Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Khensur Rinpoche examines how the Wheel of Sharp Weapons returns upon us through everyday difficulties—scolding at work, harsh words, being born into unpleasant places. In this 38-minute commentary on verses 14–15, he shows how verbal harm we hear is karma returning from our past harsh speech, slander, and lies; how criticizing others’ faults returns as rebirth in difficult conditions. The core teaching: stop blaming others and recognize our own karma as the source. Drawing on Buddha’s teaching that all phenomena arise through dependent origination, Rinpoche uses concrete examples—flowers grown from seed, children born from parents—to show how variety in results comes from variety in karmic causes. He emphasizes the necessity of analytical investigation rather than blind faith, encouraging practitioners to test these teachings through reason.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1992-11-17 – Side 2 – Wheel of Sharp Weapons – KR.MP3
UUID: 73bc10bd-c8aa-4bca-9195-48fca2c4c19b
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Mind Training
Date: 1992-11-17
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~1,834
Now, when we ourselves are forced to engage in tasks where we have no freedom of choice, This is the Wheel of Sharp Weapons coming full circle upon us. Having treated others badly in the past in their capacity as our servants and employees, then we are experiencing these lacks of freedom and having to undergo difficulties in our work. Understanding this, then now we should begin to offer oneself as a servant to all, giving our body and our life to others in whatever needs they need, whatever way they may need us. So, most of you have to go to work. And when your boss scolds you, then that’s a good opportunity to reflect on the fact that this has come about to you.
You’ve scolded others in the past and you shouldn’t get angry. Verse number 14, which reads as follows: When we hear only language that is foul and abusive, this is the Wheel of Sharp Weapons returning full circle upon us from wrongs we have done. Till now we have said many things without thinking. We have slandered and caused many friendships to end. Hereafter, let’s censor all thoughtless remarks.
So whenever we hear that which is unpleasant to us, when others put us down, when we’re scolded, slandered, abused, verbally, This is because previously we have spoken in various faulty ways, unskillful ways. That is to say, we spoken using harsh words. We have used divisive speech. We have lied. We have abused others through our speech.
And now this result that we’re presently experiencing is the Wheel of Sharp Weapons returning upon us. And understanding this result that I will not speak in such a negative fashion, and that I will forgo harsh words, and divisive speech and lying in the future. In verse number 15, which reads as follows. When we are born in oppressive and wretched conditions, this is the Wheel of Sharp Weapons returning full circle upon us from wrongs we have done. Till now, we have always had a negative outlook.
We have criticized others, seen only their flaws. Hereafter, let’s cultivate positive feelings and view our surroundings as stainless and pure. So when we undergo rebirth in a contaminated area, a polluted area, why is it that we take rebirth within a bad environment, the place that we are born? A place such as a secluded area. It’s not a pleasant area.
It has bad smells. It has bad water. It is a very rough place, a very difficult place. Why is it that we are living in such a place? This is because in the past that we have seen only the negative in others, that we look for only their flaws, that we see only that which is at fault with others and never see any good qualities about them.
The way we view others has been in terms of negativities. And because of this, now this is the Wheel of Sharp Weapons returning full circle upon us. And understanding that, we determined that we were rather than looking for the faults of others, to try to see their excellent qualities, the good aspects, the good characteristics about them, and to willingly try to see what is best in others rather than always seeing what’s wrong. For example, Australia is a very pleasant place. But if we were to take New Delhi and India, it’s really an extremely difficult place to live.
People live in like our dumps, like the tip here in Australia, like a tip. Their houses are like sheds where we would just store trash. And don’t know if this is right. The huts are constructed as if they were made of goat’s horns. Whatever that means.
So Such unpleasant places to live with all of these various difficulties and faults are a result of having places that people reborn that they have to live are are a result of seeing only the faults in others. And so we should try to determine that from now on, I am going to try to see only the good. It’s very useful to reflect in this way in terms of what generally, whenever we experience some kind of physical or mental suffering, we always blame it on others. We say it’s his fault. He did it or she did it.
But in fact, whatever mental or physical suffering we may experience, it is the result of karma or the actions that we’ve created in previous lives. That these others, people, act as a cooperative condition, But it is oneself who has created the cause, the cause as karma. Oneself has created that karma, that others only act as a necessary cooperative condition. And this is really very beneficial to think in this way because in thinking this way, immediately our suffering is lessened. And not only is our suffering lessened, but we will not be prone to retaliate.
