Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 100-minute teaching, Lama Zopa Rinpoche guides practitioners through a stark meditation on death, opening with personal reflection: Buddha, great masters, and everyone he knows have passed away—death could happen today. He then contemplates his own rebirth if he had died in any of his near-death experiences, vividly imagining lower realm fates: born as a worm covered by ants, a lobster boiled alive, or trapped in a hell realm. Rather than treating death as abstract philosophy, he uses visceral, uncomfortable imagery to dismantle denial. He explains how non-virtuous karma multiplies exponentially each day if unpurified, explores the severe consequences of breaking ordained vows, and concludes that the solution lies in practicing virtue and cultivating bodhicitta. For practitioners with Buddhist foundation and familiarity with karma teachings.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2005 06 11 1 TWN S.C.11TH JUNE05 ONLY 1.mp3
UUID: 329229e9-2191-4d7e-a4a6-5654ed4e8ac2
Teacher: Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1
Collection: z Taiwan (Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1)
Date: 2005-06-11
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 100.6 minutes
Words: ~4,876
Do it in Chinese. Do the Blazing Speech. Do the Blazing Speech in Chinese. Chinese?
Is the Blazing Speech translated in Chinese? Yes. Okay. So do that. Yeah.
I think maybe yeah. First first do that. Good morning. Yeah. What?
This is a new prayer book and the speech is not here. What? The speech praising is not here. It’s not in it, it’s new. Oh, I see.
Prefer it. Ah. Yeah. Yeah. In English.
Not in Chinese. In Chinese, yeah. Maybe translate. When is breakfast time? When is breakfast time?
What’s the clock. So first, the very beginning is the motivation. So I think the first thing. So first, we recollect, we remember the impermanence, to stop the concept of permanence, concept of permanence and attachment. Concept of permanence, that which doesn’t allow us to practice Dharma right away. And to stop the attachment that which doesn’t allow our actions to become Dharma, our mind to become Dharma, actions to become Dharma.
So that’s very important to remember impermanence and death. The Guru Śākyamūni Buddha, even the Guru Śākyamūni Buddha, who is far-famed in the three realms or the existence. Who revealed Dharma to numberless sentient beings. Led beings to liberation, to full enlightenment. He achieved the enlightened body. Even so, we can’t see now, and we only see relics, and the holy places where Buddha taught Dharma, Buddha did practice, achieved enlightenment, Sravasti, place where Buddha’s holy body was offered to fire. So therefore, no question. Myself, that can happen anytime to myself. No question. And then all those the six ornaments, those like Nāgārjuna, Asaṇga, all those who did have extensive benefit to sentient beings due to Buddha, so far from now, what you can see is only the scriptures, and you see the stories of several yogis in the past.
Only you will see the holy places where they did the practice. What you see is the holy places. So therefore, no question to myself that can happen any time. Even today, anytime, even today, it can happen. And then after that, they include Lama Tsongkhapa, the other Tibetan yogis, the great Pandits, Milarepa, Marpa, and so forth.
Those who formed the four traditions. Those are far from this world, and they benefited so many sentient beings through Buddha, taught Dharma in all the parts. From this world, what only what you see is the caves or the scriptures. So therefore, death can happen anytime even today. It can happen to me.
You see the statues. Yeah. So a lot of our statues here. And then yes, lean to relating to myself. See. And then I have about twenty-seven Gurus, Bodhisattvas, many of them already left from this world. So many from whom I received many initiations, many teachings. Particularly Lama Yeshe.
Who was kind to me, kind to the organization, kind to all the three times’ students. Who guided me. Who was with me. Who was there with Lama. For about thirty years.
And during the time when Lama was living there, of course, it looks everything real, like permanent or real. Permanent. It’s going to be always like this, like that. But now even already passed away. A long time, really long time ago. More than yeah, I think maybe eighteen years or something, long time ago, really.
