Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 80-minute teaching, Lama Zopa Rinpoche introduces mind training, a practical method for transforming daily difficulties into pathways of enlightenment. He opens by establishing the threefold Buddhist path—refraining from harmful action, cultivating virtue, and subduing the mind—and then pivots to the central problem: the self-grasping mind, an instinctive belief in a solid, independent self that doesn’t actually exist. Through analysis, Rinpoche guides practitioners to investigate whether this self can be found anywhere in body or mind, ultimately revealing it to be like a phantom. He explains how this delusion fuels all suffering and how the practice of mind training—which treats adversity as a teacher and gift—gradually dismantles self-grasping through study, reflection, and daily meditation. The teaching emphasizes mindfulness and introspection as essential guardians against ignorance, and stresses that consistent practice, even if imperfect, accumulates merit across lifetimes toward enlightenment. Suited for practitioners already familiar with Buddhist philosophy and ready to engage directly with their own mind.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 01 Lojong.mp3
UUID: 4b3d07c0-4b01-4ac4-9b84-7be56eb7687f
Teacher: Lama Zopa Rinpoche 3
Collection: Mind Training (Lama Zopa Rinpoche 3)
Date: 1990 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 80.7 minutes
Words: ~8,789
And on top of that, not only learning, but to contemplate the understanding of the meanings that the body have learned. And not only contemplation and listening or learning the Dharma, but to make it inseparable from life by habituating the teaching, the meaning of the teaching into deep in your heart. Make it as a habit in our day to day life which can manifest the blessing of the teaching through our body, spirit and mind and to share the benefit with numberless beings. So for that purpose, that we are here today. For that purpose, I hope I will enjoy my session like that.
For that purpose, I hope I will not be bored of the teaching, be bored. I hope I may be able to inspire, you know, by this conversation. I hope I can accumulate great amount of merit. I hope due to that, I can able to benefit in my best ability to all the noble beings, especially in particular those beings that have already come in connection with you. Like that.
So therefore, I’m gonna enjoy this session. This is the this is the this is the motivation that I think every every sessions, whether we do puja, whether we do teachings, whether whatever, you know, whether even even come to offer water bottles, even come to view the mandala, even look at our gurus on the picture, even at home when you see your husband, you see your wife, you see your children, even even go to toilet, even go to food. So this is the motivation that we should we should have. Then our life become very meaningful, and your prayer is going to become very effective, very powerful. And it’s good for now, good for later, good for even at the time of dying, good for intermediate state, good for next life, and good for enlightenment.
So that’s, I think, how it’s all about what’s called Buddha’s teaching. And as stated by Buddha, that as Buddha taught eighty four thousand teachings, and all those eighty four thousand teachings were summarized into two categories. You know? Or actually, not two. Three.
Three. Three. Words. Never commit any evil actions. That’s how short it is.
You know, accumulate virtuous act. Subduing one’s mind, this is Buddha’s teaching. This is Buddha’s teaching. You know? So all eighty four thousand teachings summarized in thirty three.
Not to commit evil deeds, actualize virtue, you know, adopt virtue, abandon non virtue, and subdue one’s mind, this is Buddha’s teaching. This eighty four thousand teaching, summarized in three. And the the small capable beings’ teachings, the lower capable beings’ teachings,, middle capable teachings, or you can also call as the the Vinaya Sūtra, and as well as the rest of the sutras and the teachings which are practiced by Theravadan practitioners, all included in the first first word. Never commit, you know, non virtues or never commit evil deeds. So all those teachings, such as the Vinaya teaching, including that.
Yeah. So it’s a to actualize or adopt, you know, the accumulation of merits. So then the Mahāyāna teachings such as Mahāyāna Sūtrayāna, Mahāyāna Tantrayāna, all this include within the second word such as the what was it? The most powerful tool to accumulate extensive merit is this practice of six perfection. Practice of six perfection.
So to accumulate the complete completion of merit is engaging in the practice of six perfection. Know? So like that. So then, so to subdue one’s mind. And so this summarizes the whole purpose of Buddhist teaching.
It’s about subduing the delusion and awakening the wisdom enlightenment, you know, the wisdom enlightenment. Subduing all the defilements, delusions, and awakening the wisdom enlightenment wisdom enlightenment or the yeah, wisdom enlightenment, the omniscient. And also the language is as mind. It also means entire. Means subdue.
In subdue entire mind. And this, if you want to elaborate, then it comes about the teachings of the most profound tantric yana’s teaching, the absorption. They call completion. Completion stage, the teachings of the clear light, the teaching of the absorption, the clear light teaching.
So the absorption of the you know, in in in tantra, two stages, the generation stage and completion stage. The the most profound teaching, the completion stage is the the the practice engaging into the clear light mind. The clear light, yeah, the the the clear light the practice engaging with the clear light mind. So that that is the subtlest mind. The clear light is the clear light clear light mind is the yeah.
So clear light mind is the subtlest mind. Yong su dok pa means entire mind pacified or subdued. When one’s mind is totally completely subdue, it’s the time the clear light mind is completely overcome with the subtlest delusion, the subtlest defilement, which is also so subtle, just like the clear light mind. Both are so subtle. So the emptiness realization based on clear light mind only can be able to eliminate the subtlest defilement.
