Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 117-minute session, Ilia S. Durovic teaches the opening two stanzas of Geshe Langri Tangpa’s Eight Verses on Transforming the Mind, a foundational Tibetan Buddhist text on mind training and altruism. He begins by establishing proper motivation—rooted in the understanding that all practice depends on other sentient beings—and introduces the historical context: Geshe Langri Tangpa, a tenth-century Kadampa master whose equanimity is illustrated through a famous story of a young woman falsely accusing him of paternity. The first stanza develops the insight that sentient beings are like wish-fulfilling gems: from their own side unable to achieve liberation, yet essential for every stage of the spiritual path from basic ethics to full enlightenment. The second stanza focuses on eliminating pride through cultivating humility, viewing all others as superior and placing oneself beneath them. Durovic explores why we venerate Buddhas but neglect sentient beings, argues the interdependence of self and other, and addresses students’ questions on the nature of the “I,” the definition of sentient beings, and the practice of self-abasement. Suited to practitioners with foundational Buddhist background seeking rigorous philosophical grounding for compassion-based practice.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 8 Verses D1S1 111001 001.mp3
UUID: a187871d-8480-4656-87b8-b598c76781ee
Teacher: Ilia S. Durovic
Collection: Mind Training
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~5,218
And therefore, as usual, the most important at the beginning of a teaching is to generate the motivation in keeping with the stanza of Je Tsongkhapa, which reads, with motivation, both the grounds and the paths are attained. Without the motivation, there is no attainment of either grounds or paths. Therefore, make the motivation the foundation of your practice. This last verse, make the motivation the foundation of your practice should be what we practice. And when we speak of motivation, what do we mean by the term motivation?
There are three broad categories of motivations. The motivations of the being of small, of middling, and of great scope. We should generate whichever of these three we can, but at least the minimum is to generate the motivation of the being of small scope. What is this motivation of the being of the small scope? It is a motivation which understanding that we will be reborn and all of us in this room accept the existence of future lives.
There is a very great risk that we will be reborn in the lower realms and asking ourselves whether we would be able to support the, pangs of suffering in the lower realms, realizing that we would be unable to do so, and searching for a means to protect us against this. The means to protect us against this is to make this human rebirth meaningful. What is meant by making this human rebirth meaningful? It is not just saying, may this human rebirth be meaningful. My human rebirth is meaningful and precious.
This has no meaning. It is something which arises through study and contemplation. Study of what? Study specifically of what we will be broaching today, which is a text on the eight verses on transforming the mind. Therefore, let us meditate for one or two minutes on generating this motivation.
Don’t be worried, Geshe-la says. This is a very short text, but the book Geshe-la has contains all the lojong texts. As the great Sakya master, Sakya Pandita, said, if we engage in waves of study at present, even though in this life, we do not become scholars nor attain full enlightenment, nonetheless, in the future, future, the loan will be repaid. This is a very profound stanza which is easy to understand. What it means is that even if at present putting effort however much we can in a twenty-four hour period, perhaps one or two hours of study every day, even though we neither become scholars nor can attain full enlightenment.
Nonetheless, since all of us accept the existence of past and future lives and karma and causality, in the future in future lives, this effort, this loan which we have made to another will be paid back to us. Therefore, it is extremely important. And Sakya Pandita uttered this stanza out of his own experience. Even though in this life engaging in waves of study, we neither become scholars nor attain full enlightenment. Nonetheless, in future lives, in the future, the loan will be repaid.
This is very profound advice indeed.
So the next two days are actually the Australian long break, a vacation in Australia. And vacations are generally very pleasant for all of us. We spend times with our partners, with our family and friends. We enjoy ourselves. And all this is pleasant, however, we must be aware of the fact that time flies, and that when all is said and done, that time is wasted time.
So it is very good that all of us have assembled here to listen to the Buddhist teachings which are meaningful. And all of us in this room probably have the foundations of a good western education. Most of us, perhaps all of us suspects, have finished at least eleventh or twelfth grade of high school. Many of us have university degrees and above. So as far as a contemporary education is concerned, we have received what there is to receive, and we can see its benefits for this life.