So many gurus already passed away, and those who did incredible benefit in this world, eliminated darkness of sentient beings’ ignorance, and leads you to the Buddha Dharma in this world. Now, can’t see anymore that form. There’s an incarnation, but I think can’t see anymore that form. Only see the relics or things like that. So, of course, myself can die anytime. Even today, it can happen. Now.
And then now family members. So many of us. Among the family members, many already passed away. The mother passed away, the father passed away, or both passed away, like that. Even the parents are there, but not the family members.
The relatives probably passed away. So in my case, father, I don’t remember seeing father in Tibet. Maybe when very small baby born from mother’s womb, or carried in bamboo basket by the mother, the small bamboo basket, in a sort of a cloth bag like that. Maybe he died already at that time. I don’t remember seeing father’s face anyway.
Only remember the whole family sleeping under the father’s coat when I was very small there. One or two, three years old. The whole family is sleeping under the father’s coat, the animal skin coat. And talking in the morning about the coat, the whole family is sleeping under the coat—the brothers, sisters, two sisters and one brother, the mother.
Talking that this is father’s coat like that. The father left long time ago, died. But talking about this is father’s coat. So mother already passed away a long time ago. And many family members already passed away.
Concerning myself, my two teacher uncles passed away, who were monks. They taught alphabet, and they passed away long long time ago. So anyway, I have to relate to your own situation. When you’re meditating, you have to relate to your own situation. So therefore, also many friends, many people that you know, friends.
So many people that you know, did business together or studied in school, college, university together, or many doing things together in the past, already passed away, so many. So therefore, death can happen to me. Even today, I can die even today. So it’s good to keep the head up like this, and then you don’t fall asleep. You keep up. If you feel like this, then you create darkness here, then you’re going to fall asleep. So like that.
You can stay like that from there. Except the next person has to be careful. Except the next person has to be careful which might harm the next person. The next person has to be cautious. Might damage that next person’s nose. Smash the next person’s nose.
So, keep that up, might be helpful. Then so many people who are born on same day as oneself, so many people on this earth born on same day, same age, already died. Numberless, died in this world. Born the same day, same age. Born as human being, but all died.
Already died. So many in lower realms, other places, other realms like that. So today, it could be my turn. Death could be my turn. Death could be my turn. Yeah. So I may die. I can die even today.
I mean, what I’m saying is it could happen even today. And since from the birth, since from the birth up to now, so many times happened, I almost died. So many times happened. So many times happened about to have a car accident. So many times happened about to have a car accident, but didn’t completely happen. Didn’t happen completely.
Almost, so many times, almost fell down from the roofs or the cliffs or whatever. So many places almost fell down, or almost killed by somebody, or so there are many cases. But due to sicknesses, due to sickness, almost died.
So there are many, many, many conditions, many situations happened that almost died. Happened so many times. But somehow, miraculously preventing that. If I had died already, one of those times, if I died already, by now I was definitely in the lower realms. Definitely in the lower realms. Back to lower realms again. So by now, I could have born as worm and a bird puts a beak on my body as a worm with very fragile body, and then beak, and then big bite, put through, and then I would by now in the mouth of the bird, the bird beak holding a worm hanging, turning like this between the beak, inside the beak. By now I could be like that, and just about to go, just about to be swallowed, just about to go with the bird through the neck into the body. Could be like that. Born as fish and fishermen caught or human being caught, and then cutting the body in pieces, slice the body.
Or shaving the scales, burn on fire. Could be like that, could be like that. Or born as a worm and completely covered by ants. Born as a worm and completely covered by ants.
So one ant bites you, how much pain there is? One ant, one tiny insect, even the human body is so big, but bites you, have pain from it. So now this fragile worm, completely covered by ants. Many hundreds of ants, nowhere to go, nowhere to escape. There’s nobody to ask for help.
Completely covered by ants biting, eating. But so by now, could be like that. If I died already in one of those situations. Or born as lobster and put in the restaurant, in the glass. There. Or somebody came to the tank and chose you, paid for you, and then put in the hot water, boil in hot water.