You can say the subtlest ignorance. The darkest point, the blindest, darkest point of the mind is the subtlest ignorance. In order to so that we call the defilement. That is the object of eradication which to be eradicated by the emptiness realization of wisdom which supported by the bodhicitta. So here it is very important supported by bodhicitta.
Hīnayāna, you know, which eradicate the grasping mind, not necessarily need the support of bodhicitta. Without bodhicitta, just by emptiness realization, can able to eradicate the grasping, self grasping, even the subtlest self grasping. But the subtlest defilement, the ignorance, cannot, unable to eradicate just by emptiness realization, emptiness wisdom alone. In order to eradicate that, you need the back support of bodhicitta. So with the union of bodhicitta and emptiness, only then union of bodhicitta and emptiness, riding on the horse, riding on the horse of the subtle wind mind.
The union, you know, the coming together of, you know, support each other of wisdom regarding emptiness, and bodhicitta riding on the vehicle or the horse of the wind subtle mind, which is the clear light mind, can able to eradicate the subtlest ignorance. And the moment you eradicate the subtlest ignorant, the next moment is enlightenment or the omniscient. So it’s how how this come about. So so here, Yong su dok pa, subdue entire mind, only accomplished when you become Buddha, when you become Buddha. So so it’s just see now, entire teaching, you know, is consists with this this word.
It’s normally it’s very nice to memorize this, and you chant like, daily practice. You know? And try to whatever Lamrim study that you have done, Tantra, Sūtra, any practice you have done, any teachings that you have learned, try to merge, try to consist into these three this this word. It’s very nice. You can you can create a tune for your own.
You can create a nice tune, or you can even make a ringtone. A ring a ringtone. It’s a it’s a like that. So it is unbelievable effective. Sometimes you can say maybe even more effective than or there’s, you know, many numbers of recitations of mantras.
You know? That’s something you can say. I mean, you cannot say more powerful, but it’s it’s a for we ordinary being is is is it’s easy to remind us to be alert, you know, to be to be cautious about the obstacles and sufferings and to appreciate the the miraculous, the virtuous deeds. You see? Then then he say, so this is Buddha’s teaching.
Mhmm. This is teachings of Buddha or this Buddha’s teaching. I don’t know how the word works. Anyway, he said this is the Buddha’s teaching. So you’re now here.
Even for the very beginner, when we when we want to inspire at the at the at the at the that you want to take refuge, one should be convinced to take refuge. You say, take refuge to Buddha? Take refuge on Buddha. To Buddha. To Buddha.
Take refuge to Buddha should be convinced by at least have a summarized understanding of this, you know, by by this this teaching, this this summary’s teaching is the life of Buddha. This is this is who he is. By knowing this, then when you take refuge, your refuge will be what do call, what do you call it, uninterrupted, unshakable. And due to that, the sincere conviction, the wholehearted and sincere conviction and wholehearted and sincere faith towards him will be there, then whatever prayer you make, it really can actualize. Otherwise, we are like kind of like like most of the time we are comforting ourselves.
If something goes wrong, I do this and that. It’s most likely don’t know whether it’s really worth it, but it it comforts us, you know. It’s more like, tell Buddha that, you you’re really helping me. Okay? You know?
Like, make yourself a little bit, like, lighter, like, lifted. That’s it. But it really it really disturbs the ignorant or the rude or not as we discussed yesterday because they’re so smart. The ignorant is, like, unbelievable. The management that ignorant ignorant does is is a is a super professional.
You know? So we have to we have to we also have to plan, pre-plan in a certain kind of very consistent but effective and whenever the ignorant vigilant, we will be right there. So it makes connection with yesterday’s talk and today’s talk. So anyway, all these eighty four thousand teachings consist in this, one week of teaching, and three weeks of teaching, the essence of that is mind training teaching. Here, mind training teaching.
This is the teaching that we’re going to discuss. Within that, the teaching There’s various commentaries and root texts of mind training teachings, but we are doing right now is on the commentary on the seven-point mind training teaching, which is the remaining part of the subject that we were unable to finish last year because I went for holiday. Now we continue with that. So it’s on page one hundred and fifty five. Page one hundred and fifty five.
We stop just before the presentation of the measure of having attained or trained the mind, presentation of the measure of having trained the mind. So we have gone up to that. One hundred and fifteen. Oh, is it? Is it?
Oh, okay. Thank you. Hundred and fifteen, sorry. Hundred one one five. So so you have to be very careful with my broken English, but sometimes it helps, you know why?
Because of you know is the structure and the words can be the pronouns, everything can be not so sure, so you have to have to pay extra attention. So that is the benefit. You have to pay extra attention, so it’s also like almost no choice, have to pay extra attention, so sometimes it benefits. So there’s that advantage of of carry on being a broken Englishman. It’s also a good excuse.
