Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 34-minute university talk from Taiwan, Lama Zopa Rinpoche centers on a single insight: self-centered preoccupation creates chronic mental suffering, while genuine concern for others’ happiness brings immediate peace, clarity, and joy. He contrasts these two minds directly and concretely—showing how the shift from ego-fixation to caring transforms not only your inner state but how strangers respond to you. Using vivid examples from his own experience—his teacher Lama Yeshe, the Dalai Lama, ordinary encounters at airports—he illustrates that a mind filled with pure loving-kindness acts as medicine for the world. The teaching is practical and emotionally direct, grounded in recognizable daily life rather than abstract philosophy.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2005 06 02 1 TWN Hualien 1 University talk 2nd June05.mp3
UUID: 53971c7d-4aa3-4b65-babc-076a6629a5fa
Teacher: Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1
Collection: z Taiwan (Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1)
Date: 2005-06-02
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 34.5 minutes
Words: ~1,530
So professor Yeo Yin is giving introduction to So I would like to first show my appreciation and thank from my bottom of my heart the venerable Ven. Cheng Yen, venerable nun. Cheng Yen. Cheng Yen who founded this university and not only this university, but all these hospitals. So many so many social services that she has done to benefit so many needy so many needy needy people. You know?
Been a great inspiration for for so many sentient beings. Inspire to, you see, generate good heart to offer service to others, to dedicate the life to offer service to others, to benefit others. So I would like to thank very much to her. And the next, I would like to thank very much Professor Yao. I think I met many, many years ago when I was here before, right?
I think many years. I think during one of the courses also I think Professor Yao helped one of my books, Transforming Problems, to translate that into Mandarin. So So I would like to thank very much to professor Yoh for arranging this talk. To share, say, little tiny bit understanding of practice that was done I’m to share, you see, with you. And then also, here also the director of this Dharma center.
Also, arranging this with the doctor. Then here, the Dharma Sanghas. Then all the rest were my brothers, sisters. So I would like to say, to thank you very much and to offer greetings to all of you. So human beings, even the animals, even the tiniest insect, ants, you know, ants and even the very tiny insects that you hardly see with the physical eye.
Include the insects that you can see only through microscope. But every what everyone, including the tiny creature that we see only through microscope, and large elephant, largest whales in the ocean. Anyway, human beings poor, rich, educated, non educated. However, young and old, everybody what they want is happiness. What they do not want is suffering the problems.
So without the loving kindness, good heart, the peaceful, healthy mind, I heard that here, says that if you don’t have love and kindness, you don’t then that means you don’t have a healthy mind. Only if you have love and kindness, you know, when your mind become that, then only then you have healthy mind. That’s very true. That’s hundred percent. That’s very true.
Loving kindness is something from sincerely from your heart concern others happiness. You know, wishing others to have happiness. Seeking happiness for others. So when there’s a, you see, strong self-cherishing thought, you know, strong ego, when your mind become that, You see, in your daily life there’s no peace. There’s no happiness at all.
You see, your life is unhappy. For example, while we’re at home or while we’re in the office or in the study room or while we’re walking on the road, You see, when the when the attitude when your attitude of life, of living is a cherishing eye, only concerned, you see, my happiness. My in all the time goodness, my happiness. How can I be happy? You see, think only one’s own problems.
Nothing else. Nothing else, you know. Only one’s own problem. I have this problem. You know?
Continuous day and night. So nothing about others happiness, other suffering, you see. I think concern only oneself, cherish only I. So you see, the minute the minute when you the minute so you see, the minute when you change your attitude, you see, think of others. Caring about the happiness of others.
Helping others’ happiness. See, the minute when you think of others others happiness, you see, yourself to yourself to cause happiness to others, you see, thinking this is the this is the meaning of my life to to cause others’ happiness, free other’s problems, thinking this is the meaning of my life, purpose of my life. Whether you think whether you think this is source of my happiness or not, Of course, there’s a source of your happiness, you know, when you think like that. You see, opens door for all the happiness for yourself, for others. It opens door for not only happiness for oneself, but open door for all other beings.
Happiness, you see. So, however, the many when you think about others, you know, you see, to cause helping others. You see, there’s a immediate the the there’s immediate benefit, you see, in your life, in your heart. Peace. Release from tension.
That peace is there. You see? Oh, immediate is released from from all the worry, fear, all this emotional suffering. You see? Even there’s no physical pain, but the mental suffering.
You see? Kind of mental you see? Hell inside your mind. You know? You see?
These come from the self-cherishing thought. You see? So immediately, you see, that’s gone. You’re free. You see, your heart’s opened towards others.
So you are you are happy. You have smile, and you are happy, you see, in in your heart, filled with the peace and happiness. Then, you see, you are able to communicate better to others. You see, you have a smile on your face, you know, loving smile. So the people, even the unknown people, people don’t know you, they’re happy with you.
They they see you happy loving smile, you see. You know, caring others, you know. So even they are happy. So I just want to I just want to tell one example. Just want to tell one example, but that’s not my example.
Somebody else’s example. So so when we are traveling, sometimes at the airport, so my, say, attendant or secretary or anything like that. So so so the people so the people, they don’t know him, who who, you know, who is Rāja, you know, but they they’re very happy. They’re they’re very happy to see him. Unknown people, they’re very happy to see him.
They, you know, never met before, but they’re just very happy. Just unknown person comes and they’re very happy to they shake hands. They’re very happy to they’re very happy to meet, you know. But they just they just feel expression from the face. I think their heart, you know, from the face.
So that you see, people are very happy to meet that person. You see, psychologically like this. And then my master, Lama Yeshe, it’s like that. So you see you can see his say, I mean, from his expression, face, his whole body feel the loving kindness. You know?
You see, to others. Caring others. You know? Anybody is there, courage, any kind of people. Yeah.
And all this. So he so the people people see, they like so much. They like so much to meet him. You know? People like so much to meet him.
Not only just students, disciples, but even anybody. Very happy to see him, very happy to spend time with him, you know. See, to talk. Everybody’s so happy to be with him. You know, enjoy so much being with him, you know, talk.
Give so much peace, give so much give so much pleasure to them, you see, with somebody filled with loving kindness. You know? You know? With your happy happy mind, you see? Peaceful mind, you know, caring caring others.
So like that yeah. So that’s, you see, the loving the post the positive mind loving kindness really if you have nothing to give material to others, you know, you see something to give. But just that your good heart loving kindness gives happiness, peace, gives happiness to, you know, to the I mean, to many people that you meet in the road, airport, you see, wherever you are, you see, in the restaurant, you know, wherever you go, you see. So give so much peace and happiness to the world. You see?
That. Mhmm. So then, of course, no question about I’ll say, no question about it. Then other example is one is Dalai Lama. Let’s see.
Follow love love and kindness. Yeah. His expression, you see. His smile, his laughter, you know, that brings so much joy to that brings so much joy to, you see. So many people make so happy.
And they never forget that happiness in their whole life. The joy, the meaningful joy, that happiness they received within that hour or within few minutes, you see, by seeing this. So that that same with my master Lama Yeshe. You see. So this the, you know, you see, can you see, just your loving kind of your positive mind, you know, this pure mind, you see, the medicine for others.
Medicine if we can administer others, naturally, they solve their problems, you know, makes them happy. Otherwise, you see, they think all their problems, you know, my happiness. When I can be a bit better all the time, then never think about this. So this is a makes a chronic disease of self-cherishing thought. You see, which only makes us a say, you know, putting oneself in prison and torturing oneself.
But ego, you know, by far