Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 76-minute university talk, Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaches how compassion meditation transforms both mind and circumstance—drawing on examples of students who practiced loving-kindness daily and experienced healing from serious illness. He grounds the practice in recognizing interdependence: everything we receive flows from others’ kindness (parents, teachers, employers, family). This recognition naturally generates compassion. The core teaching covers meditation techniques—reflecting on others’ kindness, understanding self-cherishing’s costs, and training in bodhicitta through sustained daily practice, even as little as ten or fifteen minutes. An extended Q&A addresses how mind transformation affects body and environment through dependent arising, why change takes time, integrating spiritual practice with modern medicine, and the distinction between authentic compassion and self-interested kindness. For practitioners and students approaching Buddhist psychology.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2005 06 02 3 TWN Hualien 3 University talk 2nd June05.mp3
UUID: 9607a778-2585-4f72-8955-95aea98a1e68
Teacher: Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1
Collection: z Taiwan (Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1)
Date: 2005-06-02
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 75.9 minutes
Words: ~4,071
Also, by doing the same meditation, the bodhicitta exchanging self for others. This meditation, then one person one Chinese student many years ago, He did this only four minutes each day for four days, I think. Only four minutes each day he did. But he generated unbearable compassion to other living beings, people who have AIDS. or other living beings with people who have AIDS.
So he felt so unbelievable compassion. So no worry, no thoughts of his own, you know, AIDS. So so, you see, after four days, he went to hospital to check. Doctors could not find AIDS. Virus still there, but no AIDS.
Then at the same time, one student, I think, maybe Spanish Italian or Spanish, maybe Italian, who had AIDS and gave herself to meditation. And then I met her this very recent time, checking for the course. So hers was completely recovered. So the definitely, this positive mind has become really empowered to heal with a complete recovery even though things like that. So so every every day life.
So this you see, for example, children children’s happiness depend on, know, well-being. They see it depend on the parents or whoever took care. Mother who gave birth and the parents who took care, you see. So it came from them. So depended their kindness.
So you see, by kindness, you see, when generating loving kindness. And so why? But, you see, say, there’s so much happiness, comfort one received from the wife, Husband receive from wife. So but but but, you know, the kindness then change love and kindness. Then wife see it depend all the happiness, some comfort depend on the husband, the kindness of husband.
So then general love and kindness to husband. So students with the student having education, all this many things, they’re about the kindness of teacher. So then you see students, local kindness of teacher. Teacher, they’re able to have opportunity to teach all these opportunity. You see?
All that, you know, due to kind of student. First student is to start teacher general of kind of you see, students. So, you see, the people who are doing jobs found jobs from the employer. You see, it depends on kindness. It the Further, general kindness to the employer.
Employers all come from whatever success business has come from the employ employees. It’s their kindness. So then you should learn loving kindness. So so I’m just just giving just an example. But there’s so many like this.
Everything depends on each other. The kind others kindness. Every success happens is we have education. Whatever is about the kindness of others. So we see our shelter, food, everything, but dependent kindness of other sentient beings we receive.
So generate loving kindness towards all others. So this is how we generate loving kindness everyday life. You see, by thinking of kindness to others. So if there’s no loving kindness with the you see, then what there is is only ego self chasing thought. So then the sentient beings dislike other lives, you see.
There is harm directly or indirectly from you. Like historically happened in the world, one person killed many million people by the the lack of loving kindness. So like that. So therefore, so dangerous is one person harm to numberless of the living. So therefore, now, if one has a loving kindness, you see, then nobody is in them being including your family, then do not receive harm from you.
So there is a peace and happiness what they receive from you. So the on top of that, there is benefit from you. You see, happiness from you as a body of loving kindness. So all this all this happiness, what they receive, is in your hand. It’s up to you.
So, therefore, everyone has the responsibility of all living beings’ happiness. So everyday life so when we get up, when we dress up by taking the proper meaning of life, say, by generating motivation, you see, to free others from to free to cause happiness in others, and to free others from the suffering, you see, the compassion. Then, as for that, you dress up. When you wash, send motivation. When you go to work, when you go to study, or when you go to work, by thinking that minimum life is minimum life is to benefit others.
And the range of compassion, with that kind of motivation, they go to work. When go to bed, sleep also same, you see, to benefit others. So everything has to do with that motivation. So this way, then all your activity become virtue, good karma, virtue, merit. Then you see cause of cause of you see the highest happiness, enlightenment, and the happiness of all living beings.
So this is the best way to live the life, the happiest way to live life like that. Okay? That so that’s about it. Yes. Because time, that’s good.
I’m asking. So So he invites I think this one is the head of the has said religious and culture graduate school. So he invited her to share. Sure. Sure.