But don’t die immediately. If you did the karma, don’t die immediately and scream. In this boiling hot water. At the moment, can’t put even one minute, you can’t put in the hot water. It’s so unbearable.
Even few seconds, can’t put your finger in hot boiling water. So I could be by now like that. Being born a chicken and cutting the neck or chopping the neck.
Could be like that. If one is born like that now, what you can do? Nothing. There’s no body whom you can ask for help. So, no question.
If I’m born as a preta, hungry ghost, couldn’t find a drop of water for hundred thousands of years. Couldn’t find spoon of food for hundred thousands of years. If I’m born like that already, nothing you can do until you finish your karma. Born in hell realms now. That even that one tiny fire sparkle from hell is seven times hotter than the end of the time fire.
End of the world fire, which melts even rocky mountains, like lava. Lava comes from volcano, melts there. Even the rocks, even the hard rocks, hell is much hotter than the human beings’ fire. And end of the time fire is seven times hotter than all the fire. So if we have now in the hell realm, caught in the iron house with no window, doors, completely hot, burning.
For billions and billions for human beings, it’s just, hundreds of billions of billions of years, unimaginable time. If I’m already there now. What can I do? Nothing. Has to suffer until the karma finishes. Or in the hand of the karma guardians, the unfortunate, no matter how much you suffer, have the experience, no choice. No way to escape. There’s no opportunity you can ask for help. So therefore, if I’m by now in those realms like this, what can I do?
Nothing. So therefore, so far, I did not die. It’s a miracle. It’s a miracle. So many times situation, condition of death happened so many times, but do not die completely.
What is it? Still alive. It’s able to be human being. This is just unbelievable miracle, a dream.
This human body is so precious. And not all that. By now, even even I was born a human being, died, even I was born a human being but human, born human being, no Dharma. Didn’t remember Dharma. There may be some temporal pleasure or comfort, but same as animal, no differences.
If you have no Dharma, no differences from life from the animal. Just living the life with the attachment, clinging to this life, living a life with anger, ignorance, nothing, not the slightest, nothing different from the animal. Born human being, no Dharma. So that’s so unbearable.
If you’re born human being but no Dharma at all your whole life, nobody has the opportunity to collect a merit, to purify, to plant a seed, meditate on the Lamrim, to get out of saṃsāra, to achieve enlightenment, to end the suffering of saṃsāra, which continues from no beginning. Which couldn’t reach the beginning. And with Dharma, you end suffering of saṃsāra, which has no beginning. So born human being, but no Dharma.
That’s so whole life no Dharma. It’s so unbearable. It’s so unbearable. Totally. Absolutely no different from animal, from the cows, from the cats, from the turtles, from the worms.
Continuously creating the karma. Continuously same. Just shape human body. So therefore, so this time, that didn’t happen. To be a human being, opportunity to practice Dharma is unbelievable miracle. So now, conclusion. I must abandon the karma, the non-virtuous actions. Only practice virtue. So that’s conclusion.
That’s the conclusion. The frightening impermanence of death. If you don’t have the solution, which is the practice of Dharma, then there’s no use. If you’re thinking of death, remember, if you are scared, then there’s no use. It’s just scaring.
If you don’t have a conclusion, the method, the solution, the practice of Dharma. Then it makes everything this sense, the unbelievable impact, and the most important thing makes you see differences when you think of death. When you think of the solution, it’s. So it becomes most important that it gets benefit to overcome delusion, to cut the delusion immediately. Negative emotional mind, which harms you, harms all the sentient beings from life to life, from life to life, like that, to all the sentient beings. Harm the sentient beings directly or indirectly. Which prevents liberation, stops liberation, prevents, interferes with full enlightenment, great liberation, even for the temporal happiness. So able to overcome this and achieve liberation and even to achieve full enlightenment.