Here, however, we are some studying something much vaster, which is mind training. Mind training and study in Tibetan are represented by the same word. And if we are engaging in practices of the great vehicle, and we nonetheless focus mainly on our own welfare without thinking of others, our practice will degenerate. Therefore, Geshe-la would hope that listening on these teachings, we will focus on the well-being of others and try to help others. And to understand exactly the lay of the land of Buddhist teachings, the situation of Buddhist teachings, faith alone is not sufficient.
Study is necessary, and therefore, it is very important that we all study. And if Geshe la reflects on his own experience in his homeland in Eastern Tibet, before the Chinese occupation, the Tibetans had no knowledge at all of the outside world, knew almost nothing of lands outside of Tibet. After the Chinese occupation, this changed. The Chinese created schools, most of which were schools in which the teachings were imparted in Chinese, not in Tibetan. There were only a couple schools in which teachings were given in Tibetan, and there was a very strong resistance of the Tibetan families to sending them to these schools for what they felt was indoctrination.
In addition, the Chinese teachers seldom taught out of love and compassion for the students, trying to see what was good for the students. And as a result of this, one couldn’t say there were favorable conditions for study. And when Geshe la sees his own life, he left Tibet around the age of 18. By 18, he had studied almost no Chinese. He refused to speak Chinese most of the the time and knew only a couple characters.
This was a great waste. And therefore, as a result of this, there was very little of any studies in Tibetan. It is around 1981, eighty-two that the Chinese policy for studies in the Tibetan language relaxed. And as a result, there was more opportunity to study in Tibetan. And when Geshe la was young, he was raised he was born and raised in the Eastern part of Tibet in Kham.
The Kampas are noted for their profound faith in the Buddha’s teachings, their faith in the Gurus, their faith in the Buddha, their faith in monks, in Sangha. And this faith is transmitted within the family by the parents. However, it is a faith which is not rooted in study. It is not rooted in reason. It is just transmitted within the family.
And therefore, because the ground on which faith is generated should be studied, Geshe-la feels one can say that the faith of his forefathers in Kham was a faith born out of ignorance, not a faith born out of reasoning. Such a faith does not resist the test of time. However, at present, the philosophical studies, studies in Buddhist philosophy have really taken off. And especially in India, the great monasteries such as Sera Je, they are doing very well. There is a yearly gathering of study, the Jang Guncho on Buddhist philosophy and so forth.
And therefore, it is very important for us to root our understanding of Buddhism in reason and to study both the history of Buddhism and to study Buddhist philosophical doctrines to give a solid foundation to our faith. Now this is done in India in the great monasteries, so very elaborate studies, and it is also something we can hope to do here. Then we are lucky to have in English excellent commentaries by his holiness, the Dalai Lama, which are very profound and clear. And these commentaries are the commentaries we should study to deepen our understanding. And it is through studies that our minds will become both happy and courageous.
They will have fortitude in their practice. And, His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Whenever he teaches these eight verses on transforming the mind, which is one of the texts, among his favorite texts, always emphasizes the importance of study and mind training. Khensur Rinpoche himself has said this is a text which is both easy to understand and profound, and therefore, hopes we will recite it so that we also can benefit from it. And this text is known as the eight verses on transforming the mind, in Tibetan.
So transforming the mind also means study. So it could be translated as the eight verses on study. It is also known as the eight verses or more precisely the eight stanzas because there are eight stanzas of four verses each. And all the, focus of these eight verses is the attainment of both high status and definite excellence. In other words, liberation and full enlightenment.
Nonetheless, they present the totality of the teachings.
And regarding the author of the eight verses or the eight stanzas on transforming the mind, it was a great Kadampa Geshe, Geshe Langri Tangpa, who lived some one thousand and some years after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa. Atisha came to Tibet around 1073, and historians say Geshe Langri Tangpa was born around 1054. He was closely connected with the three Geshes who were the lineage holders of the Kadampa tradition according to scripture, the Lam Rim or Graduated Path, Kadampa tradition, and the Kadampa tradition of the oral instructions, which were respectively Potowa, Geshe Sharawa, and Geshe Chekawa. It is said that when Geshe Chekawa heard the famous verse from transforming the eight verses of transforming the mind on the back page, which reads, may I take upon myself the defeat and offer to others the victory? At the end of the second stanza on the second page of your English translation, he was profoundly affected by this, thinking the author of these verses must necessarily have been a Bodhisattva.