Thank you. Okay. Teaching and Rinpoche kept saying that we should transform our mind from that cherishing self into loving kindness and compassion. So she said according to the social science that she learned, actually, we can’t transform our mind immediately just like that from cherishing our self immediately into loving kindness and compassion and cherishing others, you know. It takes times to transform.
Even, you know, you cannot transform even within this life. Maybe it takes a few lifetimes. Because, know, you need to take some lifetimes to transform. So she and then second point, you know, she like to ask is that about, you know, what what’s the root, you know, like the mental problem of modern people. You know, she like to know, you know, according to the confusion in modern society, modern world now.
You know, what’s Rinpoche’s thinking about the root of the people’s problem now, and what’s the point we really Rinpoche would like to advise people really need to take care of our mind. Basically, you need education of education of compassion, how to develop compassion. The the one answer is this is all just one answer. Mainly education they need education to develop how to develop compassion. And they not only just understand the words how to practice compassion but actually train the mind in that.
So that then if you develop compassion from that, then a lot of so much merit you collect, then also you can realize you can develop wisdom. Here, I’m talking about not just dharma wisdom, but I’m talking about the ultimate wisdom. Wisdom realizing ultimate nature emptiness, the truth of the self, aggregates, the phenomena. So that need a lot of require a lot of merit to collect. So if you practice compassion, you collect so much merit every day by depending say, by depending on the kind of sentient beings, then you will have to develop also the ultimate wisdom.
Wisdom realizing wisdom seeing the truth, ultimate nature of the phenomena. Okay? Then with that wisdom, able to cut, eliminate root of saṃsāra, the ignorance. Then by eliminating that, then you eliminate all the delusion, karma. So then you see when you reach the path, there’s no more deficit.
I’m sorry. They just even the Hīnayāna, you see, they’re part of the ārya part, the arising path, the path of seeing. If you achieve the ārya path, arising path, you don’t create any new cause of saṃsāra. You don’t create new karma. Then then you see about the completing path, you see.
With wisdom directly present, you the seed of you remove the seed of delusion. You see, you know, including ignorance. So then then there, then you achieve the total liberation. Total liberation, the ultimate happiness. Total liberation, say, from all the suffering causes, you see.
So of course this is not talking enlightenment. Then ceasing even subtle obscurations with wisdom directly realizing emptiness with the bodhicitta, with the support of bodhicitta, then you achieve enlightenment. So the essential I think the whole world the whole world problem, not just not just say any individual person problem, the whole global whole world problem is I think it’s it’s lack of compassion. That that covers you see you see then then we see with that, you develop wisdom as well. So that’s so yeah.
So education need to be developed. Compassion need to be developed. Education, you see, need to be developed. The Dharma wisdom need to be developed. See?
Sort of that. So now how to develop the loving kindness compassion towards others is by maintaining by maintaining mainly meditating on others’ kindness. As I mentioned before, already maintaining other kindness. See, the other one, shortcomings of self-cherishing, benefit of cherishing others, benefit cherishing others. So already I mentioned before.
So when you see, that so those those meditation techniques, you need you need to learn those stages of meditation, mental training. You need to learn and you need to meditate. You see, you need to meditate in that. It just it just doesn’t happen like this one day. You need to meditate.
There’s a meditation technique stages. You need to meditate on that. After you after you have understanding the words, you need to put in practice. Maintain it. Might be trained in mind that.
So so two things. So one is doing meditation. One is you actually involve the people with the social service. And with that with with with that, you see, experience you got from meditation, you see, feeling of kindness, other, the compassion, develop during the session, then you go you go there with that with that, see, mind. Then you do service others.
There’s so much incredible joy, unbelievable joy. You see, there’s no there’s no ego conflict. You know, there’s no personality conflict when you do a service to others. So pure combined, I see. So then moving to others. How about that? How are the emotions? So that’s see. You need to see.
You need to meditate. You need train your mind every day to develop no matter how many months, years takes time. So you’re what she said, you’re correct. And even in case for some people it didn’t happen this life, then go to the next life. Yes.
Right. I agree. Yes. But many people, I think, definitely, you just need to you just need to learn the correctly the techniques, you know, the stages of meditation. You need to learn and do meditation.
At the same time, you have practiced purification. You have practice purification and the collective merits by doing social service or there are many different ways to collect merits, you see. By generating compassion, other loving kindness toward others, you collect so much merit. So much merit. You see?
If you generate loving kindness towards towards numberless living beings, that you see, you create a cause of enlightenment. The result of that infinite infinite good luck. Made you collect. So that helps to develop mind or compassion like that. So that’s You need continuity.
