Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 119-minute talk, His Holiness the Dalai Lama guides practitioners through the Eight Verses of Mind Transformation, a foundational Tibetan Buddhist text on training the mind towards compassion and equanimity. He begins by establishing the correct motivation for study, then walks through the core practices of renouncing worldly attachment, self-examination, and the antidotes to afflictions. The main focus is on the fifth and sixth verses, which teach forbearance—accepting harm from others without retaliation and regarding those who hurt us as spiritual teachers. His Holiness explains why patience is superior to generosity or ethics, draws on vivid examples from Buddhist texts and Tibetan tradition, and distinguishes between fortitude and true patience. The teaching emphasizes that an enemy motivated by affliction is indispensable for practicing forbearance, and closes with questions and answers clarifying the nature of patience and its causes. The talk is pitched at serious practitioners familiar with Buddhist psychology and ethics.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 8 Verses D2S1 111002 001.mp3
UUID: 11aaf6cd-f647-4baf-b9a4-a168c694bc5d
Teacher: HH Dalai Lama
Collection: Mind Training
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~5,102
# 8 Verses D2S1 111002 001
**Collection:** Audio Recordings — Mind Training
**Duration:** 119.0 minutes
**Words:** 5,105
**Model:** Deepgram Nova-3
**Corrections applied:** 28
**Transcribed:** 2026-03-08 19:27
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And to listen to these teachings, one must generate one of the three motivations of the being of small, middling, or great scope. However, at the very least, one must generate the motivation of the being of small scope who is aiming for happiness in future lives and renounces this life. In keeping with the stanza in the 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva by Thogme Zangpo, which referring to death and impermanence reads, if one must abandon friends with whom one has been acquainted for long and life is fleeting as a drop of dew on a blade of grass, it is the practice of Bodhisattvas to abandon clinging to this life. The meaning of this stanza is that if we have to abandon friends whom we have known for long, such as our spiritual teachers, our friends, our partners, and our family members, let alone if we need to abandon our body at the time of death, then without clinging to this life, it is the practice of Bodhisattvas to give up attachment to this life. And we will therefore generate the motivation to listen to these teachings for two minutes.
As Thogme Zangpo says in his 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva, it is the practice of Bodhisattvas to examine their minds for faults and not to examine the behavior of others. This is quite easy to understand. The meaning of this stanza is that it is for us who are infantile ordinary beings, childish beings—all of us in this room are in this category—to examine our own behavior and not to criticize the behavior of others. And even if we wear monastic robes, whereas on the outside, our behavior may be impeccable, when we examine our minds, we will find this is not the case. Therefore, at this point, we must abandon whatever faults are present.
And this text, the Eight Verses of Mind Training, which was composed some one thousand years ago, presents very advanced practices, practices involving the equalization and exchange of self and others, which are practices which are beyond our present capacity. If we examine, we can see we are unable to engage in these practices. So Geshe-la would suggest that we look into it. And here, the obscurations or the faults which are referred to within Thogme Zangpo’s stanza are those faults of body, speech, and mind, which are subsumed within the ten nonvirtuous deeds. The three nonvirtuous deeds of body are killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct.
The four of speech are lying, harsh words, divisive talk, and idle talk or gossip. And the three of mind are covetousness, ill will, and wrong views. Now, understandably, all of us must work to earn a living so that we can feed our bodies. Geshe-la suspects this is not easy, and it is difficult for us to earn our living. However, he also feels that every night, we should have the possibility of examining whether or not we have engaged in the ten nonvirtues.
So, it is a rumor which has reached Geshe-la’s ears that Westerners never have the time to do any practice. And if you are very busy people, then Geshe-la would suggest every evening to dedicate two or three minutes just to check whether you have engaged in the ten nonvirtuous deeds or not. That would be very beneficial.
And at the end of the day, therefore, we should examine which of the vows which we have taken, we have broken, and which we have kept. If one has novice vows, for instance, monastic vows, in other words, then every day, one must examine whether these vows have been kept or not. This is not the case for most of the students in this room, so the issue does not arise. However, if we take Bodhisattva vows, then one must examine at the end of the day, as Khensur Rinpoche explained, which of the root vows have been kept and which have been broken. And if one has tantric vows, one must examine likewise at the end of the day, which of the tantric vows have been kept and which have been broken.
