Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 73-minute teaching, Lama Zopa Rinpoche addresses a central Buddhist puzzle: if past lives are real, why don’t we remember them? He establishes why rebirth must logically exist—if this were our only life, nothing would cause this birth, violating dependent origination and making the universe irrational. Memory depends entirely on mental clarity, which shifts with conditions: samaya kept or broken, inner and outer purity, meditation practice. Those with developed minds perceive past lives; enlightened beings perceive through all phenomena. He then teaches mind-body duality: mind is formless, luminous, with its own continuity (durian comes from durian, not rice), while the body arises from physical continuity. Everything is impermanent and causally conditioned.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 14 2005 04 09 JANGSEMLING RET.mp3
UUID: 27e57637-a260-436c-9597-1d92112dc48f
Teacher: Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1
Collection: z Malaysia (Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1)
Date: 2005-04-09
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 73.3 minutes
Words: ~2,416
The following data is collected by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. May I and the family members, all the students in this organization, the benefactors, all those who give up their life to the organization during service of the Sangha, Dharma, Buddha, and all the same beings. And may direct guru, you know, direct guru lead us, you know, the future life times, You know, in all the lifetimes. And never to be separated away from even for one second from the path, from the pure path that is admired by the Buddhas, the the the virtuous ones. in all the three times by merits.
Everybody wants to know about this. And may we be able to live in pure morality and have extensive listening and train the mind of bodhicitta and live in the pure view, conduct, able to in the in this way, able to complete the activity without without corruption to the Lama’s teachings. And also, may we never arise, have a taste even for one second, in the actions of the non-virtuous friend. Whatever is done, able to see pure.
With this devotion, may the blessing of the guru be entered in the heart. Maybe short break. Maybe take short break here. Maybe it stopped. P or a short break.
Short break. P. Pause. Yeah. Yeah.
And it’s part two, Saturday. So, why we need to practice Dharma? That If it is if our life if our life is only one, only this one. Only this life. There’s no past life, no future life.
If it’s only this one, then no. You see, there then there’s no need to practice Dharma if it’s a one on one life. No need to no need to abandon. Let’s see. No need to abandon the cause of suffering.
No need to create the cause of happiness. Because there’s no you can say, there was no past life. So that means there was no cause of there’s no cause of taking this rebirth. So it will it will be utterly truly existent. In that case, it will be truly existent.
See, without even cause conditions, this this rebirth happened. This birth happened without cause conditions. You see, true existent. Would that depend on the cause and conditions? You see, true.
Would that depend on anything that it exists, that this rebirth exists from its own side. There will be will be there will be mistaken, see, as it’s permanent, without cause conditions, not changeable nature, not natural impermanence, so it will be permanent, and all these mistakes will rise. When we take birth, When the consciousness conceives in the mother’s womb. If you see, we don’t remember we don’t remember the experience when the consciousness took place on the mother’s fertilized egg. The experience, how to us?
We don’t remember. We don’t remember even coming out of the mother’s womb. Most of us, we don’t remember. Some people who have a clear mind, they remember coming out of the mother’s womb. And that’s true.
Coming out of the mother’s womb, that’s true and other people see it. Other people saw it. Mother that it came out of mother’s womb. Mother’s womb from mother’s organ, she came out. So that’s reality, but we don’t remember.
We just believe what parents said, what other people said, that you’re born from this mother, that you’re born from her. You see, as well, we don’t remember. So we rely on others we rely on others’ explanation. Therefore, how could we remember with this present state of mind? How can remember being in the mother’s womb and the experiences.
I see pain and pleasure. We see how we can remember. And especially, when the consciousness took place on the fertilized egg, what it has been, one had. There’s no way to you see, I can’t remember. No way to remember that.
Not all that, there are so many there are so many things, so many things what one did in childhood time, but now I don’t remember. Maybe only certain things. Certain yeah. Certain thing that has great impact in mind, maybe remember. But but everything you don’t remember, even though it happened.
So even even we don’t remember sometimes, even things what we did yesterday, we don’t remember. Sometimes forget, you know, what food we had or what talk, what what words one has said, went to some places or sometimes even things that were done yesterday, for which you want to forget. Even today, even some of us forget even things done today, you see. So, because one doesn’t remember, doesn’t mean it doesn’t mean, you see, it didn’t happen. Because you don’t see it, it is not object to your knowledge.
That doesn’t mean, say, because you don’t remember, you don’t see it. Doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, you know. That’s it. That reason alone doesn’t prove. So, Because one doesn’t remember the continuity of consciousness, continuity of consciousness just before taking place on the fertilized egg.
You know, just before taking the the consciousness the consciousness before taking place on the fertilized egg. One does not remember that it existed before. You don’t you don’t realize or you don’t remember that it was continuity of consciousness before taking birth conception, before conceiving, because the consciousness taking place on the fertilized egg. So, you see, that’s the same. It doesn’t prove, because you don’t you don’t realize or you don’t remember.
That means that it didn’t happen or it doesn’t didn’t exist. Similar that one cannot see After the consciousness leaves the body, separate from the body. You see? See? When the death happens, the consciousness continues after that.
Again, take birth. So, same, even one cannot even at this level, say, quality of mind or the capacity of mind at this level. At this stage, we can’t see the ones that have the future but the consciousness continues after that, taking birth again. If you want, cannot see with this present capacity of mind, Doesn’t mean that it won’t happen or that future life doesn’t exist. Even you cannot see your past or future life, But others but others, those who have those whose mind is more pure, more more capacity.
More capacity of perceiving to see the past and to see future. Those whose mind is more developed or more pure, clear, whose mind is more capacity can so can see your past and your future lives. There are numberless others there are numberless other living beings who can see your past and future lives. See, everyone do not see it. And as I mentioned, and as I mentioned before, that even things what we did in this life sometimes I remember, some you see things what one did in this life.
