Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 40-minute teaching from Malaysia, Lama Zopa Rinpoche opens with a child learning to label colors as his gateway to understanding emptiness — the Buddhist teaching that phenomena lack inherent existence. Red and blue exist not in objects but only through mind’s labeling and belief. He extends this insight through all senses: sound, smell, taste, touch. Everything appears independent, yet all are imputed by mind — like a magician’s illusion. When you recognize daily experience as empty appearances, anger and negative emotions have no foothold; communication opens and peace emerges. This understanding cuts the root of saṃsāra and leads toward liberation. Rinpoche then teaches impermanence through classical metaphors — water droplet, dream, lightning, clouds — showing how all phenomena constantly change, which naturally supports renunciation.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 22 2005 04 10 JANGSEMLING RET.mp3
UUID: 03aa6fbc-507c-4b9c-b010-2778bba3b620
Teacher: Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1
Collection: z Malaysia (Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1)
Date: 2005-04-10
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 40.0 minutes
Words: ~2,523
I want to tell you this. The colors, red colors, blue colors, red colors, blue colors. The colorful cloth or the flowers. Now, it looks like, you know, colors exist from their own side. But let’s analyze like this.
When you are a child, you go back your life to the childhood. For that baby, child, see these things, but doesn’t label, you know. The baby doesn’t label this red, this yellow. If the baby labels everything, then the baby knew everything from the child. It doesn’t really talk.
Then all the ABC doesn’t need to talk, doesn’t teach. You know, you write ABC on the blackboard or teach your child the ABC. A baby, you see. Then you see. Then it wouldn’t know ABCD.
See, no. Baby has to teach. I mean, in some case in a very, very few cases, maybe special. There’s no teacher, they can tell. Remember from past.
But otherwise, they have to teach. The child see the designs, this design, like this, you know. The child sees the design, see the design, but don’t see this is—they don’t see this is A, this is B. To be able to see this is A, this is B, to be able to see that, the child has to label this A, this is B, this C. Same, same to label red, the child. So for you, when you’re a baby, you’re crawling, you’re crawling or standing, whatever.
See, to see that this is red, the child has to label red. You see? So now here’s the point. Child see cloth, you see, but doesn’t see that this is red. That this is red.
Doesn’t see that. So same, doesn’t see that this is yellow. See the color, but doesn’t see that it’s yellow. And same, see this, see all these, but doesn’t see that this is a white flower, this is a red flower, this is pink flower, this is leaf, this is this. A child sees that this is red only when the parents or school teacher or somebody, when somebody introduces the label to the child, this is red.
When somebody introduces the colors, this yellow, this blue, they paint on the paper and then introduce the child to colors. Only that time, the child see, the child see that this is red, that this is yellow, that this is blue, this is this, when the child introduced to the label. Then the child learns the label from somebody. Then the child repeats what the person taught. Label, red.
You see? And believe. You have to believe along with that. Not only label, you have to believe. Then you see the red.
Then you see, then red appears. After that, red appears. You see that this red appears, then the child see this red. So to be able to see red is a whole evolution that takes time. It’s all dependent on, beginning of somebody introduced.
And the child then imputes. You see, the child’s mind has labeled. So it starts with that. So before the label, before the child labels, what the child sees is the base. Base.
Then, you see, after somebody introduced, educated the child, the label, and the child labeled and believes, labeled and believes, red. Then the child sees—first child sees the base. Then after the child’s mind has labeled red, believe in that, then you see the red. The label. So it is very clear here when we think about evolution.
You see, red doesn’t exist from its own side. It doesn’t exist from the outside. It depends on the base, depends on mind labeling and label. So everything, so like the red, yellow, all this color, merely imputed by mind. By seeing that base, all these names, this color, all these are merely imputed by mind.
You see? So therefore, all these colors, red, yellow, this one. The light. They’re light. Even the colors, white, red, you know, whatever.