The respective purification for each of the categories of vows must be performed. Monastic vows can only be purified by Sojong. So this does not apply to us in this room. However, Bodhisattva vows must be purified by the appropriate confession of downfalls such as recitation of the Sūtra of the Confession to the Thirty-Five Buddhas, and tantric vows should be purified by reciting the Vajrasattva mantra. In addition, for purification to occur, the four forces must be present.
The force of the base, the force of the regret, the force of restraint, and the force of the application of the antidote. The force of the base arises from the fact that every fault is accumulated either with respect to sentient beings or with respect to Buddhas. Therefore, in the same way as if we fall on the ground, we rely on the ground to get back up on our feet. Likewise, we rely on the base towards which the fault has been committed to purify that fault. And the remaining three forces are the force of regret, restraint, and application of the antidote.
So the second force, the force of regret, is a regret which is akin to that of someone who has eaten poison, absorbed poison, and wishes from the depth of his heart he had never done so. The force of restraint is to restrain from committing the fault again, and the force of application of the antidote is the application of whatever antidote is appropriate. As Geshe-la explained, for monastic vows, it is the ritual of Sojong. For Bodhisattva vows, it is reciting the Confession to the Thirty-Five Buddhas Sūtra. And for tantric vows, it can be the recitation of the Vajrasattva mantra.
However, if one does not know how to do this, reciting Om Mani Padme Hum can purify all faults because the mantra includes both connotations to wisdom and connotations to method. And it is said in Atisha’s biography that Atisha said he had never broken any of the monastic vows. As for the Bodhisattva vows, he had broken them from time to time and purified them. Regarding the tantric vows, unfortunately, he had broken them as often as rain falls, but he purified them. And therefore, recollecting the maturation effect, the maturation karmic effect of faults which are accumulated, out of anxiety for this result, we should systematically apply mindfulness and vigilance to prevent these faults from arising.
And you are interested in Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism is not a creation of the Tibetans. It was the complete transmission to Tibet of the Indian tradition, both of the method and the wisdom traditions of the successors of Asaṇga and Nāgārjuna, which were synthesized in Tibet. When you say that you are interested in Tibetan Buddhism, you must be interested in the pure Tibetan Buddhist tradition and not in a Tibetan veneer. And in the text, the Eight Verses on Transforming the Mind, we have completed the fourth stanza.
Now the fourth stanza is closely related to the first stanza, which Geshe-la covered yesterday: With a determination to achieve the highest aim for the benefit of all sentient beings, which surpasses even the wish-fulfilling gem, may I hold them dear at all times. In the first stanza, an example is given—that of the wish-fulfilling gem—and then the meaning of the example is explained. The meaning of that example is that sentient beings are akin to a wish-fulfilling gem since it is thanks to sentient beings that we are able to attain both the short-term and the ultimate goals which we have set ourselves. And the fourth stanza on the back of your text, When I see beings of unpleasant character oppressed by strong negativity and suffering, may I hold them dear for they are rare to find as if I had discovered a jewel treasure, elaborates on the meaning of the example—a wish-fulfilling jewel—given in the first stanza.
Stating in the fourth verse, when I see beings of actually evil nature, not just unpleasant in character, such beings should be seen, as Geshe-la explained yesterday, as if they were afflicted with leprosy. In other words, a disease which is extremely difficult to heal, and we should have for them only love and compassion and meditate on this. And it is easy for us to have compassion and love for poor sentient beings who are afflicted with terrifying diseases such as leprosy when we see their suffering. This is something which is admirably developed in Christianity. And the great Kadampa teachers of the past in Tibet precisely because they trained in the purification of negativity and the accumulation of virtue gave rise easily to such love and compassion. And for us who are ordinary beings to practice at this level is very difficult.
