Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 24-minute teaching, Lama Zopa Rinpoche addresses the fundamental unsatisfactory nature of cyclic existence through concrete examples. He uses friendship—where initial excitement gradually transforms into boredom and unhappiness—and eating, where apparent pleasure masks growing discomfort, to illustrate why satisfaction is never sustained in saṃsāra. He then outlines the Buddhist analysis of suffering: the suffering of change, suffering within suffering, and the pervasive compounding suffering inherent in any existence driven by karma and delusion. This framework explains why liberation becomes the foundation for seeking enlightenment on behalf of all beings. In the closing section, he offers direct practical guidance: students must stay alert during teachings, avoiding habitual sleep, which creates negative karma obstructing future understanding of Dharma.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2005 06 05 3 TAIWAN LTK LONG LIFE 3.mp3
UUID: 332d003b-7bd1-4b4c-8efa-771e2a23df7b
Teacher: Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1
Collection: z Taiwan (Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1)
Date: 2005-06-05
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 23.8 minutes
Words: ~1,043
That, for example, a friend or something you see. So at the beginning, you see see, by meeting, see see, there’s a great excitement. Then sooner or later, then you see see. Soon or later, then you see see. You know?
But the feeling of boring, see, after meeting the feeling of boring started then increase more and more. Sort of that. So unhappiness, you see, the buildup. But then you look for another then one look for another another one. Something else is better than this friend.
You see? Then after meeting, then the boredom and unhappiness start. Sorry that. So could never get satisfaction. You could never get that.
You see? Oh, satisfaction. Last for the like that. So first, hunger. You know?
Then by eating first spoon of food, then it stops from great hunger thirst, eating or drinking. Already the discomfort started. But it’s discomfort started by eating, by action eating, but it’s more. But the more you continue eating, then that discomfort increase more and more. Then you become suffering from pain.
So beginning discomfort is there, but you don’t realize, you’re not aware. So that’s then you label pleasure. I see. So appeared and appeared and say, labeled and labeled and believed appeared and attached to that. Then that become cause to reincarnate again the saṃsāra.
See. And then experience all the sufferings over and over like that. Then, see, just once you to be free from all the suffering of suffering of change. And then, not all that, then to be free from pervasive compounding suffering. The all the saṃsāra.
The see, the continuity continuity of aggregates contaminated by the seed of disturbing thoughts caused by contaminating delusion, that which takes one to future saṃsāra. So except for the meditator who has achieved the path of meditation, that which is not, who has nothing mortal, whose continuity of the contaminated aggregates does not continue to the next life, except that, you see, except that. So, crude nature of the aggregates, the contaminated seed of disturbing thought caused by contaminating delusion. Take taking future saṃsāra. For that for for that’s what’s called saṃsāra, cyclic existence. So so this pervasive compounding suffering contaminated in any samsaric desire realm, form realm, formless realm, all this contaminated, sealed within this, pervaded by suffering, under the control of karma and delusion, pervaded by suffering.
So like this, they are natural suffering. And and compound contaminated, the seed of delusion compounds the problems, suffering in the body and mind, and it compounds future life future life suffering as well by giving a rise to delusion, body of karma, and creates the the, say, cause of the future life saṃsāra. You see, it leaves the imprint seed on the mental continuum. So it compounds also future life saṃsāra. So to be free from this to be completely free from this third, which is fundamental of whole entire suffering.
So you see, the reason to take refuge, it’s it’s this, you know, to be to be free from the pervasive compounding suffering. See, only then you are free from a whole entire suffering. But now here, reason taking liberation, not just that for your own happiness, but, you see, to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of sentient beings. For same, it applies for taking initiation, all that initiation, you see. So for that, we need a long life.
So so usually I see people are sleeping is always sleeping. People who are sleeping is always sleeping. People are not sleeping, listening, they’re always listening. So it’s always you know, when sleeping, it’s always sleep. Every time I sit sleeping.
When I listen, it’s always listening. So oh, that doesn’t mean I don’t sleep in teachings. I sleep in teachings. You know? Of course, it doesn’t mean that.
You know? Yeah. I don’t sleep. I sleep in teachings. Even so.
So anyway but I just remind you. So if you do that, of course, here in my case, given the time. But even other earlier times, if you’re still sleeping, then you never you learn Dharma. Then then you never learn Dharma. You come to teaching sleep, then never hear anything.
You don’t learn. You missed out. So so then one get bad habits. One get bad habits. You really get a habits into that.
Then whenever you whenever you’re teaching, then you fall asleep, asleep. Also, it can create karma that, you know, in the future, to not understand the Dharma. You know, it might affect in the future to not understand Dharma, to not learn dharma. So you might cause obstacle for that. So so if one can’t, you know, if one can’t control, then it is good also to stand up and to listen Dharma, to stand up, walk, to listen, you know, to walk around and stand up and listen Dharma.
So this you don’t waste so this way, don’t waste life. So but otherwise, every time when you come teaching the when you every time become habit, when you’re teaching, then you fall asleep like that. Well, of course, not of course, not other times, you know, when you play or you know? But it’s taking can get bad habit. And then it creates karma to not learn to not under to not learn dharma, to not understand dharma in the future.
So I thought just to I thought just bring that. Yeah. So so that so that one come so that one come to know that that that one must change, must do something about not always we come not always we listen teachings. Not always there’s opportunity to listen teachings. And even the little that we take opportunity and, you know, whole time we sleep, then you never learn, you know.
Yeah. And that so, of course, my time is different. You know, the sleeping time is not is not not time to listen or to talk. But it’s not sleeping time, so can understand that. But in the early times you sleep, then and if that’s what one normally does, then it’s no good.
And people are listening. So they’re always listening, you know. So every time so they so it’s that.