Understanding and develop the the the meditation steps of meditation. You need to develop mind. And that’s the think most people can definitely I would think if it’s done correctly, definitely can have attainment. That’s what I believe. The only thing is lack of understanding and didn’t do didn’t practice properly.
Not not not continuity. So that’s those are the big problems. The people who have AIDS people who have AIDS, they feel so much compassion to other people who have AIDS. That’s why I said that’s because they feel how it is about having AIDS. So they they can see how others feel, but they feel much compassion.
So therefore therefore, before generating generating great compassion to others, in the in the in the in the the teachings as text explained that to realize to have realization of one’s own, the saṃsāra, how that is nature of the suffering. Yeah. I guess, you know, the how it is nature of suffering. The the future saṃsāra, I see. That one will show how it is nature of suffering.
Then you are, you say, detached to that. Before that, then before that renunciation, realization to your saṃsāra, then you see you meditate as a on the how this body is qualified to attain freedom, these eight freedoms. It’s so precious and that you can achieve any happiness you wish with the body. How this is so meaningful that difficult to find again. So impermanence that nature of the life, so forth, you see, karma, sort of that sufferings of others, those hell beings of the the lower realms and the elements like that, you see.
So you so you you see, detached to to to this life. Cut the attachment to this life. So so all these the sufferings of lower realms, then sufferings of even the human realm or the natural suffering. So having the so you see, first your own saṃsāra, see how nature is on the suffering. So by having this realization, you see, then then when you think of others, how how they are suffering in some sort of similar.
Then that’s how the great compassion they are able to generate. So before generating great compassion, the loving kindness, there’s all these other preliminary discovering what saṃsāra, nature of suffering. Okay? So that so example, I can get I mentioned about the AIDS. So important is important is every day even is even fifteen minutes, mind training in these stages of path is to develop compassion, bodhicitta.
Even fifteen minutes, even ten minutes to maintain every day. Even very short time. But daily, every day is very key, which is very important. Then definitely you will progress. You know?
Even it’s a little time, but if you continue. Okay? So that’s all. Thank you very much for the question. A very simple question confused me for a long time.
Yes. But I want to ask what’s the difference from compassion to sympathy and kindness? Thank you. I think we’re thinking about this question. So the I think Kindness.
When when you do something for others. When you do when you do something for others without motivation, compassion, when you act something for others, it’s kindness. When you act for without with that compassion, without absolutely acting something for others. Not just only wishing not only wishing others to be from suffering, you see you take responsibility on yourself and do something for others. That’s kindness.
Okay? Yeah. So so that there can be a kindness with the body, with the speech, with the mind kindness. Okay. So I think having great compassion and taking responsibility on yourself to do that kindness kindness with the mind, kindness with the heart, kindness with the body, kindness with speech.
You know? So this is my this is my point of view. Okay? Here I want to clarify one thing. So you expect you expect, you know, with worldly concern, you see, that you’ll be praised that you’ll be praised by this person if I if I do this to him.
That I will be praised praised by by this person that I become famous or the something. You expect something to this life, you see, in return. Firm or power or something, you see, or or material gift to receive. So so, however, your goal is not to help this person, but your goal, your motivation is to achieve your happiness. Not not really to help this person.
But for each of your happiness then, you see, you you do giving things, say nice things you give to this person. So that that is not kindness. That is not kindness. That that is that is the issue Working for the that is act of self-cherishing. That’s act of attachment, act of self-cherishing.
So that’s not kindness. So kindness is kindness has but other person, of course, can mention can mention how this person is so kind. That’s good because then other person can develop good heart, you know, for each day, achieve, you know, full enlightenment, you see, complete qualities, cessations, realizations. But you see, from the side of the person with such a mind, you know, worldly concern, you see, to something, you see back. However, your goal is always happiness, your own happiness for oneself.
Then doing these things, so that’s not kindness. It appears kindness but not kindness. K? So the that’s your kindness has to relate to the heart and kind. So the compassion.
You know what mechanism is? He he would like to request Rinpoche, you know, to explain more about, you know, when you transform your mind Yeah. And then, you know, it will also affect your body. You know? Yes.
He said he would like to know the mechanism in between when you transform your mind and you affect your body. And also, actually, when we transform our mind, the outer external environment will also transform, you know. So he will also like Rinpoche to explain, you know, the when you change your mind. Also, you can change the external. Yeah.
Yeah. External environment. Yes. That’s right. You’re right.
That’s right. Yeah. That’s right. So he would also like Rinpoche to explain more details about the mechanism in between transforming your mind and transforming your environment. Okay.
Yeah. Yeah. That can change your environment. That these are it is it is basically it is basically dependent arising. How the effect is dependent arising.
See. For example, just one simple thing. Do you understand? Doctor want to understand when the before the person is very beautiful. Okay?