However, these are mind training teachings. Therefore, we can train our minds so that progressively we reach this level. And it is in this light we should remember the account of the invitation of Atisha to Tibet by Jangchub Ö. King Yeshe Ö told his nephew Jangchub Ö to travel to the Vikramashila Monastery in India and to say to Atisha in person, for your own sake and for the sake of the propagation of the teachings in Tibet, I have sacrificed my life and body to the king of the Garlog. Reflect well on this.
And when Jangchub Ö traveled to the Vikramashila monastery and spoke with Atisha, he said, it is for your sake and for the propagation of the teachings that my uncle has sacrificed his life. Upon hearing this, both Atisha and the translator, Nagtso Lotsawa, thought these are the words and the deeds of a Bodhisattva. It is inappropriate not to act upon such instructions. Then Atisha said, I have listened to this. However, I have many responsibilities at Vikramashila. I must first examine them before taking a decision.
And in the case of our teacher, Buddha Śākyamūni, in his previous lives, Buddha Śākyamūni engaged in many acts of great compassion. Seeing that the tigress was famished and was unable to nourish her cubs, out of compassion, the Buddha in his previous incarnation offered his own body to her. And for us, it is not easy to practice the Eight Verses of Mind Training whose lineage has come down from the Buddha. This is not a text which should just be read casually through. One covers it initially the way we have done by reading through it. Then one goes much slower and one reads carefully through it.
Then one looks at all of the difficult points and one focuses on them. Finally, one takes the most difficult points and one puts them into practice. This is how Khensur Rinpoche taught Geshe-la to study the great texts. And the way to make this text beneficial is first to read it, then to reflect on all the meaning which surrounds it, then to connect this to our own life in our own experience so that it impacts our own mind. We will continue now from where we stopped last time. In other words, we will continue with the fifth stanza.
And the fifth stanza is: When others out of jealousy treat me wrongly with abuse, slander, and scorn, may I take upon myself the defeat and offer to others the victory. So the first verse of this stanza, when others out of jealousy, is a verse which refers to the practice of Bodhisattvas, which for ourselves is difficult at present. And Geshe-la suspects if we try to force our mind to practice in this way initially, there will be tremendous resistance. So one must start by meditating on this and imagining what it would be like to behave in this way.
And what is meant by this behavior is, to give an example, if Geshe-la and Sylvia had a big disagreement, then instead of Geshe-la pointing at Sylvia and saying it’s Sylvia’s fault, and Sylvia pointing at Geshe-la and saying it’s Geshe-la’s fault, both sides would put their mind at peace and remain in that state in the same way as Geshe Langri Tangpa when the Tibetan maid brought her illegitimate child and put it on his lap in public. And setting out with the practice of a Bodhisattva, one starts by practicing the two great perfections of generosity and of ethics. This stanza focuses specifically on the practice of forbearance, often called patience in English, and it is important in the context of the training in forbearance not to retaliate. So when harm befalls us, we just accept the harm which befalls us without retaliating.
If we retaliate, if we fight back, then we ourselves accumulate faults. Therefore, what this stanza does is to explain how to practice patience or forbearance and the qualities of forbearance. And through the practice of generosity and ethics, large waves of merit can be accumulated. It is often said that when lay sponsors offered food or large donations to Geshe Langri Tangpa, there was nothing else within his mind but the practice of bodhichitta. And the second verse of this stanza reads as follows: treat me wrongly with literally from the Tibetan abuse and criticism.
Abuse here refers to harsh words addressed to another such as scolding. Criticism is deprecation of another. When this occurs, one takes upon oneself the defeat. And why is it that the practice of forbearance or patience leads to the accumulation of much greater virtue than either generosity or ethics? It is because as Śāntideva says in his Bodhicharyavatara, there is no greater sin than anger.
Likewise, there is no greater virtue than patience. Bless me to have that happiness which arises through the practice of patience. Here, Śāntideva explains clearly the greatness of patience. Then if we analyze why the practice of forbearance is superior to the practice of, let’s say, ethics—well, it is fairly easy to understand, putting aside the quote from Śāntideva, which may or may not be accepted. But if we analyze carefully rationally, why is it that forbearance is superior to ethics?