So anyway, I’m sure all of us try our best to practice this teaching in our day to day life. I’m sure all of us roughly remember what we have covered, you know, in just a rough sequence that we have gone through the preparatory for us to inspire to practice the mind training teaching. Then after that, you know, try to understand what really means about mind training. You know, what is the best way to train the mind. Then to learn about the two awakening minds, such as, you know, learn about bodhicitta, how to actualize bodhicitta, to learn about emptiness, you know, how the emptiness works as an antidote to help us to overcome the problems, sufferings, and bring up the enlightenment, you see.
So then we try to convince ourselves what is the real disturbance in our life? What is the real enemy? We always assume the enemy is outside, but the teachings have taught us the enemy is actually within us, the I, the grasping of I, the self-cherishing mind. So, know, teaching described how the I appears, how I cling, how I I become so possessive, how I destroy our peace and happiness, how I, you know, make problems, you know. So so then after that, then again, you know, to for us to, you know, how to overcome this I by learning earlier the true awakening mind, and to confirm in our mind that true awakening mind is the antidote.
This is the only way that we can overcome all these problems, all these disturbing thoughts. Then after that, then gradually, know, let’s say, so then try to summarize even though it’s one of the most advanced profound teachings. The teachings of the true bodhicitta is the most profound and most extensive teaching, but how to summarize this teaching into a brief version and to suit our day to day life, to apply to day to day life. So then after that, then it comes about now presentation of measure of having trained the mind, you know, trained the mind. So by knowing our problem, by understanding what is antidote, and also learn about how to apply the antidote to the adversities or problems, you know, and we’ve been trying our best up to today.
So now we want to check ourselves. What is the measurement? How to investigate that we have already trained certain percentage of our mind? So this is the stage that we try to discover. And whatever in our life experiences, good or bad, and especially the negative experiences, the negative disturbance to your physical body, negative disturbance to your mind, and all the beings or the environment who who cause, you know, who who who are like who who become the condition for our karma to cause them to provide the harms, disturbance.
Day to day life we train how to overcome that, and even our very life experiences in the past, Let’s say in a relationship, in a financial problems, you know, in your spiritual path, we have so many difficulties, you know. But the lojong practitioner, the mind training practitioner, all those are the most marvelous guru, the most marvelous teacher, the or it’s like wish fulfilling jewel, and the problem givers are like wish fulfilling jewel, you know, it’s like a guru that is the one who really tamed or trained our mind. So it is individual business for us to understand how you have went along with this process of training. And whatever disturbance exists, if your mind is not shaking, faith to the Buddha, your mind is very peace and stable, very very very alert, you know, not full of wisdom, and subdued with total compassion and no sense of regret, no sense of anger, hatred, jealousy, calm, peace. Okay, that is the is the the result of that we are engaging in the practice of mind training.
You know? If we get angry, we fail. Once the pain come to your body, if you even extra exaggerate what is so painful, actually only painful, but you say so painful, we fail. Instead of just saying painful, but say so painful, you put a sore, the extra sore. So a little problem or it’s a big problem, unbelievable problem, fail.
If you can say there’s a problem, no, no, no, it’s fine, it’s alright. That means good. Is is somebody disturbing? It’s okay. It’s okay.
It’s fine. It’s object of my compassion. It’s okay. It’s okay. Object of compassion.
Then you’re okay. Okay. But my enemy, you yeah. The moment finger points like that, then finish. So like that.
So you see, this is very relevant in our day to day life. So anyway, so we go to the text. Okay. The fifth point, or any my pronunciation or English here and there, kindly help to correct me. What’s it?
The fifth point, the measure of having trained the measure of having trained the mind is presented by the following. The intent of all teachings converge on the single point. The scripture and the treatise were taught for the purpose of overcoming the self grasping. Thus, there is no target other than this for the activity of study, reflection, and meditation to destroy. So here, the whole purpose of the teachings which are described in the scriptures or treatise, you can say all the essence of the eighty four thousand teachings, the purpose is overcoming grasping mind, self grasping mind.
And how to actualize that practice is only can actualize by engaging into three important points, as I mentioned earlier. Learning, contemplation, and meditation. With these three, one can able to actualize the practice. If we miss one, if we miss learning Dharma or study Dharma, we miss something. Or if we do study hard, but if we miss contemplation on the meaning of this, that what you have studied, you miss something.
No way you can accomplish that purpose of Dharma. You do great study, you do great contemplation, but never reflect or never habituate. Never live a life with that. Never meditate. Meditate is live a life with that, a habituate.
If that I miss out. Again, whatever teaching that you have learned is still not the full force. Not the full force. So now here, overcoming the self grasping, overcoming the self grasping.
You know, the eye, the grasping of self is referred to as the I. Now here, we are born in the instinct of grasping. We are born in the instinct of grasping of I. It’s in nature. It’s in the nature.
It’s born like that. Even though we don’t label, even though we don’t explain, or even though we don’t understand, but we are naturally whatever we perceive in our day to day life, whatever thoughts comes into our mind, in fact it is in the instinct nature of self grasping. Grasping. And what that grasping refer in our bigger picture, what that grasping refer? That grasping refer of independent existence of the self, and that self is the called self.