He actually then composed a commentary on the eight verses of mind transformation. It is also said that Geshe Sharawa was a disciple of Geshe Langri Tangpa as well. And within the two methods of giving rise to bodhicitta within the mind stream, the sevenfold cause and effect instruction and the equalizing and interchange of self and others instruction, probably Geshe Langri Tangpa, based on his text, the eight verses on transforming the mind generated bodhicitta through equalizing and interchanging self with others. And the empirical signs that Geshe Langri Tangpa had actually generated, bodhicitta, through the equalizing and the interchange of others, comes from an event in his life where, while he was teaching, a, young girl came up to him carrying her, infant baby and put it on his lap on the throne on which he was teaching, saying, this is yours and mine. You should take care of it.
He was a fully ordained monk, and this caused a huge scandal. All Geshe Langri Tangpa, said when she put the child on his lap was, so be it. Then his expression had not changed, and he continued teaching. The, girl retired, and after that, she was overwhelmed by shame at what she had done, because she had lied. And she returned, during the teaching to Geshe Langri Tangpa and said to him, this child is not yours in the slightest.
There was nothing ever between you and me. It is mine. I present my heartfelt apologies. And Geshe Langri Tangpa’s expression still did not change, and he said, so be it. Then this is a clear indication despite the scandal, which was caused by her claiming he had broken his vows of celibacy, his mind was completely unaffected and only preoccupied with the fate of the child.
And Geshe-la feels there is great benefit in, teaching these eight verses on mind transformation since even though they don’t comprise a lot of details regarding the life or the deeds of Geshe Langri Tangpa, they comprise the essence of his teachings. And Atisha and Chekawa both gave explanations and commentaries on this. So Geshe-la feels it is a real benefit. And the first stanza reads as follows, 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?
Now here, there are two different recensions of the first stanza. Geshe Chekawa modified the last Tibetan syllable from to, in other words, train to, means may I, making it more forceful. Actually in Tibetan is not may I, it is I must. And we Geshe la will start commenting these verses. Verse order in Tibetan and in English is completely different.
So the first verse in Tibetan is actually the last verse in the English. And Geshe will comment the term I. May I hold them dear at all times? What is understood here by the term I? The term I, as Geshe la has previously explained here in teachings, is both the performer of karma over countless lives as well as the experiencer of the experiences which arise from karma.
The I can also be understood as that person or that I, that self, which is imputed, in other words, which is projected on the basis of both the body and the mind. In other words, the five aggregates. To be more precise, the person is none other than that self which is imputed by a valid cognizer on the mere basis of the body and the mind, which are none other than the five aggregates. And at present, Geshe la will comment the two following terms in Tibetan, which are all sentient beings on the second verse and wish fulfilling gem in the third verse in English. So all sentient beings and none other than all living beings apart from ourselves with minds.
For the wish fulfilling gem refers to a gem which could satisfy all one’s wishes. Now sentient beings are compared to a wish fulfilling gem for two reasons. The first is that in the self same way as if you drop a wish fulfilling gem in mud, it cannot clean itself alone from the mud. But if you clean it and then place it on a victory banner, a traditional Buddhist victory banner, and utter prayers to it, just like the western Aladdin’s lamp, it can fulfill all of one’s wishes in this world without exception. Likewise, all sentient beings from their own side cannot eliminate all that is to be eliminated and actualize all that is to be actualized.
Nonetheless, they can be led to that state. And the first verse of the first stanza, which is a third verse in Tibetan with a determination to achieve the highest aim can be understood as follows. Here, the highest aim refers to the ultimate aim from within short term or contingent and ultimate aims. Now it is in dependence on sentient beings that the highest aim is attained. In the same same way as if one wants to, progress upwards, in one’s education and to pass from class to class, one does so in dependence both on teachers who teach one and make one sit examinations and on studying by one’s own side.
