Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 25-minute biographical account from November 1989, Kyabje Rinpoche reflects on his first visit to Australia, comparing the country’s material prosperity and freedoms with India and Tibet. He shares observations on Australia’s beauty and social stability—welfare systems, religious freedom, the general absence of petty crime. A striking counterpoint is his observation that even in this short span, these conditions have already begun to deteriorate: rising drug addiction, increasing theft and break-ins, a visible shift in community trust. The talk is largely dialogical, with an interviewer asking clarifying questions throughout. It concludes with Rinpoche’s desire to systematically review all the teachings he has received and given. Suitable for those interested in Rinpoche’s biographical narratives.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 33B – 's Story 1989 11 17 – KR.mp3
UUID: 5f474f4d-7025-462e-86e6-ef107507209b
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Rinpoche's Story
Date: 1989-11-17
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~1,149
And then in March 1988, Rinpoche went to Nepal and went to all the local pilgrimage places. And then he went to Kopan and then talked to all the monks, including head director, Lama Pende. He told them up to April 1988. After April, Rinpoche went down to Delhi and then through Singapore, he arrived in Australia on the tenth of of September. September 11.
To them I remember that day. Only ten minutes. Australia is the only Western country Rinpoche has been. And in Australia, arriving here, Rinpoche found the country, referring to more as environmental build up or formation, or environmental situation. Very good, Very good.
Very good. Very good. Good. Very good. Good.
Everywhere the country looks good. Very The appearance of the country Yeah. And the cities. Yeah. And India, there aren’t very many thieves and crimes.
And I said there are a lot. You said there are a lot. Just different. Just tell him different. Yes.
We have to, yeah, block. Yes. Now what would you say? Are there a lot or not? I just think it’s all different somehow.
I mean, there are some people that do pick your pockets in the city, but there’s not not like India where it’s all the time. You know? If you leave your wallet, you know, and maybe one person in a 100 here might lose it from his pocket. But in India, if you’re silly enough to walk around with money, then somebody will take it for sure. The facilities in the West are just very good, and all the people seem to have fairly, I will call it, fairly good freedom.
Mhmm. And that freedom is very important. Freedom Yeah. Freedom to move. Yeah.
To move around. Yeah. Without too many government restrictions, does he mean? You have freedom in this sense. You have choice to do so many things.
Oh. No restrictions. And, like, if you go across, say, across across the road, then everybody has to, what I call, the traffic traffic rules and the lines, and nobody can do anything as long as you follow that. Yes. Nobody can restrict.
And we’re good, like, we’re good in having enough things to eat, and drink. Like, there there aren’t any beggars hanging around, and everybody, to some level, don’t really have to worry about not having enough to eat and drink and wear. Mhmm. Yeah. To Rinpoche, there are people who have no homes.
There are teenagers and there are old people. But they’re they’re not so obvious as in India. Mhmm. But ask Rinpoche, has he ever been around I forget that square. Is it Light Lights?
Whitmore Yeah. Is that the one? Yeah. Yeah. With all the Salvos there.
Oh, yeah. It’s called. Mhmm. The machine, they But still, the welfare system looks after them Yes. Provide free food, free house, and that’s very good.
And also from religious side, freedom to practice whatever you like. Christian Christianity, Hindu, Buddhism. Mhmm. You can do whichever you like. That’s Rinpoche thinks very good.
Does Rinpoche see that freedom in India too? Yeah. Yeah. Know, Yes. So it’s also in India?
Yeah. And now it’s not in Tibet. Not at the moment. Yeah. From verbally Chinese state, there is freedom of religion.
But in actual fact, it isn’t. There isn’t. So far, he hasn’t been to so many big shopping centers, factories, and department offices, but perhaps they were even good. He hasn’t been? No.
Around big what I call education institutions like schools, universities. Whenever passing, somebody points, oh, that’s the university. That’s the university. That’s the school. But it only said the outside.
Interested to see more? No. Yeah. Yeah. But but.
No. No. No. Can be good to see. Yeah.
It is good. Well, we’d have to organize that. When Rinpoche was referring to the beggars and the thieves, was he talking just about India, or was he also referring to Tibet? I wasn’t sure. So that’s talking about present Tibet.
Present. Present Tibet. But he hasn’t been in present Tibet. He can hear. He can hear things like the religious freedom.
I see. Oh, yeah. Yeah. But the figures in that, that was they would have been there before. Are in rough areas, Rinpoche is saying.
So it’s quite a difficult, what I call, borderline to draw. Mhmm. And there is a reason. If you say isn’t, there is. If there is, it’s not that too many to say there is.
It’s it’s also the same here because people are saying Hindley Street in the city is getting worse and worse and and rougher and rougher, you know, and it’s not safe now to walk down there. In the countryside or somewhere away if there is a house where the owner goes out for ten, twelve days. Nobody breaks in. Usually, they wouldn’t, but it could happen. Yeah.
Over there, if you leave one day, it could be gone. Mhmm. See, when we lived up in the hills, we would never lock our car. And we’d never lock our house. But now even though our house is being sold, Bruce locks it now because there’s a little bit more people driving around, and he’s afraid it mightn’t be safe.
So even in this few years, it’s more. Yeah. It does. I I think I think some friends of Lolo’s, you know, Rinpoche, it was Lolo’s. They had their house was burgled.
Mhmm. They had things taken. I’m not sure. Last year sometime. That’s right.
He did. But that was very strange because they went there sometime when they knew neither Lama Choedak or his wife were there. So it could be someone that knew. Knows the place. Yeah.
I think. Mhmm. And see, when I was growing up, there was hardly any drugs in Australia, but there are so many drugs around now. There’s so many heroin addicts and different drug addicts. Mhmm.
And people are desperate to get that. It might cost a $100 to get a little hit, so they have to steal. And when they are high on drugs, then they’ll do more things. Of things. Yeah.
They work on the drugs and the drug addicts, and we just don’t have very much thing to do and hang around. So they just, you know, have to stay. K. Well, that might be Yeah. Yes.
It is difficult. And also, while you’re here, tell Rinpoche really like to go through all the teachings he’s received and the teachings he’s given just to get them clearer because I’ve made lists. So maybe next time too, I’ll bring those. Clearer. Has told before.
No. So we’ll have to check. That’s what I’m saying. Yeah. He’s told.
But I’d I’d really like to check while you’re here. That’s right. Yeah. Mhmm. This is easier because it was very hard.
Mhmm.