And grasping that it exists independently is called self grasping in the overall picture. But when it refers to your own side, yourself, it’s about you or the I or me, that’s the one. When we talk about the I or the self, we have to define these two categories. We are blind to grasp on the non-existent I as existing. How?
We grasp, we cling on the non-existent I as existing, based on independent way, from its own side. Okay, it’s bit tricky, but you meditate a little bit, it’s very clear, very, very clear. I. And grasp means, like, you know, try to grab or try to try to impose, try to you call it imposing? Try to try to cling, try to believe, try to feel the real that I or that I is, you know, existing without dependent on the cause and condition.
It is existing from its own side. It is existing without reliance on any condition and causes. So yesterday when we discussed the dependent origination explained in three ways, isn’t it? The dependent of cause and condition, the dependent on the part and particles, and dependent on the perception and existence. Remember, we discussed about these three.
Here, we’re discussing about the dependence on cause and condition related to the third one, the dependent on imputation by perception and the existence. So, the self independent existing I is a non existent, is a non existent phenomena. And that I, we feel it exists there, exists there. And we become the servant for that I. We serve to that I.
We work for that I. We believe for that I. We listen to his instruction, that I’s instruction. And that I is the one who feel hurt if somebody hurts you. That is the I feel proud if you gain at another’s loss.
So such and such. That I, we assume, we just assume, we never analyze, we assume it’s there. That’s it. And if one day sit down and tell us, can we go and find that eye because we want to have a one good party? So go and search.
Come, and I want to bring that eye along to go and have a good food, good lunch. So so so then you you you can start from anywhere. You can start from the tip of the finger. You can start from the crown or even the tip of the hair. You can start from the toe.
But we one day we must go and find the I because we assume that we are all the time company with him, but we we almost like company ghosts. If there’s no ghosts, but we assume we are ghosts, it’s all the time following us. It’s similar like that. It’s exactly like that. You you want to see, you can’t see.
The ghost, you know, you want to see, you can’t see. You You want to hold, also can’t hold. You want to feed the food also, the food is still there, know, not not eating. But you you feel that somebody, ghosts or whatever is following you all the time. When you go into taxi, the ghost is following you.
I experience some people say, everywhere I go, the ghosts follow me. Sleep also sleep beside me. I I go I go in the car, he or she sit beside me. You know, everywhere, you know, he comes and then, are you sure it’s really there, you know? See, I’m very sure, you know, it’s still there.
So then maybe you can bring maybe some something to prove to me that is really there, you know. Of course, there is a ghost also, not all the time there is out there is there’s a ghost, this way you you you know? But most of the time your projection, your belief, your superstition is the one who really make there is a ghost and make you scared. And you are scared, oh, then really ghosts come. You know, the best invitation for ghosts is a scared mind, anxiety.
If we want to invite ghosts, it’s so easy. Just feel scared, immediately ghosts come. Just feel scared, immediately ghost will come. If you are scared more, more ghost will come. So it’s up to us.
You want to escape, you want ghost, scared more. So if you don’t want ghost, don’t escape. That’s simple, you know. So so anyway, the eye is something like that. So you search from the crown to the toe, search.
And now you will not find every you will not find anywhere that eye. Your hair is not you, not I. Your head is not I. Your eyes are not I. Nose is not I.
My tongue is not I. No, my limbs are not I. Where? So in a physical form, physical aggregates is definite. It’s quite easy to find there’s no I.
Now you might doubt, maybe it’s in my mind. So just the term, the conventional label of mind is already said, my mind, subject and object, two thing. Mind, mind. Still the I is somewhere there separate. You see, mind, mind.
Who’s talking about the I is talking about the mind, that one, the subject. The object, mind. You see, subject and mind. Subject and object, two phenomena. It cannot be one.
It can be that simple also. But you might have a doubt. Maybe somewhere somewhere somewhere somewhere somewhere in the mind. Somewhere mind has billions and zillions of momentaries, as the mind aspect of momentaries. The moment you think whole world, you cross your eye, think whole world, your mind is perverse to whole world.
The mind you think one one hundred people, your mind is is transmitted to hundred people. You you you transmitted to one million number. Your mind is transmitted to million momentaries of numbers and million different aspect of the mind within you. Even within one single thought or one single moment, have zillions of categories of thoughts. Okay, now here.
Now you go to investigate one by one. Maybe why not investigate right now? From this very moment to one minute, within that minute, there’s a how many it’s a sixty second, isn’t it? Sixty seconds. Within sixty seconds, there’s how many how many many sixty seconds, isn’t it?
Sixty seconds. One minute sixty seconds? How many sixty seconds? So sixty seconds and then within one tiny second, you know, there’s billions and billions of momentaries. So you check one by one whether this moment of mine is me or not, This moment of mine is me or not.
My mind on pizza is me or not. My mind want to sleep, that mind is me or not. My mind want to go for holiday, that mind is me or not. You know? So you can analyze until you reach to the most subtle clear light mind, whether that clear mind is me or not.