Without teachers, classmates, one studies, there is no class and there is no promotion upwards. Likewise, without sentient beings, there is no mental development leading up to full enlightenment.
And if we reflect carefully, we can see that in our daily life in this country, everything we have, we have in dependence on other sentient beings. If there were no other sentient beings, there would be no stores, no shops, no factories. Nothing would be manufactured. Everything we wear, all the clothes we wear, everything we eat, what we live in, the houses live in, we owe to the kindness of others, not to our own work. Then reflecting in this way, we can understand why Āryadeva said it is so important to have a single-focused mind.
And therefore, developing the commentary on the term aim within at the end of the first verse or goal, in other words, as Geshe-la explained, there are two categories of aim, contingent or short term aims and ultimate aims. The contingent or short term aims are the benefit we derive from sentient beings, as Geshe la explained, through shops, factories, and their general help. The ultimate aim, which is the attainment of the state of full enlightenment through progressing on the paths of the beings of three scopes, the being of small, middling, and great scope, are also derived exclusively through the help of other sentient beings. For instance, the foremost practice for the being of small scope is that ethics which abandons the 10 non virtues, such as killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, harsh words, idle talk, and so forth. Every single one of those non virtues is accumulated with respect to other sentient beings.
Therefore, if other sentient beings were not present, it would be impossible to to accumulate the virtue of abstaining from these deeds. Therefore, other sentient beings are necessary for the accumulation of ethics. If we think really carefully about this, the concept of sentient beings is a very disturbing one since everything we have, such as for instance, the texts we study or the money we use depends on other sentient beings. Likewise, for the practice of the being of middling scope, which can only arise in dependence on other sentient beings, the practice of the middling scope is the abandonment of cyclic existence. And this abandonment entails the abandonment of non virtues such as envy or jealousy, which cannot arise with respect to oneself, but can only arise with respect to others.
Others. Likewise, for the path of the being of the great scope in which the generation of great compassion, let alone the generation of bodhicitta, let alone the attainment of the state of full enlightenment endowed with the four bodies, are all contingent on other sentient beings. It is impossible to generate compassion without others. It is impossible to generate bodhicitta without others. It is impossible to give rise to full enlightenment without others.
Others are indispensable for every stage of the path. This is why says in the last two verses in Tibetan, with a determination to achieve the highest aim, may I hold them dear at all times? The Tibetan here actually reads, may I hold them supreme at all times, not just dear. As Śāntideva says, since I attain full enlightenment in dependence on both the kindness of Buddhas and other sentient beings, how is it that I cherish the one and lack all faith or veneration for the others? So this is Śāntideva’s insight, a very stark outlook which is present in most of us, and Geshe la would like to ask your feelings on that later on.
Why is it we venerate the Buddhas and we have no respect for others? Then if we were to debate about this, the an opponent might say, well, actually, we have faith and veneration for the Buddhas because they intend to help us motivated by compassion great compassion in bodhicitta, whereas other sentient beings have no intention to help us. Therefore, why bother? Then, Geshe la said from his standpoint, he would answer such an opponent by saying, in that case, you can have neither faith and veneration for Buddhist texts nor faith and veneration for a parinirvāṇa. Since Buddhist texts have no intention to help you and a parinirvāṇa, in other words, nirvana, is a permanent phenomenon which has no intention of helping anybody.
However, we have faith and veneration for Buddhist texts, and we have faith and veneration for a parinirvāṇa. Now for Tibetans, texts are objects of profound veneration. The Tripitaka, the Kangyur, the complete works of Je Tsongkhapa are objects of veneration, and one puts the volumes on one’s crown. Is that how you see texts? Maybe your outlook is different.
Now if we take the example of parents, we have respect and veneration for our parents because it is thanks to our father and mother that we have obtained our body in this life. However, if we reflect on what Buddhist texts texts are, texts are the means by which we give birth to a new mind. We transform our minds. So this is the main reason for having faith and veneration in text. So we have Geshe-la has finished the presentation of the first stanza.