Sometimes I remember, sometimes I forget. You see So depending on how mind is clear. When the mind is clear, you can remember. When the mind is not clear, certain certain times, certain situations, certain times, when the mind is not clear due to cause conditions, let’s say, when the mind is polluted. However, due to cause conditions, you see, the those time you do not remember.
So you can see here so you can see here, is it is not it doesn’t exist, but it’s a question of your clear view. It’s not it’s a question of you see how clear the mental state I mean, the mind is. You see, free from less pollution or free from pollution, Mental pollutions. Even when you meditate, certain certain times very clear mind, certain times with certain conditions, mind become very unclear. Through the practice of purification, through the practice of purification, one is living good Samaya, mind is clear.
But when you block when you detonate samaya, and the polluted mind become become, you see, can’t concentrate and very troubled mind too, so can’t concentrate. You meet a certain person who who, you know, who has a a very heavy pollution or who have broken samaya with the guru or the same especially same guru like that by meeting that person. And then or certain food, food or food or clothing, whatever things received from people who have pollution so like that. So talking or however contacting, then next minute when you’re in a session, your mind is not clear. There’s no clear when you’re meditating, there’s no clear mind is very disturbed, see, kind of like cut in pieces, kind of like that, you see.
Not clear, and you feel a bit obscured or degenerated or something lost. However, for these conditions, it affects the mind. Before one felt strong compassion, strong devotion, Now now today, lost. Doesn’t feel that it’s more difficult to generate, more difficult to experience. See like that.
So depending on cause conditions, there’s time in the mind clear, very good to see, very inspiring, you know, the renunciation, you know, the compassion, the suffering of the sentient beings of the sentient beings, you see, cherishing of the sentient beings. There is some total renunciation, the impermanence impermanence that the reality of life, very strong feeling of that. But then but then due to another cause condition due to another condition, see, cause condition, then you see, it doesn’t continue. It it it it don’t, you know, disintegrated, like, experience disintegrated and difficult to feel for things like this. See the experience changes depending how, depending on how, depending on how, one think, how one behave, at the conditions around, see, like that.
So As as the chili doesn’t come from the raisin as a main cause. Chili. The chili comes from from its own continuity, which is similar to chili. Similar type. Similar.
The body and mind, which is what is substantial phenomena. Mind is a non substantial phenomena. Not of not obstructed the nature of that not obstructed by the substantial phenomena. So and so that way is the end is empty of substantial phenomena. Not obstructed by that.
So, is clear. Nature clear. Every perceived object. That as the middle not obstructed by the dust. So it has a so it can the phenomena can be reflected in that.
If you can give a reflection. So similar that So which is able which which is able to do that, which has got quality, that that function. One whose mind has very high clarity and power. Especially, especially one is at full enlightenment. That time, the even the body can function the mind.
Every every single every single atom, every single part of the holy body can do it was can can do function in mind. So as sentient beings can’t body cannot do the fun body cannot do the function of mind. And mind manifest in the form, take form, Manifest. Yeah. Cannot do that.
So, the physical body, the substance, which is substance phenomena, which is its own it’s it’s own continuity. So before this, it was a fertilized egg. Sperm from the father, then the egg from the mother. Become, let’s say, associated or become associated. So so that that was the the principal cause of this body.
So similar to the example, chili, see, that’s not kind of caused by the raisin. For that or the durian, you know, durian fruit, the famous fruit durian, is not caused by durian. Didn’t come from durian didn’t come from, say, from rice. Durian didn’t Durian is, you know, think it come from rice as a, let’s say, principal cause. You see, during this fantastic famous fruit Durian.
So the Durian came from its own principal cause. It has its own seed, you see. I don’t know if I’m going to find it in Adelaide. So anyway, so the principal cause of rice is not durian. See, it says it is, you see, it’s own the durian came from its own same continuity.
And then rice came from its own same same continuity, see. From another rice, same continuity. And for that, the body and mind mind came from its Mind, there was the mind which took place on the fertilized egg, you see, came from the same continuity, Same nature, same continuity. And it didn’t come from so it didn’t come from body, substance and phenomena. It came from its own it can come from the same continuity.
You see, same type, you know, Same nature. So like the rice and the durian, in evolution, the body came from its own same continuity, which is substantial. The mind came from it’s a continuity same, same nature, Formless. Like that, you see. But with a naturally clear preceding moment.
So So the so the evolution so the mind body came from its own its own it’s a separate continuity. It’s on so that And the principal cause., The mind and body is a causative phenomenon. Changing nature of change under the influence or under the condition of the cause of the under the cause conditions of the nature of change Nature will change. Not permanent. Changing, decaying, changing even minute by minute, even second by second, even within a second.
Yeah. Even within a second, it change, decay, but due to cause conditions. So for therefore for therefore this consciousness, the first second of consciousness on the fertilized egg. So that is why that nature change. Not permanent, impermanent.
So it it has to have a cause which will change that, which produces that. So that The cause, see, that which may produce that is the first moment of consciousness on the fertilized egg, which existed the moment before taking place on the fertilized egg. The consciousness which existed before, you see, before taking place on the fertilized egg. So that’s the that’s the main cause, the preceding moment, which produce that the the first, second consciousness on the fertilized egg. Similar, while this body in the change, nature of change, changing every hour by hour, minute by minute, second by second.
Even with the second, same day, the fertilized egg, which was the that that the main cause, the nature of that. It it is it is in that in that. So the result of it so the result of the nature change. So due to yeah. The cause and condition is it.
The effects. That our present body nature change.