So somehow, you know, the I that you always used to think solid there, if you go to find, you will unable to find in any single aspect of single aspect of aggregates, both physical aggregates and mental aggregates. And now, it’s like if you’re not prepared to learn about emptiness or the selflessness, you will be shocked. You’ll be shocked to to find out that you start to like see two things, you know. Things become blurry, like one human being, you know, one person becomes like two, you you become dizzy. So in all sort of experience, the shocking experience will come.
You see? So anyway, so now this is the I that we’re always talking about, and this is the greatest enemy which established by the Buddha’s teaching. That is the root cause for all our sufferings, because it is not there, but it believed to be there and do all the wrong things. Do all the wrong things. You know, do all the wrong things.
Who really implement those wrong things? Our conceptual mind, all our conceptual thoughts, the conceptual thoughts are the ones who provide the facilities to actualize into our problem to this self-grasping mind. And the self-grasping mind, which is totally overwhelmed with the ignorant state, you know, ignorant mind, like that. So now, if that’s the case, then where is I? Then why?
What is the benefit of practicing? What is the benefit of, you know, I can communicate. Know, really, I am Tenzin Gyatso. I am definitely Tenzin. And, you know, it is valid.
So how? So that’s why as Prāsaṇgika Mādhyamika School established the reality existing of the phenomena is merely labeled. Just merely labeled. Just merely labeled. There’s nothing, nothing.
There’s not even a single atom of physical form, and there’s not even a single moment of mental, unphysical form. It exists as a base to designate as existing grasping object. Nothing exists completely. So merely label, mainly label. So it makes true.
Like, I say, like, if if if one Malaysian Chinese never know about Tibetan Momo. The Momo is the dumpling. What do call it? You call it dumpling? See, I’m bleep I’m bleep is is of how say?
No. No way. Momo is never exist. Only exist what? Shuijiao.
Only Shuijiao exist. Momo is absolutely non existent. We can debate day and night until we really bring one Tibetan kitchen with the Tibetan people with Momo and one Shuijiao or whatever. If these two don’t come together, Momo is non existing. I know until all one Tibetan or one customer come to the Tibetan restaurant, can I have Momo or bring the same type of the Chinese Oh, Oh, that’s Momo?
Then you ask, do Momo exist? Of course. Yes. Momo exist. I want Momo.
You know? So this is such a simple how the how the label works. How the merely label works. Just just need to label to your conceptual perception, and when the conceptual perception accept that, it thinks exist. But until the information doesn’t fit to the conceptual perception, never exist.
Until they’re non existing. Even though the object is still there, but still nonexistent for the perception. Things exist based on being’s perception. Beautiful exists based on being’s perception. Ugly based on being’s perception.
So so in fact, when you go to search, in fact, there’s no ugly and no beauty. Both are nonexistent. For objects that nothing is ugly, objects that nothing is beauty. No beauty there, no ugly there. It’s all about you, your perception.
Means your imputation. You see? So same thing to your day to day life, sufferings, problems, it’s all about it’s all about how you perceive, how you label it, how you label it. Some people they they enjoy the bitter thing, it’s like more than the sweet. This is that they’re so bitter, this is so sweet.
And it is so, oh, you know, it’s so bitter, know. Yes, the sweetness for the person is existing, but the bitter for the person also existing. So then as Nāgārjuna and Lama Tsongkhapa established in the Mādhyamika teaching that one bowl of liquid, one bowl of liquid, we don’t call it water, we don’t call it nectar, we say one bowl of liquid. We use a liquid, one ball of liquid. Yeah, one bottle of liquid.
One bottle of liquid. Then we invite we invite we invite one Buddha, we invite one hungry ghost, and we invite one human being. So three of them let them sit together, and one bowl of liquid in front of them. So in one moment, let them answer for you your question. What is this liquid?
You ask the question, what is this liquid? The Buddha say it’s nectar. human beings say it’s water. Pretas say it’s blood and pus. The hungry ghost will say blood and pus.
So which one is right now? We believe to the Buddha or we believe to the hungry ghost or we believe to human being? And you assume you are human being there. You are human being. You are the question, you know?
What do call? The questioner. You are the questioner. Of course you of course see only water. You don’t see nectar, you don’t see blood and pus, but in that perception you cannot say Buddha is wrong to see the liquid is nectar and the hungry ghost is you cannot say hungry ghost is wrong to see blood and pus.
You see? It’s again completely dependent on the perception. Perception. Is just mainly a liquid, but let the liquid in one moment, in one container, one quantity can perceive three things which is total contradictory. If all of them in one shot drink the same amount, same quantity, same liquid, Buddha is tasting the nectar.
human being just tasting a plain water and the preta is tasting blood and pus. You know, it’s like that. So like that. So now this will help us to respect a human being’s different mental capabilities, perceptions. So okay, I cannot just say, oh, this is completely right because I see this is right.
Maybe for you it could be completely wrong. Your perceived may be completely wrong. So this teaching teaches us to respect others’ view, perception, yeah, respect others view and perception. So it’s talking about compromising, you know, proper compromising. Same to the the the the liquid.
Yeah. Please, Buddha, you enjoy nectar. human being, you enjoy water. And Preta, please enjoy your blood and pus. You see?