And, the second stanza, in the eight verses starts with the verse, whenever I associate with someone, not just interact with someone. Now this verse is a statement of humility by And in this stanza, the I, which is placed in the first verse, actually has the same meaning as the I, which was explained at the end of the fourth verse of the previous stanza. The main goal of the second stanza is to eliminate pride, which is one of the foremost inner obstacles. And the term someone in the first verse of the second stanza means that whether we have befriended or interacting with someone who is our superior, such as our spiritual teacher, someone who is our equal, such as a classmate or a friend, or someone who is our inferior, we nonetheless place ourselves systematically beneath them. And the third verse and from the very depths of my heart.
In the Tibetan, as, may I think of others as supreme. So here the others which are referred to are the other sentient beings from the very depths of our heart means from the of the very innermost depths of our being, we should hold them as superior and this should not just be superficial feeling. Why is it so important to eliminate pride? The term in Tibetan for pride is literally ‘I am king’, Then pride actually is very strongly connected with self-cherishing. The greater the pride, the greater the self-cherishing.
In turn, the more we are able to reduce pride within our mind stream, the more self-cherishing will naturally be reduced. There are several types of pride. One could say there are two broad categories of pride. Pride based on one’s aggregates, certainly one’s body, and pride based on one’s education or knowledge. And the first category of pride, pride based on one’s body refers to pride based on one’s beautiful or handsome appearance.
This is totally inappropriate in the same way as pride in one’s wealth, literally one’s gold, is completely inappropriate. If you think pride in the money you have is appropriate, then ask your money whether it can come along with you to the next life.
So if you imagine putting your money in front of you, let’s hundreds say of thousands of Australian dollars, this money just stays there and is of no benefit. And perhaps in a couple of minutes, when we leave this world, we will have to leave it behind. And then the second category of pride pride which arises arises from one’s own knowledge, one’s own understanding, or one’s quality qualities is something we should analyze. All of us are dharma practitioners. Then if we check and see whether this pride which arises from our qualities is of any benefit to us, it will become clear it is not.
If we see carefully how virtuous actions must be complete to lead to a result, in other words, how the preliminaries, the actual deed, and the completion of the deed must be present for the virtuous deed to give rise in future lives to benefit, then we can see the harm which pride can cause. As Śāntideva said, if in this life as a human being, I cannot accumulate virtue, later when I am in the lower realms, what hope is there? Clearly, if at present as human beings, we are unable to accumulate virtue when we have freedom, then what hope is there once we are reborn in the lower realms? Perhaps none at all. In the lower realms, all there is is deceit and malice.
And therefore, we should cause our pride to reduce, cause our arrogance to reduce. And when we experience envy or jealousy towards others who have greater qualities than us, we should ask ourselves, is this envy or this jealousy grounded in reality? Is it beneficial? In the same same way as if we are able to eliminate pride, all of the qualities will come to us in the same way as water flows into a low place. Likewise, if we can reduce pride, we can eliminate the factors which prevent the arising of qualities.
And we can see in this very life, people who are very proud, who are very arrogant, are always alone. They have no one around them. Everyone turns away from them. Then in future lives as well, such people will be alone. They will not have friends.
Their appearance will be dark. And as I said in the Lama Chöpa, self-cherishing is the root of all faults, whereas cherishing mother sentient beings is the ground of all qualities. Here, as Geshe la pointed out, self-cherishing is very close to pride, to arrogance, and therefore, we can see that pride and arrogance are the root of all faults, whereas cherishing mother sentient beings is very similar to humility, and humility is the root of all qualities. We have therefore finished this morning the two first stanzas of the eight verses on transforming the mind, and they focus mainly on the faults of self-cherishing and the qualities of cherishing others as well as presenting the means for reducing pride. So if we can quietly over time reduce the pride within us, this will be of great benefit.
So we will now, have the question and answer session. So Geshe la is going to ask you questions. And, therefore, the first question Geshe-la would like to ask you, and he’d like a very short answer, is what is this I or this self which is being talked about? Yes. The self which is other answers.