So you see how they came in existence is like this, merely imputed by mind. But how they appear to us, it’s totally opposite. How they appear to us, they appear to our mind—is there? Is there.
That nothing to do with your mind. It appears like nothing to do with your mind. Never came from your mind. Not labeled by mind. Of course, you know, not labeled by mind.
Not merely labeled by mind. So if you go final, final. Truly existing from its own side. So everything like this is here. Especially colors.
That’s good to meditate, meditate like this. How to see the colors empty? That’s it. But colors are so bright. So it’s more kind of easy to see, kind of to see that false beauty through, you know, something strong, something very bright.
Anyway, so in reality, as you can see now, all these are totally empty. There’s no such thing there. Red existing from its side, white existing from its side, example, the lights. All this. So you see, so however, all this in the reality, totally, all this absent, empty.
So here, every single thing, form, all the forms is like that. It appears real from its own side. Then form, the design. So same. Sound, when you analyze sound, even though the sound is imputed by your own mind or whatever.
Sound itself and good sound, bad sound, all that you see came from your mind, imputed by your mind. But appeared to be not imputed by mind, existing from the side. So all that hallucination empty, then same thing smell. Same thing smell. You see, good smell, bad smell and all this merely imputed by mind, but doesn’t appear imputed by mind.
It appears not imputed by mind, existing from the side. Something real one. So smell, taste, tangible object. Taste, same again, sour, sweet, whatever. All these things are imputed by one’s mind when one is eating food.
All this appeared as existing from the side. But merely by the mind, same thing with tangible objects, rough and soft, all these merely imputed by mind, whatever, rough, soft, whatever you see, sense of body experience merely imputed by mind but appeared not imputed by mind, existed from their own side. Here, the ignorance like a magician person. You see, by leaving imprint in the mind, then hallucinate you, the audience. Then it’s all this, all this illusion, all this hallucination, truly existent appearance, all this hallucination, all these illusions here, but the illusion, like a magician plays on the audience, as you say. So like that.
So here. So here, you can see the meditation. That example, is a magician person hallucinating the audience, seeing all these things which are not there. So here, the I is truly an I which is not there. You see, hallucinated I.
Self is not there. Then action. Talking or listening. Truly listening to one which is not there? So talking, talking from my side, talking to you, truly listening to one who is not there.
You are listening from truly existent listener, a truly existent lama. You’re listening from truly existent lama who is not there. Sitting on the truly existent throne which is not there, which doesn’t exist. So the whole thing, whatever we see here is truly existent floor which is not there. Truly existent ceiling, truly existent pillar which is not there.
Truly existent statue of Buddha, all object is not there. So truly, truly sound, when you hear the sound, which doesn’t exist. Empty. Truly existent smell, which doesn’t exist, which is not there. Tangible object, rough or soft, whatever, there.
It doesn’t exist. So, and truly existent taste, sour, sweet, whatever is not there. It doesn’t exist. So, you see, so exactly same that example. So this is another technique how to maintain in daily life emptiness.
You see, while you’re working, not only sitting in meditation, but while you’re working, talking to people, working in the office, working in the center, working in the family. At the same time, practicing this awareness. For this, how to maintain emptiness while you’re working with busy life, how to maintain emptiness. It fits very well. So when you are aware of all the hallucinations or the truly existent appearance.
When you practice mindfulness, you see, when you practice mindfulness, looking at hallucinations as if hallucinations, then you see that time in your heart, understanding comes, they are empty. You see? So then while, as I was talking, while I was dealing with people, talking to people, your mind in meditation, like this. Then the negative emotional thought do not rise. Anger, jealous mind, all these negative emotional thoughts do not rise.
You see, you don’t see the point. There’s no such thing there. You see? And there’s so much peace. You’re relaxed.
You’re completely relaxed. There’s so much peace. Yeah. See. And your heart’s opened.
So better communication. Your views are different. You see, because of reality, you know. So there’s, you are having freedom. So when you’re able to do this, you are having freedom.