Then not only that, you’re able to liberate numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering, and bring them to full enlightenment. So that from thinking of impermanence and death. And the relationship with karma. The thing so based on the karma, result of the negative karma, the lower realms. That’s the most unimaginable suffering.
So even between yesterday and today, there are so many people on this earth who died, went to bed, and didn’t have time to get up this morning to be a human being, even just to be a human being, leave aside to practice Dharma. So many died. So this morning, the body became corpse. Before went to bed, it wasn’t called corpse, but this morning, it became, it’s the name corpse. So after a few hours, this body will be taken to the cemetery. Either burn or put in a coffin, buried in the ground.
So many. Yesterday, human being, but today, yesterday, human being, but this morning already got born in lower realm. Born in lower realm. Hell realm. Uncountable numbers already in the lower realm.
Explanation of those sufferings that is described, gave some idea in the teachings, in the texts by Buddha, explains some rough ideas, how it is. So if I died last night, by now I’d be in the lower realm. Why? Because even though I practiced Dharma, I didn’t really do intensive purification. Did some practice here and there, but didn’t really do a really intensive continual practice of purification.
Didn’t get that. And non-virtuous karma. So it’s not just one day of negative karma with the body, speech, mind. The fundamental non-virtue, such as gossiping, covetousness, that many other things come. They’re done so many times in one day. We go shopping, and with so many covetous thoughts need to come up. We think we haven’t created any non-virtuous karma. Just went for shopping, but I didn’t create any karma. I think I didn’t do anything wrong.
Just went for shopping. But so many covetousness. The three negative karmas from the mind, quite some and come back home with a huge collection of negative karma. So, however, depending on the person, ten, but there’s some karma created every day, something happens.
However, there’s so many karma collected, not just that. Actions done with the attachment and clinging to this life. All those are non-virtuous karma. Not only out of anger, but whenever we did the action with attachment clinging to this life, and that’s the motivation. That’s the attitude of our life.
That’s the attitude of the life that us ordinary beings have. That’s the everyday attitude of life. So all the actions done with that, any action. All the actions done with that, all negative karma. So so many negative karmas created from birth in this life. It’s just one day. Unbelievable number. Then from birth up to now, I can’t imagine. With one year, I can’t imagine.
I can’t imagine. From birth. I can’t imagine. Then one negative karma, one tiny non-virtuous karma, not even purified going to bed. End of the day, not being purified by doing proper practice. So it doubled up next day, then triple the next. The second day become four. Then become four. Then the third day, then become eight.
Like that. So you can imagine. Then next, third. Fourth, yeah. What?
The eight become two times. Sixteen. Sixteen. So fourth day, it becomes sixteen. That negative karma increases, it becomes sixteen. It becomes so heavy. So after fifteen days, that small negative karma becomes by increasing, it becomes the same heavy karma as killing one human being. So by multiplying, it becomes like a mountain.
One negative karma, by multiplying, becomes a mountain. Like one atom, by multiplying, becomes a mountain on the side of this earth. So even though that one day’s negative karma, that one non-virtuous karma, not even with the practice of purification, with Bodhisattva confession at the end of the day, then it goes on, it becomes the size of a mountain, earth, like that.
Then you can’t imagine from each karma. From that one non-virtuous karma can increase like that. Then you can’t imagine from each negative karma, five hundred in one day, to one year, from birth. Then now, until that, from the beginning, since beginningless rebirths, negative karma. Not finished experiencing, not finished, not purified, not finished experiencing. It’s an amazing time. Then how’s that? If you are ordained, if you are an ordained person, being careless in the vow, then how heavy it is? Is it heavier or the same as a lay person killed one hundred horses and one hundred human beings.
One hundred horses? I mean, Pabongka used horse. It can be another. There’s no special reason horse. Maybe it depends on whom Pabongka spoke. Those the Tibetan people whom he spoke. And so, literally horse, but could be another animal. So a lay person killed one hundred horses and one hundred human beings. An ordained person being careless. So when one becomes careless, one actually becomes careless, in that minute or second, becomes careless in the vow. That one time, then equivalent or heavier. A lay person killed one hundred horses and one hundred human beings.