Yes. She said. Then do you have questions? Still, I would like some more definitions of the self. Yes, Richard.
Are there other definitions of the self? Yes. I’m sorry. I can’t hear. Uh-huh.
So to to develop this a little bit, Geshe-la would proceed to an analysis which is partly based on Candrakīrti’s Madhyamakāvatāra taking myself as an example. So when Geshe-la looks at me and he says, ilia, then the term Ilya is imputed on a basis of imputation, which is the combination of the body and the mind of ilia. What appears is an appearance akin to It is not ilia. That appearance akin to Ilya is what is related or connected to the imputation which imputes a designation or a name on that appearance. So this is something we, from our side, have to reflect about.
So one of the context of this text, we are focusing mainly on the notion of I or self from the standpoint of I and others. In other words, the method aspect of the path and practices leading us all the way up to the state of full enlightenment. And we are not focusing on the I from the standpoint of the view or the wisdom aspect of the path, which makes it a little bit difficult for under for us to understand this. Nonetheless, Geshe-la feels that through repeated reflection on this, our understanding over time will increase. No?
Then, at present, please ask all questions you have over or for the two stanzas which Geshe-la covered this morning. Yes, Richard. Yes. Indeed. I and other or self and other are mutually dependent in their generation.
Perhaps yes. Yes. So indeed, I corrected the translation. This is basically Geshe Thupten Jinpa’s translation. He implies that the wish fulfilling gem refers to the determination.
The Tibetan actually, Geshe la says, clearly states that the wish fulfilling gem refers to sentient beings.
So in that verse, may I view myself as the lowest among all, The I which is referred to here is the conventional I, which when one sees things of others who are superior, equal, or even inferior to oneself, still sets oneself beneath all of So that I has exactly the same meaning as the I which is referred to in the fourth verse of the first stanza. Does that answer your question? So there’s room in the there’s room in the Buddhist teachings for your outlook because the view that the I is a mere nominal conceptual imputation is only the view of the Prāsaṇgika Madhyamaka school. This is not at all the view of the Vaibhāṣika or the Sautrāntika school. It will be difficult for those schools to say that the I is a mere nominal conceptual imputation.
Instead, they say that the I is consciousness, which seems to be your position. Geshe la thinks you So I we translated your question and practiced it with pride as rebelliousness, which I think is closer. Then Geshe la said, basically, if that rebelliousness takes the benefit of others into account, then it could be helpful. Uh-huh. So you have to check the motivation for that.
So what’s your motivation? Yes. So what is referred to here when one speaks of, viewing oneself as the lowest amongst all is viewing all others as higher than oneself and better than oneself and working for the benefit of all others, then this leads to a drop in pride. When pride drops, so does suffering. So for us, it is not possible to practice on the scale Geshe Langri Tangpa practiced where he gave up this life for the Dharma, gave up the Dharma for a cave, and gave up a cave, the the jewels of the Kadampa tradition.
But we ourselves must do our best to practice like that. So you have to reflect on the motivation with which you do that. If that is done with the motivation of helping others, then that self abasement, that self humiliation is a source of tremendous virtue and benefit. Otherwise, no. Yes.
Dangerous questions. Very good. Geshe la says, basically, it is contingent on the amount of work, effort, and hardship experienced for studying. If one really studies hard with work and effort, then it will leave imprints on the mind which will manifest in future lives. It is the same thing as when we are awake.
If we do something when we are awake with great intensity, it is possible for it to appear in the dream state. Likewise, if we do something in this life with great intensity, it may appear within the mind of clear light and after death. So we all have experience of this, that when we do things during the day with great effort, with great intensity, sometimes it appears in our dreams. So it’s the same thing with studies. So this will be it for now.
And we stop, and we will Sorry. Resume at 02:00. So question Your question at 02:00. Keep your breath until then. So we stop at twelve o’clock, and Geshe la doesn’t know Australian habits in his country after a teaching.
One has a nice meal and one walks around to relax the mind.