Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. At a gathering of teachers from Vietnamese, Thai, Sri Lankan, and Cambodian Buddhist traditions, Kyabje Rinpoche offers a sweeping introduction to Buddhism through three historical categories—the individual vehicle, the universal vehicle (Mahāyāna), and secret mantra—before focusing on the universal vehicle path to Buddhahood. In this 50-minute talk, he explains the two truths (conventional and ultimate), the five paths and ten grounds a practitioner traverses, and the path’s two essential elements: wisdom realizing emptiness and bodhicitta, the awakened heart of love and compassion. These practices overcome ignorance and self-centeredness, removing mental afflictions and culminating in Buddhahood, when a Buddha emanates to liberate countless beings. He grounds the teaching in direct practice: developing respect for Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha; curtailing harmful actions; and letting kindness naturally guide all conduct.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1997-09-14 – 1A – Exploring the World of Buddhism – KR.mp3
UUID: 45df8b11-1f1d-4941-8d8c-b321aa297c38
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Public Talks
Date: 1997-09-14
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~3,273
# Exploring the World of Buddhism 1a 1997-09-14
**Collection:** Rinpoche Recordings — Public Talks and Events
**Duration:** 50.5 minutes
**Words:** 3,309
**Model:** Deepgram Nova-3
**Corrections applied:** 14
**Transcribed:** 2026-02-27 18:44
—
I’d like to begin by expressing my thanks to Buddha House for having made all of these very fine preparations and to all of the wonderful teachers who have gathered together here. Teachers from Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and the representatives of the Cambodian community. I thank you very much. So the teachings of Śākyamūni Buddha were extremely vast, but we can look at them in three different categories. There were the teachings which were subsumed under the individual vehicle, mainly those of the four seals testifying to a Buddhist doctrine.
There were also the teachings which were subsumed under the universal vehicle, mainly the perfection of wisdom which is the teachings on emptiness. And there was a third vehicle, that of secret mantra. So I’m going to be discussing these three categorizations of the Buddhist or Śākyamūni Buddhist teachings. Firstly, with regard to the categorization of the teachings subsumed under the individual vehicle, these are mainly the higher trainings: the higher training of ethics, meditative stabilization, and wisdom. In terms of the higher training in ethics, there were eight levels of ethical following.
There were those of the lay male and female practitioners. Those of the twenty-four hour lay precepts. There was the novice monk and nun. Then there was the probationary nun and the fully ordained monk and nun. So in terms of the individual vehicle, the main teaching of Śākyamūni Buddha was given at the first turning of the wheel of Dharma, which was the turning of the wheel of the four noble truths.
The truth of suffering, the truth of the source of suffering, the truth of cessation of suffering, and the truth of the path which leads to the cessation of suffering. There are two which are to be abandoned: the suffering and the sources of suffering, and there are two which are to be cultivated or to realize—that is to say the truth of cessation of suffering and the truth of the path leading to the cessation of suffering by means of which one attains liberation. But this is an extremely vast teaching, and there is not sufficient time to even go into it in any coarse detail. But also the third of these categorizations, that of secret mantra vehicle, would not be appropriate to go into. So I’m going to mainly emphasize the teachings of this second categorization, those of the perfection of wisdom or the universal vehicle.
What I am going to do is discuss the universal vehicle. The universal vehicle is qualified with the fundamental attitude of holding others more dear than ourselves. And within this context of attitude toward all sentient beings, we go on to the various practices. The practices covering the 10 grounds, the five paths, the six perfections, and the four means of cultivating the minds of disciples. So what do we mean when we mention the term the 10 grounds?
The universal vehicle grounds can be analogized to the very earth from which flowers grow, crops grow. It is the basis from which all things on the earth itself spring forth. And likewise, the grounds of the universal vehicle are the earth from which various excellent qualities and realizations develop. By path, we mean, as Rinpoche said, a road. It’s the means by which we go from where we are to where we want to get to.
It is the journey which the bodhisattva undertakes to achieve his goal. So first, I’m going to explain what in fact is the essence of the teachings of the Buddhas past, those who are present, and those Buddhas who are yet to come in the future. The teachings can be categorized in terms of the basis, paths, and fruits. And the basis are the two truths. The paths are the five paths, and the fruits are the two bodies of a Buddha.
So first, I’m going to explain what we mean by the fruits. This is the result of our practice in terms of the practice of the universal vehicle. Having abandoned all the various afflictive emotions which are the root of our suffering along with the various seeds of these afflictive emotions and their latencies—this is the realization of the ultimate nature of all phenomena. It is by this means one achieves one’s own welfare, what is termed the truth body of a Buddha or the Dharmakāya. But how is the truth body of the Dharmakāya to be realized? It’s dependent upon an opening of our hearts, developing an awakened heart which is the attitude of wishing to lead all living beings to a state of complete freedom. It is dependent upon this that we achieve the truth body of a Buddha. But the truth body, the Dharmakāya of a Buddha, is inaccessible to ordinary human beings. So it’s necessary that we develop another body or embodiment which is accessible to others, to ordinary human beings.