When we engage in ethics, we restrain our own mind from the inside. However, when we engage in the practice of patience or forbearance, it is the anger of another, the aggression of another, which we from our own side unilaterally refuse to respond to and block. So in this respect, the practice of forbearance is superior in Geshe-la’s opinion. So this is the analysis of Geshe Chekawa in his commentary on the Eight Verses of Langri Tangpa. His Holiness in his personal analysis of these eight verses points out that for a worldly being, it is legitimate to counter, if needs be forcefully, the lies or the aggression of another person.
It is inappropriate for a being who is striving for liberation, let alone for full enlightenment through generating bodhichitta, to counter the attacks of another. And His Holiness says, the reason for this, the reason for which those of us who practice to gain liberation or full enlightenment do not respond to the attacks of others and do not counter them is because of the greatness of our goal. Those who do not share this goal can just drop all this.
And it is clear that if necessary with the motivation of great compassion for the sake of others, one may have to take forceful or powerful action. An example is given in the previous life of Buddha Śākyamūni in which he was one of 500 merchants on a commercial expedition. And within the group was one criminal who planned on murdering the remaining 499 merchants to take possession of their wares, of their goods. The Buddha’s previous incarnation became aware of this and tried to reason with this criminal, explaining to him that he should not engage in this behavior, that he should not kill the remaining merchants to despoil them of their goods. This criminal refused to listen to reason.
And then the previous incarnation of the Buddha thought, I myself have no alternative but to kill this man and in so doing accumulate a very great nonvirtue. I myself will accept to do this without hesitation for the sake of the 498 remaining merchants. And the following stanza: When someone whom I have helped or in whom I have placed great hopes mistreats me in extremely harmful ways, not just hurtful, may I regard him still as my precious spiritual friend. So this stanza also refers to the practice of forbearance or of patience.
It is a slightly different type of patience or forbearance. The previous stanza, when others out of jealousy and so forth, refers to the forbearance of enduring harm from others. The present stanza refers to the forbearance or the patience of accepting suffering. And the way we should look at it is that whoever harms us in this life is someone whom we have harmed in previous lives, and therefore, he or she becomes our teacher. So how should we regard such a person as our spiritual teacher?
When someone harms us or mistreats us, actually deceives or lies to us, then this person is our direct teacher in the practice of patience. It is thanks to this person that we are able to practice patience or forbearance. Therefore, this person is really, in that respect, our teacher. And His Holiness explains clearly or clarifies clearly the doubt which might arise in our mind. We might think, yes, but someone who is harming me, my enemy, has absolutely no intention to help me or to be beneficial.
How can I see him as a teacher? As Geshe-la explained yesterday, drawing on His Holiness’s commentary, the teachings of the Buddha, the sutras, have absolutely no intention to help us in the slightest, yet we do see them as our teachers. So what is an enemy? An enemy is someone who motivated by the afflictions harms us. Now if we reflect on the issue of harm and its relationship to enmity, when a surgeon or a doctor operates on us to heal us and in the process inflicts tremendous suffering—in some countries, no anesthetic is used, and people will scream under the operation—Geshe-la would like to ask you, is this experience of suffering an experience in which we practice patience and forbearance or not? So think about it from your side.
So this gives another example. When one asks Tibetans who are making circumambulations around a temple or a stupa what they are doing, they will often answer, I am practicing patience or forbearance. And after saying that they are practicing patience or forbearance, they do one or two circumambulations. Then His Holiness points out that if this were true, then if after they have done one or two circumambulations, one were to insult them and abuse them, their faces would not change, and they would not answer with harsh words. And Geshe-la would like to ask you to reflect on the fact that to really practice patience and forbearance, you need a true enemy who hates you. So the most beneficial and favorable condition for the practice of patience is an enemy who hates us. Otherwise, there is no real practice of patience through relying on one’s friends or one’s spiritual teacher.