Sorry. So now, this what’s that? So now, from this liquid, from this bowl of liquid, from the object side, from the object side, it’s nothing. It’s independently exist which can we implement, say, it’s a substance for nectar. There’s no nothing.
Or you can say this is a substance for water or this is a substance for blood and pus. Objects are nothing. It’s total reflection of the individual karma or individual thoughts, individual perception, and based on that individual label based on individual’s perception. It makes sense? This is actually a very good topic for debate.
I used to jump when I get this topic to debate, especially when three great monasteries come together, then, you know, so much ego to win. So so much ego. So so it’s I used to feel like, woah. It’s like a biggest gift in a whole year because we only can get chance to meet once a year, only one month that we can, you know? When we return from the monastery, let’s say I go to Drepung, and from Drepung when I return back, have to when I go to Drepung, I have to carry the whole Sera Je name on my shoulder, know, in our shoulder.
Even in case we lose, Sera Je loses. If you didn’t answer well for Sera Je, gone. Or then at least the word will remain for one year. This year, Sera Je fell. Well, everywhere you go, you’ll just say, fell.
So when you go back to Sera Je, every monk will look at you, you know. You are a failure. So so and some many people, you know, even the some Rinpoches and Lamas, they course they selected because they are quite good, but happen to get the wrong subject, which is not right. So they cannot perform, so then there’s no face to come back and sometimes they give up the monastery, they leave also. Debate is a bit challenging and it happens once a year.
It takes time, one year in Drepung, one year in Ganden, one year in Sera, and there’s four, five, six university come together, and they’re the biggest university, single university come together, so like that. If you’re able to manage it, when you come back, you become hero. Everywhere, during the different classes, they will quote your statements. They will quote your statements like that. So anyway, so this subject all the time feel, you know, like bliss.
It’s one of the best subject that feels all excitement to debate on it. You know, This is just a three word presentation, but it has many pages to how to squeeze here and there, how to go up and down. Actually it’s to learn the mind of Buddha, learn the mind of human being, and learn the mind of Preta, and also to learn the nature of existence and learn the actual representation of the Prāsaṇgika Mādhyamika view about mainly label, you know, is to learn how really mean about mainly label. So anyway, so now, but there is an existing I, and that existing I is mainly labelled I, and that labelled I exists in the manner of depending on causes and conditions, means in dependence on the causes and conditions. In the cooperation of causes and conditions, the merely labelled I does exist, and who is that?
That’s me. And that me is the one is totally opposite, different than the grasping I or grasping me. That I or the me that which always grasp, which is instinct when we’re born. In Samsāra, when we’re born, there is instinct in us. I and the I that which exists cooperatively with the causes and conditions is totally different.
The cause and conditionally cooperative existing I, it really exists. If that doesn’t exist, then who create the karma? There’s no creator of karma. You know? That is you, that you create the karma.
That’s you. You are the one who going to purify the past karma. That’s the you who going to accumulate the merit, and that’s the you who going to become Buddha. And that I continues. It continues from beginningless lifetime, and it will continue up to enlightenment.
So that’s why whatever practice we manage to do this life, it never wasted because I will take care of my own merit. I will continue to take care of my own merit. I will continue to, you know, I will I have to what do say? I have to go alone. I am the one only.
I am the only one. Have to go along all the way with my own karma. My own karma, my own imprint, my own self, my own life. So whatever merit that we accumulate today, they leave the imprint, and that imprint is within you, within you. So this life we are unable to accomplish the full the the completion of the of the older path.
Okay, we we we end this life, then we take a new rebirth. When we take the new rebirth, if we haven’t purified or destroyed the merit, that means we can top up. By practicing that life, we can can top up, isn’t it? Put some extra. So if you are able to manage that life, you become Buddha.
If not, at least try not to destroy the merit, continue maybe ten lifetime, twenty lifetime. After so much accumulation of all those merit, maybe by twenty lifetime maybe you can able to attain enlightenment. So this life, our main purpose is to put full effort to accumulate the virtue and make sure not to destroy those accumulations and at the same time to purify the past wrongdoings, you know. Because that’s the whole reason why we need to take vows, why we need to have some restrictions in our practice. I don’t know whether, you don’t call restriction, I think, why we have like, Discipline, yes.
No restriction. Restriction is very bad. Discipline is better, isn’t it? Discipline is better what? Restriction is a bit like you’re all like that, you know?
Discipline is slightly like that. So you know, so discipline. The reason is the discipline is to not to waste the previous creation of virtues, and discipline is to alert us to gradually purify the wrong wrong negative actions or wrongdoings. So if we cannot manage this life, we cannot we cannot give up. We still have to hope for next life.
If next life cannot, we still cannot give up. So most important thing, we cannot give up. Even how bad our practice is, the thing is we cannot give up. So that’s the conclusion. We cannot give up.
However poor a practitioner I can be, but the thing the good about is not to give up. As long as you don’t give up, you will reach to the point one day. Something like that. So that’s why we feel comfortable. Feel quite good.
You know, we are not bad. We we we quite good, isn’t it? Okay. Yeah. And I’m sure every one of us know that in in in Buddhist teaching, we don’t establish the creator out there.