And this is the emanation body, the Nirmānakāya. It is by means of the Nirmānakāya as exemplified by the historical Śākyamūni Buddha that disciples are actually led, that the students can be taught what is to be adopted, what is to be rejected, and thereby be led to a state of happiness. But in order to attain these two ends which are attained simultaneously—the truth body, the Dharmakāya, and the form body, the Rūpakāya—it’s necessary that we practice a path. And the path itself is made up of a union of what is called method and wisdom.
So the means by which we attain the fruit is by practicing a path, and the path is a combination of method and wisdom. Therefore, we have to practice the means of the method and we have to practice the means of the path of wisdom. Wisdom realizing emptiness through a variety of reasons—one gains a direct realization of the actual nature of reality. And what is meant by method is that in general, there are a variety of methods such as love and compassion, but most essentially, the method is the awakened heart or bodhicitta. But without practicing the basis—that is gaining an understanding of the actual foundation, the two truths—there’s no way that we can gain a stable practice in method and wisdom.
So we’re going to talk about the two truths. The presentation of the two truths is made within the individual vehicle. It’s present in the universal vehicle. And even within the universal vehicle, there is a graduation of understanding with regards to the two truths. There’s the two truths set out by, for example, the Mind school, the two truths set out by the Middle Way school, but it is the presentation of the two truths by the Consequentialist Middle Way school which is said to be the most subtle and profound of any presentation of the two truths.
One of the most profound discourses of the Buddha is called the Heart of Wisdom Sūtra. It’s an extremely brief teaching and it is often recited in Buddhist gatherings. And here it sets out the two truths—mainly enumerating various types of phenomena. These are called the conventional truths, and the fact that all of these various types of phenomena such as ear, nose, tongue, etcetera, lack inherent existence, that they are empty of intrinsic existence—this is ultimate truth.
So the various phenomena are conventional truths and their emptiness is an ultimate truth. These are the two truths. With regard to conventional truth, there is both a subtle and coarse conventional truth, and it is by this graduated means of first understanding coarse conventional truths as a means to understand subtle conventional truths, and by understanding conventional truths, one understands ultimate truth. So understanding the conventional truth is like preliminary to achieving a realization of ultimate truth. It is necessary to gain an understanding of these two truths.
If we do not understand these two truths well, we cannot enter into the path of the universal vehicle. This is set out by a great master of the universal vehicle, by the Indian master by the name of Candrakīrti, where he says without real understanding of the conventional truth, without understanding ultimate truth, we will not enter an unerring path. That is to say, we will not enter into the universal vehicle or the Mahāyāna. So it’s necessary that we, on the basis of an understanding of these two truths, go on to practice the method and the wisdom of the path. And why do we involve ourselves in these various practices?
Why go through all of this difficulty in gaining these understandings? It is because we as ordinary human beings suffer, that we go through both physical and mental suffering. And as a means to eliminate the sufferings of ourselves and all others, we engage in these practices. But between the two types of suffering, physical and mental, it is mental suffering which predominates most of our lives. And from where does mental suffering arise?
What is its origin? All of our suffering arises dependent upon ignorance. But here by ignorance is meant the misconception as to the nature of the self, the nature of the I. Out of this arises all the various afflictive emotions—afflictive emotions such as attachment, hatred, spite, jealousy, pride, which afflict the mind and cause suffering. The method by which we finally rid ourselves of suffering is by overcoming the basis of our suffering.
And the basis of our suffering as was mentioned is ignorance. And here specifically by ignorance, we mean misconception as to the nature of the self or the I, but we can term it in another way. We can call it grasping at true existence. Grasping at true existence, the conception of inherent self-defining existence of all phenomena, is ignorance. And it is by developing the opposing state of realization, which is the wisdom understanding the emptiness of true existence, in a gradual manner through our cultivation, through our meditation, we can finally eliminate ignorance completely from the mind along with its seeds and latencies and thereby eliminate completely all the causes of suffering within our minds. Without this wisdom realizing emptiness within our minds, there’s no way that we can completely rid our minds of suffering. So therefore, within the universal vehicle in the practice of the path, amongst these two elements of the path, wisdom and method, it is indispensable that as part of our practice, we dedicate ourselves towards the development of wisdom.
In addition to wisdom as part of our practice of the path, it is extremely important that it be coupled with method, and the method here essentially is the awakened heart or bodhicitta. In discussing the second element of the practice of the path, the development of the awakened heart, we have to know what it is that we’re seeking to overcome by opening our hearts. It is the attitude of self-centeredness. Self-centeredness is the attitude of looking out for only ourselves, for only our own happiness, and leaving aside others, overlooking their happiness and remaining apathetic toward it. Out of this, in seeking our own happiness at the expense and at the indifference toward others, we involve ourselves in a great number of negative actions. As a consequence of these negative actions or karmas, we cause ourselves a great deal of future sufferings.
Overcoming what is the cause of a great deal of negativity and therefore suffering, as a means of opening our heart to the suffering of others, we go on to cultivate love and compassion as a forerunner to the actual development of the awakened heart or bodhicitta. It is through our cultivation of love and compassion and the development of an awakened heart which holds others more dear than ourselves—we go on to develop an other-cherishing, that the emphasis in our concern in terms of one’s own and others’ welfare mainly resides with others, and our practice becomes a means of benefiting others. It is by means of developing the awakened heart which acts as an antidote to our own self-centeredness that it is finally eliminated. Having developed an awakened heart, all of our activities—those actions of our body, speech, and mind—are all beneficial for others.