And the following stanza: In brief, may I offer benefit and joy to all my mothers both directly and indirectly. May I secretly, in Tibetan, not quietly, take upon myself the harm and suffering of my mothers. In brief, in this stanza means that this stanza encapsulates the totality of Geshe Langri Tangpa’s teachings. The offering which is made to my mothers of benefit and joy is made directly and indirectly. Directly means that in the case of someone suffering from leprosy, for instance, we would offer them whatever is needed to heal them and to help them directly. Indirectly means that one benefits these beings through visualizing that help is being given to them.
This practice is one which is conjoined with the outward and inward flow of breath. As breath flows outwards, one gives whatever is of benefit to beings. As breath is drawn inwards as one inspires, one draws all their suffering upon oneself. This is the actual practice of taking and giving, tong-len. And the following two verses, may I secretly take upon myself all hurts and pains of my mothers, is actually the prayer to be able to perform this practice of mind training. And as it is said in the 13th verse of the 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva, even if the entire world, not just the earth, but the entire world was filled with enemies, motivated by love, may I benefit them.
And a following stanza in these 37 Practices of the Bodhisattvas of Thogme Zangpo says, even should one whom I have treated as a beloved child turn against me and savage me, nonetheless, like a mother in love with her beloved child who is sick, may I not retaliate. This is the practice of Bodhisattvas. And if we can read together the 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva, which we have already covered at TBI, and the Eight Verses of Transforming the Mind and compare them with each other, this will be of great benefit for our minds.
And Geshe-la will present the last stanza, which is left in the Eight Verses this afternoon to complete this teaching. There is within the first seven stanzas a presentation of the antidotes to the various afflictions. The second stanza, Whenever I interact with someone, may I view myself as the lowest amongst all, and from the very depths of my heart, respectfully hold others as superior, presents the antidote to the affliction of pride. Whereas the two stanzas on the back page we covered today, When others out of jealousy treat me wrongly with abuse, slander, and scorn, may I take upon myself the defeat and offer to others the victory; When someone whom I have helped or in whom I have placed great hopes mistreats me in extremely hurtful ways, may I regard him still as my precious teacher, present the antidotes to anger through the practice of forbearance.
Finally, regarding desire, the third stanza on the first page, In all my deeds, may I probe into my mind, and as soon as mental and emotional afflictions arise—as they endanger myself and others—may I strongly confront them and avert them, presents the antidote to desire. So we have finished for today, and now Geshe-la is going to ask us questions. Since the practice of patience is such an important practice, Geshe-la would like to ask us what is the cause of patience. Please give him the cause of patience. Yes?
Are there other proposals for the cause of patience? Okay. Yes. Then what are the object of anger, Geshe-la would ask you? What’s the cause of anger? The laws of cause and effect. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Any other causes? Yeah.
So you have to understand the difference between patience and the cause of patience. They are different. It’s not the same thing. Then what is your understanding of the nature of patience? Restraint of what? So to be frank with you, not harming others is more the cause of patience. So regarding the nature of patience, it is best explained in the stanza of the Guru Puja, the Lama Chöpa, which reads, even should all sentient beings within the three realms rise against me as my enemies, bless me to practice that patience in which my mind is not troubled. That untroubled state of the mind is the nature of patience.
So Geshe Chekawa commenting on the stanza in the Eight Verses of Mind Training says that it is that untroubled state of the mind, which is untroubled after one has been offended in the same way as before, which is the nature of patience or forbearance. And regarding this, this is for the nature of patience. Regarding the cause of patience, as Śāntideva says magnificently in the Bodhicharyavatara, wishing for supreme happiness, that mind of restraint when offended by a foe is the cause of patience. Therefore, the cause of patience is our enemy. Is that okay? So therefore, the spiritual teacher is not the cause of patience nor other teachings. It is the enemy who is the cause of patience.
And in this context, the enemy is someone who out of afflictions wishes to harm us, whereas as Geshe-la explained, a doctor, for instance, who inflicts pain out of the wish to heal is not an enemy. And therefore, the nature of patience is to be untroubled. If one wants a precise definition, patience is that mental factor of untroubledness. The cause of patience is our enemy, none other than our enemy. Then for us to say that we practice patience and we study the practice of patience and to flare up the moment someone offends us is not serious. Is that alright? Alright.