There’s no no no creator of your karma out there and no creator of your life out there.. The creator is is you yourself and you’re your own action. It’s it’s it’s within us. There’s no outer somebody other than you. External creator is nonexistent.
There’s no such thing. So many of the other religious practice practitioners, religious such as Christian, such as Hinduism, I’m sure Islam, you know, or or or assert creator or assert creator. But when you believe in creator, when we assert creator, your life make it much more easier because if anything go wrong, you just leave it with him. If anything go right also, like you just feel happy and enjoy, you know. It’s it’s actually it’s quite it’s very relieving.
You know, it’s very relieving. I went last time when I was studying in India, you know, on the way I go to Nepal, India, and sometime in Delhi, I disguise, I go to church, I go to Hindu temples, you know. I want to and in Singapore, I used to go to many church, many church. Some my friends, I say, can you bring me along? So I go there, you know, I do all all those things, you know.
I want feel how how they pray. I want to feel what they do. If there’s any good thing I wish to learn, if there’s something that I have to be alert, you know, it’s very open mind go there. I used to go. I went many time.
I went to even a Sikh temple and India, the Sikh and Sikh, Sikh, Sikh, sick temple. So I when you go into the temple you need to cover your head. So I went with a robe. I went with a robe. So I cover my shoulder, you know, I cover whole thing.
So I went I went like that. So at that time, I I actually I’m alone. So I went so I immediately, I’m sure they don’t have monks visiting like that, so they feel very happy. A monk visiting, you know, our temple, you know? And they put a, like, cushion in front of that.
I don’t know. It’s one big thing. So then they are chanting, chanting, don’t understand. So immediately, they asked me to bow down, so I bow down. So after that, hit me with the kusha grass brooms, you know, and a peacock feather.
Very good. Good. I feel like when go back, feel like some purified. After that, they asked me where you’re from, you know. So So I said I’m from, you know, I said I’m from Sera, you know, and that.
They feel very happy. Say thank you very much, you know, I feel very good, you know, I said thank you very much. So in some temple, you don’t describe, you go like this, you’re not allowed. In Nepal, I try many times, there’s one Hindu temple the center near White Tārā temple. It’s very famous, but not too big.
It’s quite small, very famous. All the time see from the window, they open the window, you see inside, but you only see half. You’re curious, you want to know. So I try many time. So they all the time say, here only, you know, you’re a Hindu practitioner?
No, no. I said, thank you, okay. So I keep trying, I keep trying. Every time I go there I see I get Anyway, fail. Up to today, I didn’t get chance.
Okay. So that’s about the overcoming self grasping. Sorry. Now here. So the main point is we we already discussed about how self grasping is not a deep it it it very gross how to say?
Very limit gross simple explanation only. There’s so much to discuss about this. This is just a very very limit, you know. So you have to explore yourself. Then in future maybe we can do some debate, maybe slowly we can establish some debate which is like question and answer.
It’s very nice. So what I have to establish here is overcoming self grasping. Overcoming self grasping. So in order to overcome the self grasping, we have to fully understand what is the object of grasping which is self, which is non existent self. We have to establish that first.
Lama Tsongkhapa stated in his teachings that in order to negate the negation, you have to fully realize about the negation, then only you can negate it. Otherwise, if we don’t understand the negation, if we don’t have a realization on negation, means if we don’t fully realize about the negation, even how much antidote we practice, we will be unable to eradicate. So in his teaching, he emphasized for us to learn about the negation first and be familiarized about the negation first. Once you’re fully familiarized about negation, then only learn about the antidote, then apply it, very easy to purify. In many of our case, we learn the antidote very much.
Say like emptiness, we are so into emptiness, we learn so much about emptiness, but sometimes we neglect about learning about the negation. Once we forget about learning negation, even how much emptiness you practice, you cannot directly pinpoint the thing that which you’re supposed to negate. So that’s what Lama Tsongkhapa especially emphasized about having a full understanding, realization on the negation. So in fact oh, sorry. The object, yes, object to be negated, yes.
So maybe for me to say like gain realization on the negation, maybe we have to clarify. We don’t mean that we should practice the delusion part. It doesn’t mean we should obtain the full practice of the delusion part. The only thing is that we need to be aware how the function of the delusion is and when it does function. When it comes into alert, the delusion comes into obvious, and that’s the moment that your antidote should be applied.
But when you don’t recognize, when one didn’t when one don’t because when one don’t didn’t when one what? Or when one don’t recognize the negation is that you call vigilant and not not not not obvious. When one don’t recognize the negation, you know, the the full picture, then even you apply the antidote. It may only can purify in a certain amount or it might not even address the negation. So then you’re unable to purify it.
So that’s about it. After understanding what is the non existent self and how our perception or conceptual thoughts grasp on it, once we understand that, then only by applying the energy to awakening mind can able to overcome this self grasping, is self grasping, which is the enemy, the ultimate enemy in us, you know, which which which to be negated. Yeah? So in order to do that, then the study reflection and meditation on the antidote is necessary. All three have to come together.