Our life is led in an altruistic fashion. And out of this way of life, we accumulate a vast store of creative potential. This acts as the motive, as the force behind which we will actually achieve Bodhi. That is to say awakening or enlightenment. Without this motivation of the awakened heart, no matter what other causes we may establish for ourselves, we will not achieve the goal of the universal vehicle.
That is to say that of a complete Buddha. By the development of these two elements of the path, method and wisdom, they enhance one another. They assist one another. Our wisdom enhances our compassion. Our compassion enhances our wisdom.
They are coupled together and it’s by means of a union of these two that we finally achieve our goal. As it says in the Heart of Wisdom Sūtra where the mantra of the heart of wisdom sūtra is pronounced: Gate Gate Pāragate Pārasamgate Bodhi Svāhā. This outlines the entire path of the universal vehicle. From an ordinary being we travel the five paths. The first two are subsumed and in terms symbolized by the words, which are the first two of the five paths: path of accumulation and the path of preparation. But then, we go on. We go on beyond the ordinary state of a human being. And we achieve the level of highly realized bodhisattva, a bodhisattva superior. And then we continue on until we achieve Bodhi, which is the ultimate goal of the universal vehicle.
We achieve Buddhahood. When we attain the third of these five paths, in this mantra, it’s termed—that is to say the path of seeing—where we gain a direct realization of emptiness and we become a great-minded bodhisattva, a bodhisattva superior. We attain the first of what is called the 10 grounds. And we go on to traverse these 10 grounds. And it’s over the first seven of the 10 grounds that we remove all of the afflictive emotions along with their seeds from our mind.
That is to say, we completely eliminate from our minds the causes of suffering. What that means is, all suffering, both physical and mental, is completely passed beyond. But we don’t stop there. Though we have removed from its very root the cause of our own suffering within our mind, still others are suffering. So we continue on the path and we move on traversing the remaining three grounds, the eighth, ninth, and tenth ground.
And this is done in order to benefit others. And how is it that we benefit others? Firstly, we must know their disposition. We must know the capacity of each individual so that we can tailor exactly for their needs. In order to be able to do this, we must remove from our minds what are called the cognitive obstructions.
And these knowledge obstructions are the latencies of the afflictive emotions that we’ve already abandoned. There are still certain traces or tracks left by the afflictive emotions left within our mind. So for the sake of benefiting others, in order to understand their disposition and their capacities to be able to lead them in a more perfect fashion, we go on to traverse the path removing the cognitive obstructions from our mind. Finally, we go on to achieve the eleventh ground, which is the Buddha ground. It is here that we bring to consummation both the welfare of ourselves as well as the welfare of others through our having awakened.
And what does one do when one finally becomes a Buddha? A Buddha has a capacity to emanate, to project emanations into the world, that from moment to moment, they can project hundreds of emanations which are able to teach numberless sentient beings. It is by means of their teaching of the Dharma that they lead sentient beings to a state of liberation and omniscience. It is by their emanations teaching the Dharma to others, the path whereby they too can free themselves, that a Buddha enacts his deeds or her deeds. Mainly, what the Buddha Dharma is concerned with is becoming a better person, and a better person begins with developing a better mind.
And by a better mind, we most essentially mean a kind heart, the qualities of love and compassion, of altruism. And what do we mean by love? It means when you encounter a person who is unhappy, who is bereft of happiness, who is suffering in some fashion, going out of your way and making effort to bring them happiness. And by compassion, we mean an attitude of mind when confronted with the difficulties of others, when others are undergoing suffering, to think in one’s own mind, how can I help this individual? How can I eliminate their suffering?
What can I do for them? And ultimately to think how can I lead them to a state of happiness which is completely free of suffering? It is by this combination of development of love and compassion that we become kind-hearted people. If we really develop these qualities of loving compassion, this will be reflected in our ways of action, our activities in the world. We will quite naturally stop killing, stop stealing, involving ourselves in various sexual misconducts, stop speaking in harsh ways to others.
These are natural expressions of a kind heart. And in acting in this way, in this benevolent way, in this skillful way, we will only experience a result of happiness for ourselves. We will not suffer. The way that we can begin to help ourselves, the way that we can initially begin our practice is to curtail our various negativities that we express both physically and mentally and begin to act in more skillful fashions. So we can begin to develop a respect and admiration for such beings as the Buddhas and also their teachings of the Dharma and those who are practicing in the Sangha.
This is the way that we initially can begin a real practice of Dharma. I think everybody would agree that would be very good. If we live out these teachings in this way, by abandoning the harming of others, trying to bring about their welfare, then through our body, speech, and mind in these various expressions, others just by seeing us will find some kind of liking or find some kind of happiness for themselves. And we on our side will be made happy through the results of these skillful ways of acting. Therefore, we can help others. We help ourselves. We both are happy by these means.