And then, of course, if person was living in the, of course, practice mindfulness and living the pure vow, of course, then unbelievable, unbelievable merit. So, even the lay person who become, who achieved the exalted path, arising path, path of meditation. Ordinary person, ordinary being, didn’t have realization of even emptiness. Not even the realization of emptiness, but living in the vow, also become object to be respected, prostrated by lay people. Even lay people. So that’s the other side.
Unbelievable. But but here, the one time being careless, or living or not. Then how heavy it is. Then lay person killed a hundred horses and maybe. I could probably say more heavy than that, I think.
So just clarify. So broke the vow in most past lives. So therefore now, definitely, I would be in the lower realm. If I died last night. So that didn’t happen.
Actually, and I have this perfect, not just the not just not just the human body, but this human body which qualified with eight freedoms and ten richnesses. This precious human body, in every second, every second of this life, every second is, in every second of this precious human body, the same value, the precious human body. Every second of this precious human body, more precious than whole sky filled with wish-granting jewels. Every second of this precious human body is more precious than whole sky filled with wish-granting jewels. So precious. So that wealth, fill the whole sky, which can do not just gold, diamond.
Even which can do is nothing. The value is nothing compared to this precious human body that one has. So, anyway, like this. So therefore, I must practice. Now the conclusion.
Therefore, I must practice. On the basis of correctly devoting with virtue of body, speech, and mind, not just doing something what I would like. I follow not the self-cherishing thought. On the basis of correctly devoting with virtue of body, speech and mind, the Mahāyāna Sūtra teaching, Mahāyāna Sūtra teaching.
Okay? Okay. And, the simple way is I must not separate with bodhicitta practice. Even each second to not separate from the practice of bodhicitta. So that’s the that’s kind of a simple. So, I mean, I mentioned how heavy, how heavy that one time, even one time being careless in the vow, that, equivalent to a person killing one hundred horses and one hundred human beings.
But also the one who’s able to live in the vow, protect it, the it is in the sūtra, but you have to understand also that side. If one is able to protect and protect one’s ordination, there’s unbelievable merit or benefit. For example, the three desired realm, form realm, formless realm, those each realm, that number of sentient beings, everyone becomes a wheel-turning king, most powerful king in the continent. And everyone makes light offering, oceans of butter lamp offerings, Mount Merus of wax. Every single sentient being becomes world-turning king. So the value from everyone, the number of sentient beings.
Everyone being world-turning king, each one offers oceans of butter, mountains of wax, light offering to the Buddha. Then one person who is living in ordination offers one tiny hair-size of wax and small, mustard seed of butter as light offering to light offering to Buddha. So this one, this one person living in ordination, likewise, offers a tiny size hair, mustard seed of butter, hair-size wax. This one acquires far more great merit.
This one acquires far more great merit because living the vow of ordination. Then all those numberless beings in each realm become world-turning king, more powerful king of continent, and make oceans, everyone makes oceans of butter, mountains of wax, light offerings to the Buddhas. So let me mention it. So the lay, doing, okay.
For example, light offering or whatever, flower, light or whatever, many hundred thousands. So many hundred thousands. But the person living as ordained, so many hundred thousand. So maybe even billions, like that make offering to Buddha, but the person living the vow, protecting it. Then one small light offering. You see benefits far more than the former. Water offering, one candlelight, one incense offering. Former gets more merit with one, than lay person, many even billions who’s making offering. So there are the positive sides for those who are able to protect. Living in vows. You protect it, has incredible benefit, but also if one does not protect, and then yeah. As mentioned, there’s careless then. In one time, could be careless, then. The equivalent is heavier, like that. The heavy is the most heavy. I mentioned. The other one, I should mention also the other side.
So, otherwise, I sound, leaving the ordained life won’t want to take ordination. So here.