customs and so forth, hairs or the, you know, dress, things like that.
But here, the mind—transform the mind from attachment to this, clinging to this life, grasping, which causes—which becomes the foundation, which causes hundreds of thousands of problems in this life to oneself and to others. And sufferings in the future lives. Sufferings in not just one future life, sufferings in the future lives. That goes on. And transform the mind into a healthy, free mind.
Peaceful, happy mind, detached to this life. Then there’s more peaceful, happy mind, detached to even future saṃsāra’s happiness. Samsāra’s prosperity, saṃsāra’s pleasure. Attachment to saṃsāra, saṃsāra happiness, which causes us to die and be reborn, die and be reborn in saṃsāra. Die and be reborn again in saṃsāra, and experience all the problems again, which we’ve experienced numberless times before, then again for different reasons.
So that’s caused by attachment, clinging to saṃsāra, the saṃsāra prosperity. So now here, you transfer your mind, subdue your mind, transform your mind into even more happy, peaceful mind, free mind, detached to saṃsāra. The whole entire saṃsāra, saṃsāra happiness. Okay? Then you transform your mind, subdue your mind or transform your mind from root of saṃsāra.
If you look for the I, could not find the I. If you research, if you look for, could not find inside the body, neither from the tip of the hairs down to the toes, nowhere you can find the I. Not just the mere I, but the real I that appears to us and that we believe. A hundred percent that is true. So it looks like there. When you do not examine, it looks like there you can find in body or on aggregates.
But if you look for it, if you look for it, then you see. You cannot find that, and you realize that that one is totally nonexistent, empty. That one is totally nonexistent, empty. Not the mere I. Not the mere-level I.
That I which exists. So you transfer the mind from that into wisdom. Seeing that I—that real I in the sense of existing from its own side—appearing to you, and that you let your mind hold onto that as true. Which is the ignorance, root of saṃsāra. So you keep the mind, transform mind into wisdom, seeing from that ignorance.
Wisdom seeing that I is totally nonexistent, totally nonexistent, empty as it is empty. So that wisdom cuts all the sufferings, all the negative emotional thoughts—all those negative emotional thoughts are what mess you up. What makes you go through your life up and down, up and down. Every day, that tortures you, that makes you sick. All these negative emotions make you sick.
Say, sickness of mind. So you see all these unhealthy minds, or this sickness of mind. And they act out karma and all that suffering—saṃsāra—cycle of death and rebirth. So the wisdom, which ceases all that, overcomes ignorance. Then, the method to achieve ultimate liberation, everlasting happiness.
And impossible to experience suffering again. So that—you are able to achieve this by subduing the mind. See, the mind, letting the mind hold onto this real I in the sense of existing from its own side. You see, this is true. So you’re the root of saṃsāra, ignorance, at that time.
So instead of doing that, instead of letting your mind create that awareness, you let your mind to think that it’s empty, realize that it’s empty, which is empty. As there’s no such thing there. Let your mind realize that. So that’s subduing the mind. That’s the meaning of subduing the mind.
So as I mentioned before, what the wisdom does—that wisdom sees all the saṃsāra, and wisdom is the ultimate happiness and liberation. Same. The inner, happy mind, detach the mind from saṃsāra, saṃsāra prosperity, happiness. So that also makes to achieve the path to liberation, then able to complete the path, achieve liberation. The total cessation of all the suffering and causes.
So it comes from subduing the mind. So instead of clinging to saṃsāra, saṃsāra prosperity, you transform the mind. Detach from that by realizing how the saṃsāra is only the nature of suffering. Taming the mind, subduing the mind in this, transforming the mind in this. Then the other one is the self-ego, the self-cherishing thought, which harms, which brings all the obstacles, all the problems, or all the things that you don’t like. All the things that you experience in your life that you don’t like.
See, what causes all that is the ego, the selfish mind. Cherish only I, seeking only happiness for oneself. So I want—yeah, subdue the mind or transform the mind from that into bodhicitta, cherishing others, the holy mind. That we cherish others, seek happiness of numberless sentient beings. So that which makes you engage your life to benefit numberless sentient beings.