We will restrain ourselves from retaliating against others because we no longer see it as their fault. And therefore we cease creating negative actions with respect to others. Moreover, we can actually have a sense of rejoicing in that the negative results of that previously created karma are now finished. They’re exhausted. So this is an extremely skillful way of practicing.
So we’re going to stop there for today. Do have some questions? Yeah. So, in terms of one’s positive and negative experiences, one has no freedom. That is under the influence of previously created karma.
But one has freedom in acting. One is free to meditate or not to meditate, to speak or not to speak, to abandon the afflictive emotions, not to abandon the afflictive emotions, to teach the Dharma, to not teach the Dharma. So in these acts, one has freedom. But in terms of positive and negative experiences, one’s own positive and negative experiences, we have no freedom. Yeah.
In general, all things are dependent. There’s nothing which is independent. The word free and independent, it’s the same word into that translated differently. So everything, you know, rebirth, whatever we experience, is dependent. It arises in dependence upon causes and conditions.
There’s nothing which is free of causes and conditions. There’s nothing which is free of causes and conditions. There’s nothing which is independent of causes and conditions. So this is not a What we’re saying here is not something made up by the Tibetans, this is what was taught by Śākyamūni Buddha. For example, in the mind only school, all phenomena are included within the three natures.
The three natures are the dependent, the thoroughly established, and the imaginary. The dependent are the various things which arise and depends upon cause and conditions. The thoroughly established is emptiness, and the imaginary are phenomena which are neither emptiness nor dependent, for example, this Śākyamūni taught this. He also taught the middle way view. So, what the Buddha Śākyamūni taught, we can examine through our reasoning.
We should have to reflect upon it. And it is open to reason analysis. For example, a flower grows the quality, whether it’s a good flower or bad quality, is determined by the quality of its cause. So the flower grows and the quality of the flower are both dependent upon the quality of cause. If we grow a white flower, then it had to come from a type of cause which was able to produce white.
If it’s red, a cause which was able to produce red. That this cause was quite necessary in order for anything to be produced. For example, another example is that of a child. A child is born from a mother and father. Without the mother and father, there’s no way that a child can be born.
The mother and father have had intercourse and due to that, the child is able to be born as a cause. Amongst the people in this room, some are fat, some are skinny, some have long noses, some are bald, some have fair complexions, some have a very red complexion, some have beards, some are short, some are tall. Now all of these various varieties arose in dependence upon specific causes and conditions. So all these varieties of characteristics arose in dependence upon causes. They weren’t free of relying upon causes.
They didn’t bring themselves into existence. They weren’t free from these causes. They came into existence in dependence upon causes. And here these causes are termed karma. So I’m quoting from a line by Vasubandhu where he said, Everything in the world arises in dependence upon karma.
And whatever it might be, whether it’s the environment or the beings therein, in all their multiplicities, in all their varieties, arise through the power of karma. Therefore, when we say that these things arise through the power of karma, then we are saying that the power is karma. And this is what empowers objects to arise, that objects are not independent of this power. They’re not free of this power. A line from Śāntideva where he says that all things arise in dependence upon the mind.
That whatever it may be, whether it is the realms of hell, hungry ghosts, those of animal, celestial beings, and humans. Everything within the world and the universe arises in dependence upon the mind. There is nothing which does not rely upon the mind. Nothing exists which has not relied upon the mind for its coming into being. And this is in terms of the operation of karma.
If If there were no karma, then things would all be of the same size. They would all be of the same quality. They would be all of the same variety. But in fact, it is because of the variety of qualities of karma that the varieties of results come into existence. If there were not this variety of karmas, let’s just say actions as causes, then it would make no difference as to whether we abandoned harming others, whether we practiced skillful actions, whether we developed healthy states of mind, whether we generated negative states of mind.
That it would have no effect on the quality of the result. Think about this well and meditate on it. Śākyamūni Buddha said that you are not to accept what I say out of mere respect from me, of faith in what I say. But in fact, you should analyze it through your various reasonings. Trying to determine what is said to be the case, is in fact the case?
And that what is said is not the case, is in fact not the case. And once through this process of analytic investigation, using your reasoning, you validate that what is, what I say is, is. Then accept that. If you find that it isn’t, then set it aside. Don’t accept that.
But you must investigate just as a physician investigates the illness and the nature of the problem. You must also investigate in that same way.