But when the person once the person get angry then the whole form changes which was so beautiful before. But this little body, once the person’s mind is filled with anger, the body become the body become ugly. You know, that time you don’t see beautiful when the person angry. You see, there’s no beauty on the face. The it become terrifying when you see the face of the person.
So you can see how anger affects the body. Totally changes, you know. Then the environment changes. You know, you are when your mind is so polluted, when your mind is so negative, impure, see, even the flowers on the table, you know, even the it it affect them. It affect them.
Even the flowers become very very quickly old. You know, the they get they become, let’s say, how’s it or wrinkles become old very quickly. You know? Normally, they last for some time, but you see how the nature of the mind is it during the during those days have so impure the you see, solar pollution. So it affects even the plants.
It’s a bit this is how I see. Then, of course, when the person is angry, when you enter the room, it’s not it’s it’s not good. It’s not it’s very negative. It’s very negative environment in the room. When the person is angry, they see.
It’s not a happy pleasant feeling in the room. So you can see. So like that. So so one person one influential person with power angry, then the whole country you see, made a mess. You know?
Whole country made a mess. Your country, other’s country made a mess. So one person’s did a negative mind. You know? So that’s then some he’s tell, you know, so many stories.
We can, you know, we can see that. The happens, you know, that the recent stories and the past stories. So that how negative mind. One person with negative mind. One person with influence, power, didn’t practice loving kindness, compassion.
So, see, anger, rises. So many millions of people in this world, tortured, killed, children killed, put in a fire. You see? So this happens. You see?
This happened many times historically in in this world. So that so that so that these these histories become become teaching for us how important it is every one of us to practice good heart. So so that we’d only bring happiness not only oneself but to all the living beings from life to life. And then ultimate happiness, a fully enlightened life. Okay?
So So that to clarify to doctor answer to clarify one more time. How this how this compassion, love and this bodhicitta, how this positive mind able to heal those sicknesses? It’s two things. Because they because they’re so powerful in this part of the mind, so they purify negative karma. They purify the cause of sickness, karma.
So that’s how the sickness gets cleared. And also and also one thing, with this when you generate the compassion one hand towards others, this positive mind, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, the Protectors, all those, they are so happy with you. So they also they can be do their blessings. They help they they they grant their blessings to heal the sicknesses. That’s one thing.
Yeah. Like that. So the other thing, as as far as a good heart, good heart, that person in which good heart healing those sick persons, those with AIDS and cancer, something like that. Now the there are other ways of healing by doing mantras of deities, different Buddhas, mantras, the meditation. Of course, the person take refuge to the to that Buddha And then receiving the receiving the blessing from the Buddha.
Guide that person, heal that person’s sickness as as that person take refuge, so strongly request prayer to their Buddha. So because Buddha has unimaginable qualities, power to that, and the also the person is karma to get a karma to see. So, this there’s some some of the sicknesses like cancer, these things are caused by naga. Not the main cause. Main cause is the individual karma, but there’s condition other beings.
Naga, of course, which is not known in the western culture, western medical knowledge, hospital, the medical knowledge, of course. But there are many subjects which is not which is not known, which is not taught. You see, there are many other educations which is not taught. There are conditions for the sickness other than what is explained in the in the hospital, you see, in the western culture. There are many things we do not explain their condition.
So there are other beings who are connected to their sicknesses. The cancer is not rare. So there are deities, there are Buddhas who are manifested especially to protect the sentient beings against those being harms. But when you chant those deity mantras and then heals able to heal those sicknesses. So there’s different, you see, reasons like that.
How it works. The meditation, how to heal the sicknesses. So I think that’s all. So the doctor gives the correct medicine. The person has doctor is able to diagnose this, gives the medicine correct, But it doesn’t mean all the time it will work.
Medicine is correct. But sometimes it doesn’t work or causes even, you see, it increases the sicknesses. So, you see, so at that time, there there are spirits, you see, who interfere the medicine to function to benefit the patients. So there’s some simple prayers or Pujas. See, meditation.
So if you do that, immediately the medicine works for the patients. So they are like this. Are like these cases. They have not been wrong with the medicine. But there’s other interfere other other obstacles.
The medicine will work for the patients. Then also the other person has karma to get recovered. If the person’s karma is such that they are to be recovered, even the correct even the correct medicine and the doctor knows doctor is able to diagnose the disease correctly and, you know, won’t recover the other person. The patient’s disease cannot be recovered. So there are many show there are many stories like that.
So these are the answers you see. Sort of that. Yeah. Okay. That so that’s all finished.
So therefore, it becomes very important every day of our life to practice the good heart so that we don’t create karma harming others, harming ourselves. This becomes ultimate answer. Thank you very much.