Numberless hell beings, numberless hungry ghosts, numberless animals, human beings, all the sentient beings. Causing all the happiness. This life’s happiness, happiness of future lives, all the complete path, then liberation from saṃsāra, the everlasting happiness, then the everlasting happiness, the peerless one, full enlightenment. Which makes it to cause all of this happiness—the bodhicitta, the ultimate good heart. So the mind transforms into this.
And then this causes oneself—this causes oneself to achieve enlightenment and to enlighten also—as I mentioned before, cause all those happinesses to the sentient beings who are numberless, to everyone. Then subdue the mind, then protect the mind from the ordinary appearance and the concept. So this is protecting mind by practicing Tantra. From ordinary appearance and that you see everything appear in ordinary and you believe that everything is ordinary. So you protect your mind from this into pure appearance and pure thought.
Everything pure appearance and then pure thought. Then the highest Tantra—subdue the mind with highest Tantra, then there is the impure wind, impure wind and mind, that’s the cause of saṃsāra. Impure wind and mind. So then you make it pure, the extremely subtle wind and mind, you make it pure, and then that—then goes to enlightenment. With that, then you able to achieve Rūpakāya, Dharmakāya.
The mind is subtle—I want a—gross, subtle, extremely subtle mind. Same. The body has a gross body, subtle body, extremely subtle body. And that’s the wind. So that one if it’s impure, causes saṃsāra.
So by actualizing the clear light. Simultaneously through clear light dissolving, absorbing the gross mind, then gradually developing that clear light, then able to cease gross obscurations, subtle defilements, and dualistic view. Then able to cease subtle negative imprints. So that’s how you see it. You use that to achieve full enlightenment, you see.
So in Tantra, this is impure wind and mind. In the highest Tantra, the Completion stage. As I mentioned, in Tantra impure wind and mind causes saṃsāra, but I’m not talking unrelated to the ignorance that which is mentioned in sūtra, the root of saṃsāra. I’m not talking about that as an unrelated subject. So the essence of the last verse is that Buddha is saying that we should reflect, that we should look at the nature of the phenomena, the nature of the causative phenomena including our life.
Our life, one’s own life and the world around oneself—all these causative phenomena. Look at their nature. In essence, what I’m saying, giving some examples, look at the nature of the stars, impermanent nature. Stars that do not last not only day by day, but even minute by minute, second by second. They do not last.
Exists in this second—exists in this second, only—one’s own life, body, mind, I, the world, sense objects all around. What exists in this second do not exist by the next second. They cease—that—it decays, it ceases, it decays second by second. So that means what exists in this hour does not exist next hour. What exists this minute does not exist next minute.
What exists this hour does not exist next hour. What exists today does not exist tomorrow—it’s gone tomorrow. It’s gone. What is it? All this—the body, mind, senses, the whole world around you, the causative phenomena.
By the next second, what exists this second, next second, by the next second, it’s gone. Does not exist by that time. So the conclusion is, naturally like that. So by meditating on the nature, realizing that, then you are able to overcome all the delusion, able to cut the concept of permanence, the wrong concept, apprehending things as permanent while they are not, while they are impermanent naturally.
And that makes to arise—that makes to arise the hallucination of the mind, attachment and the hallucination of the mind, the anger, all those, you know, hallucinations of the mind, pride, all these hallucinations of the mind. You know? Hallucinating mind and—the way they apprehend object, the way they think the object exists. Nonexistent. So therefore, they’re wrong concepts. All these negative emotional thoughts.
So this realization of the nature of impermanence, that awareness and that realization, then it will overcome all this, it will overcome the delusion, then able to cease gradually, able to cease. It helps to cease. Then total liberation. The opposite—believing that, you know, that they’re permanent, then that concept of permanence, then that causes to arise all those other negative emotional thoughts. Then that tortures oneself all the time.
See, then it creates, it produces suffering from life to life, that could make it without end. So that’s—the other thing, what Buddha says, basically, I, the self, the I and the body and mind, whole world around oneself, all the sense objects and so forth. So people and material things, the world around us—look at them. The way they exist is—the way they exist. What they are, what they are, is what is merely labeled by the mind. What they are is what exists in mere name.