You see? So here, you don’t care. The negative thought do not rise, so you don’t create karma, make karma. Cause of the lower realms.
Only you are, you’re only attaining liberation. By maintaining emptiness, you’re attaining liberation, you see. So, cessation of the suffering. So, you see, the result is where it leads to. By doing this meditation, you cut to root of saṃsāra, all the defilements, the disturbing thought obscurations, the subtle obscurations, then with bodhicitta, the paramitas, then able to complete the path, then look at the causative phenomena, like, what to do.
Water dew can be dropped anytime. So that’s impermanence. You see, it can cease at any moment. So the causative phenomena can be stopped anytime. You see?
The water dew can be dropped anytime. So the causative phenomenon, they can be ceased anytime. See, or the material, the material possession, life, it can be stopped anytime. See. Then next one, like water bubble.
Look at the phenomenon like water bubble. Water bubble, let’s say, this is also, let’s see, I’m showing another story. You see, due to causes and conditions, it can be popped, you know. Anytime.
Because of causes and conditions. Anytime. Can stop anytime?
See? And then, perish. Stop at any time.
I’m not sure if that’s related to the works of this life, meaningless. Water bubbles is empty, you see. Rainbow is used for example to look at the causative phenomena. Impermanence. Then dream.
The causative phenomena, like dream. So again here, even though while you’re dreaming everything looks real, but it’s not, but they’re not real. So like that. So like that. For example, when death, the day when death happens, the day when death happens, whole from birth, the whole life story from birth, whole life story, everything become like last night, become like last night dream.
It happened, it’s gone. You see, it happened, it’s gone. Like last night dream. So the appearance of this life, everything looks real, exists from its own side. But the whole life, from birth to death, the whole life is not like that.
It’s all empty, do not exist from their own side. Even though they appear real, existing from their own side. So like the dream. Then like lightning. One is like lightning, the same.
That nature shows the nature of impermanence. So, when the lightning happens, it happened, it happened, it’s gone. There’s a vivid, you know, there’s a vivid, during that time there’s things around you, whatever things, people around you, it appeared, you know, material things, road, trees, whatever, it appeared, then it’s gone. So, so this lightning, little impermanence.
So it’s very short. It appeared and gone. So then clouds. Last one is clouds. The clouds, while you’re looking at the cloud, they don’t last.
They change. Continuously change. You see, do not stay the same. And also, next minute is not there. This minute you see, but next minute is not there.
So the causative phenomena are like that. Natural impermanence, change. You know, perish, they’re changing not only day by day, not only hour by hour, minute by minute, changing even by second by second, even within second. Perish, decaying, changing, decaying, do not last. They don’t last even, what exists this second doesn’t exist next second, it’s gone.
What exists this second, because the phenomena, what exists this second, do not exist next second, is all gone. And that second do not exist in the third second. So even within the second, split second by split second, it do not last. They don’t last. So again, here, this also helps to know for renunciation.
This understanding of impermanence helps for renunciation. So do not see point what we’re attached to or what to get angry to. So like that. So anyway, this verse, this stanza, it’s a very powerful meditation. Just to maintain on this.
You see, you know, beside sitting. So, anyway, when we recite this, when we recite this verse, we must reflect the meaning. Must reflect meaning. I’m not sure how clearly I explained, but this is the essence, you know, rough idea. So I think, maybe you have question or whatever. Maybe missed out. Sorry if that was the wrong time.
Which one? For the long run? No. I think that I may try to do one more teaching later. Yes.
So I have some break. Yes. And for break? Half hour. Maybe half an hour or, and we’ll stay there.
One hour. No no. I’ll go back. Not a long break. No.
But you can, but in case we don’t come, maybe half hour break or something. Maybe it’ll be a longer break. What do you think? I thought maybe we need to be little longer. We’d like to sit a long time.
No? No? It would be nice to have more teaching. I think, you know.
But you can plan to do something, but then I will come for some, you know, teachings. I’m not sure. Okay. First, should feel the break.