There’s a saying, maybe this is just to encourage the students or the Dharma practitioners. Whenever we do, let’s say we’re going to do three year study program of Dharma, any form of Dharma, From the very first day we start to learn the Dharma in the motivation of conjoining the practice of learning contemplation meditation, it is the equivalent of engaging into a three year great retreat. When we complete the study of three year with this three, what you call the, you call it, the threefold study, reflection, meditation, when you accomplish three years time, you complete three year retreat. You achieve the purpose of practice Dharma, or the purification, accumulation of merit, which is the purpose of three year retreat also, to purify the negative karma, accumulate the merit. So in the such as like in a great monasteries, like etcetera, you know, the teachers, you know, encourage the student because the study there is twenty-odd years and it’s a full time.
And you you don’t have time to do like a retreat, so called as stay in and recite the mantra, no time. Morning, three something, nighttime, one something. Most of the day, sleep about two, three hours only. Full time, study the philosophy text. Memorize, debate, go teaching, receive teachings, contemplation, all sort of things.
So those who can accomplish three-year terms with this study, reflection, meditation on those teachings, it is equivalent to accomplishing three year great retreat. So same thing. Like us, if you are dedicating a certain amount of time, you should regard this as a retreat. That’s why when we learn dharma, when we come to study dharma, I think not much benefit just come to listen for intellectual knowledge. Intellectual knowledge, better read book, not much confusion, straightforward.
Read book is quite nice, very good. Or listen to tapes. Don’t have to feel pain of your knee, sitting cross legged, come all the way, traffic jam, complain, this and that. So many problems, just to reach there, so much obstacles. First, the obstacle, don’t know whether I should go or don’t go.
That obstacle comes first. I should go or don’t go. Then you have a hundred reason of not going and you have one reason of going only. So it’s it’s it’s an obstacle. And this is, as I mentioned yesterday, is fully guidance of ignorance.
Ignorance is so careful, it is so so so professional. He will give you hundred reasons not to go to center. Our wisdom will give you only one reason to go to center. Well, if you don’t go, maybe Geshe-la will not see my face, maybe he might upset. That’s only one reason.
That’s only one reason. Maybe that was the only one reason, I don’t like that. But don’t go, I go there, traffic jam, go there maybe only one hour work and learn, or rather I read book better, or tired, this and that, or later I have dinner party, or this and that. Oh, many hundreds and hundreds of excuses, reasons. And actually that excuses, you know, we cannot blame to yourself.
You’re ignorant. Our ignorant is the one who’s guiding us, controlling. Make sure you don’t go. Make sure you don’t go. Like that.
So you see. I don’t know why this came in. How this this insert here. So anyway, forget. I don’t know why why this is coming.
So anyway, it’s almost. Okay. When examined, the selfhood of a person is as nonexistent as the horn of a rabbit. Oh, this example is also very exciting. I had a great debate about horn on rabbit’s head.
Horn on a rabbit’s head is a very famous example. Horn, horn, horn. Rabbit never had a horn on the head, isn’t it? No horn, isn’t it? But people confuse, sometimes you look from far, the ear and the horn is like, maybe the ear they perceive like a horn.
Then there’s a rabbit called horn. Anyway, it’s the best example used by philosophers, the example for the non-existence of self. Non existence of self. It’s one of the best examples. It’s very famous.
If you go to the monasteries, you just say, rabbit horn on head. Then you ask, oh, they will stupid thing. Maybe you also learned some philosophy debate. So normally, when people comment on something which is non-existent, you say it’s exactly like a rabbit’s horn. So they understand what you mean.
If somebody tried to criticize you, but you didn’t do anything wrong, your comment is exactly like a rabbit’s horn. So leave aside. So they they understand what you mean. Okay. Nevertheless, it has made us suffer since beginningless time.
The self grasping mind, which is under the guidance of ignorant, That is the one which has made us suffer since beginningless time. Observe and analyze whether all your endeavors, all your efforts of body, speech and mind are directed toward reinforcing your grasping at the selfhood of the person or bringing it downfall. So we have to always be alert. That’s why one of the advice in mind training teaching is be all the time mindful. All the time live a life with mindfulness and introspection.
Mindfulness and introspection. Practitioner means we have to live a life with mindfulness, introspection. So this is about. Mindfulness, all the time, make sure be mindful of not to get under the influence of ignorant mind. Make sure all the time relate your action of what is present mind towards the wisdom mind or the mind of understanding of reality of the existence.
With that, introspection all the time stays as a guard in front of your mouth, in front of your heart, the mind, and in front of your body. Stay as a guard, the introspection. All time watch. Before grasping, self grasping, enter into the door, already introspection informs the mindfulness. The naughty ones coming.
Inform. The mindfulness alert. So be firm, got it, done. These two go along so well, and these two is necessary for each other, and these two is the most important practice that we have to apply in our day to day life. We have to live a life with that, mindfulness introspection.
Otherwise, the consequences most likely will be downfall of our actions in our life, most likely, mostly, because most of the time we are guided by the ignorant. Okay. So I think we better better live here. So that again, there’s a long conversation, long discussion on the adversity section. So so I think we better we better stop here.
Yeah. Thank you. I think we can do questions at the time. Today, we stop here. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.