So Geshe-la has asked you his questions. Now he is open to your questions. He would ask you for short questions, please, because it is difficult for me to translate long questions and Geshe-la does not understand them. So the question is, are there conceptions in the mind when one is in meditative equipoise on emptiness? Here, Geshe-la says it’s a difficult question. Basically, at the beginning, when one meditates on emptiness and one progresses from the path of accumulation to the second path, the path of preparation, the mind which understands emptiness is a conceptual mind. There is no other mind at that point which can understand emptiness.
Then when one enters the path of seeing, one has a direct realization of emptiness. At that point, there is no conceptuality during the realization of emptiness. This afternoon, since we have time, Geshe-la will give more extensive explanations on emptiness since the last verse especially focuses on emptiness. Question? Yes. Yes, Aaron.
So the answer is that when we are operated upon by a doctor without anesthetic to heal a disease, and we are in great pain, but we try to control this pain, this is not the practice of patience or forbearance because the doctor is not our enemy. He is acting out of a good motivation to help us. It would only become the practice of patience or forbearance if while we are being operated upon without anesthetic, anger arose within our mind, and we blocked the arising of anger. So, Geshe-la’s question for you is, when you experience pain at the hands of the doctor, do you get angry?
We don’t experience anger. Why would we? The doctor’s helping. See, the thing is, obviously, you need fortitude when you’re being operated like that, especially without anesthetic. But the question is what’s the doctor’s motivation? It’s because the doctor could be an enemy. Josef Mengele may be an example. Oh, this is different. It’s different. That’s not a doctor. Somebody like that does not have the motivation to benefit. He’s not a doctor.
So, no, that cannot be a practice of patience because the roof is inanimate. It has no consciousness. Then when the roof falls on us, if we experience pain, let’s say, during an earthquake and anger arises within our mind and we block that anger, the question which arises then is the motivation involved. Is it a virtuous, nonvirtuous, or neutral motivation? Probably in this context, it will be a neutral motivation. So it is if we think of the benefits of virtue and the results of—excuse me, the benefits of patience and the results of patience that one can speak of a practice of patience. Otherwise, just fortitude is not forbearance or patience.
Tibetan has two—no—Geshe-la, two words. Sö-pa means fortitude. Zö-pa means patience or forbearance. Yeah. These are different. So, yes, there are differences between the general and the specific antidotes. The general antidote to the afflictions would be meditating on the selflessness of persons, which eliminates the innate ignorance, and this in turn eliminates all of the afflictions which arise from this such as desire, hatred, pride, and so forth. On the other hand, specific antidotes cannot be substituted one for the other. For instance, the antidote to anger is the practice of forbearance or patience. The practice of forbearance or patience is not an antidote to desire.
An antidote can only be an antidote when it counters the object of apprehension of the affliction. As Dharmakīrti says in his Pramānavārttika, because love, patience, and compassion cannot extend to the innate ignorance which apprehends true existence, they are not universal antidotes. So Geshe-la thinks probably the cause of jealousy is desire, and the antidote to jealousy is reflecting on the qualities of the other person since jealousy or envy arises in dependence on another person. Mhmm. Yes?
Clinging. What do you mean by clinging? Desire or attachment? So generally speaking, the antidote to desire is renunciation. However, if it is sexual desire, then whether one is desiring a man or a woman, one visualizes them as a skeleton. Then there is nothing to desire in a skeleton. And then more generally speaking, whatever one desires, the antidote to that desire is to meditate on the defects of that object, the defects of what one desires. Perhaps we will stop here for today.
So the problem or the question is, can your children be your enemies or not? Then if your children are motivated by the afflictions and they offend you, they insult you using harsh words towards you, then they can be considered as your enemies. Then your restraint of anger when they offend you can be considered as a practice of patience or forbearance. I can tell you, Sarah. What sort of kids do you have? Don’t worry. Right now, they’re small. What’s it gonna be like when they’re big?
We don’t have that problem as monks, fortunately. We don’t have the possibility to practice patience like you. So we will stop here for today.