Merely labeled by my mind—this is what they are and how they exist. So therefore, this is the nature, you see. So that means they do not—so that means they do not exist at all from their own side. They do not exist at all from their own side. So totally—what appears and what we believe—things exist from their own side.
That—we prove that is totally nonexistent. There’s no such thing there. But while that is—while that is totally empty—while that is totally empty there, then to our also hallucinatory mind, all these things appear as if they exist from their own side, as a real one, as something real in the sense of existing from their own side. So many of these verses and examples are stars at nighttime. Daytime and sunrise, you don’t see stars.
So that—related to the appearance. Things appearing, see, to you which are not true, see. A real one in the sense of existing from the outside. The vision. Seeing something but it’s not true due to, let’s say, defect of the eye.
So many of these examples are given. Like illusion, dream. So these examples are given. The way the I appears to you, the self, what you believe, body and mind, likewise other phenomena. Here, all the phenomena, not only causative phenomena, everything.
The way they appear—while they’re empty of existing from their own side, then they appear—they appear existing, they appear as real ones in the sense of existing from their own side, to the hallucinated mind. So it’s saying is that by practicing mindfulness, mindfulness, looking at the phenomena like these examples, you know, they appear as true or existent but it’s not true. In this way, to maintain awareness of emptiness. So to maintain emptiness, the very nature of the I, the mind, body, all of it, all the rest of the phenomena like that. So we have Buddha absorbed within you, then visualize Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha.
Like you see in the thangka there or the—it doesn’t—you know, that style or the normally, there’s the standing one. You know, holding the staff. Yeah. Staff. Yeah. The wish-fulfilling jewel.
So standing—which aspect doesn’t matter. So it can be what is in the thangka? Or you prefer to—you know, other different aspects. You know? Standing there with bhikṣu robe, the staff in the hand or holding a jewel in the hand. Other way. Mhmm. But it’s basically the same. You know, it’s also holding a jewel.
So mhmm. And that I think that is—yeah. Actually, enlightened being manifested as bodhisattva. So think essence, you know, all the Gurus, Buddhas, Dharma, Sangha in one aspect, but embodies all the merit fields. Okay?
Like that. I go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma, and the Sangha until the enlightenment is achieved. Give rise to the collections of merits, having done charity and so forth. Think all the three-time merits are collected by me and all the three-time merits are collected by others, whatever numberless. Dedicate all this.
May I achieve full enlightenment in order to benefit all the transmigrating beings. So in order to benefit all that transmigrating beings—so they may be liberated from the sufferings of the lower realms and liberated from the whole entire saṃsāra, the whole entire sufferings of saṃsāra, and liberated also from lower nirvana. A blissful state of peace—beings who have been bound to the blissful state of peace, the lower nirvana. So also liberate from that, liberate from the subtle defilements, and bring to enlightenment. So the aim is achieving full enlightenment.
To benefit—benefit includes all this. This word includes all this. It’s vast—benefit. This word is very vast, like limitless sky. Benefit to transmigrating—benefit—there are beings subject to transmigration.
Benefit is a word. It’s like the content is like limitless sky. You see, benefit for sentient beings. All these things are summarized now in this. And all those sentient beings who don’t have freedom at all themselves, slightest freedom, totally overwhelmed by karma and delusions.
All these wrong concepts obscuring the mind. And then migrate again and again, reborn again and again in the six realms—you know, in one of the six realms again and again. Then experience all the sufferings over and over, which they experienced already from beginningless time to the present. So that means here—that means you’re taking responsibility. You’re going to liberate them.
You know? Stop them from experiencing all this reincarnating continuously. Stop and experience all the suffering again. So that’s what—so that’s very good to remember—for the benefit of all sentient beings, my dear friends. What causes them to migrate is karma and delusion.
Migrate, driven by karma into one of the six realms, one of them continuously, then experience all the suffering forms of existence that they undergo. For that, then I must achieve full enlightenment. Then you are praying, may I achieve? By these merits, may I achieve enlightenment, okay, for them.