Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 47-minute teaching, Kyabje Rinpoche establishes how understanding dependent arising — that all phenomena arise from causes and conditions — shapes ethical conduct and the path to liberation. He traces the correspondence between action and result: from positive actions arise positive effects, from negative actions arise suffering. Using China’s atrocities as evidence, he shows how distorted views that reject the law of cause and effect lead to harm. He then moves to renunciation — the determination to be free from cyclic existence — explaining why recognizing our own suffering is essential before developing bodhicitta, the awakening heart of universal compassion. Practical throughout, he reframes the body not as our master but as an instrument for Dharma practice. The session ends with Q&A on confession of negativity and right motivation.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1989-08-08 – 3B – Sun's Radiance of – KR.mp3
UUID: 80b9eab4-374f-4e01-b744-4b6dabb05561
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Sun Radiance – Thought Transformation
Date: 1989-08-08
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,699
I’m sorry. I didn’t quite catch it — it was very beautiful, what Rinpoche is saying. I can’t translate very well. So this is a, you know, to, is trying to convey the significance of understanding dependent arising in all its varied forms. That from negative action arises a positive effect, a beneficent effect.
From negative action arises a malevolent effect, suffering. And that depending upon the degree of negativity positivity, will arise a corresponding and according negative and positive effect. No matter what it is in psyche, whether it’s cyclic existence or liberation, everything is arising in accordance with a specific effect, and depends upon causes and conditions, whether it’s liberation or omniscience, which arise from positive conditions and positive causes, or whether it’s cyclic existence which arises from negative conditions and negative causes. There’s always a correspondence between cause and result. Nāgārjuna says that nothing does not arise from causes, nothing is not empty.
That is to say everything has to arise from something else. Everything is dependent upon something else. And what it’s dependent upon is going to determine its nature. From hot things, from a hot from a hot seed arises a hot plant, a hot in the sense of chilies or something like that. From sweet, from the sweet causes arises sweetness.
From sour causes arises sourness. That is always this prevailing throughout all phenomena. This corresponds between cause and effect. Everything is rising in dependence upon something else and arises infallibly in connection according to that cause. So the view the view of Buddhism is dependent arising.
All arises out of causes and conditions. This is the view. This is what we have to understand. It’s necessary to come to an understanding of the view of dependence arising. It is dependent upon this understanding that we are going to sincerely begin to practice the adopting and rejecting, cultivating and abandoning.
That it is dependent upon coming to understand the view that happiness arises out of positive actions, suffering arises out of negative actions, happiness arises out of positive actions, suffering arises out of negative actions. That’s simply looking at the law of cause and effect, we will develop the conviction that even if we were to contemplate it over and over again. But once we begin to see the all pervasiveness of dependent arising, that in everything there’s always this dependent origination of every phenomenon. Then from this we will gain definite conviction. We will be able to carry this understanding from the overall pervasive operation of the dependent arising into the law of cause and effect.
This will have the consequences of that we will begin to have conviction in the law of cause and effect. We will begin to abandon harming others and begin to benefit others. As a consequence, first having developed the understanding of the general pervasiveness of dependent arising, applying it to the law of cause and effect, gaining conviction in it, and then seeing beginning to actually bring it to apply it to one’s life. It operates whether it’s in the secular or non secular. It doesn’t matter.
The law of dependent arising operates, therefore the law of cause and effect. And this is going to help you really to begin to benefit others and begin to abandon harming others. If we take an example of China, you know, in general the China does not appear to have a accept the view of dependent arising because they do not have conviction, and the law of dependent arising that is to say from negative actions suffering arises, from positive actions happiness arises, then they don’t accept the law of cause and effect. And we can see this that they, if they were to accept the law of cause and effect, they wouldn’t be able to carry out the various types of activities which they have been carrying out. All the various killings, the torture, you know we can all see this for ourselves.
The can see this. This is what they see. And this way of conduct, torture, killing, repression is all arises from not accepting the law of cause and effect. So this is, you know, what is occurring in China is a product of distorted views. All the atrocities which are happening are arise from distorted views.
On the other hand, from correct views arises correct action. That is the appropriate action. So our view is most important of all. If we it is if the view, I don’t know of any other way to translate. View.
The view is the most important and the most forceful factor within our mind. If we have a positive view, if we have a beneficent view, then all actions of body and speech which follow from that will be positive, will be beneficial. So these, the various preliminary practices which we’ve covered the methods, the means for giving rise to renunciation. Sometimes I translate that as determination to definitely emerge. The determination to emerge.
Now, word in Tibetan is and this literally means definite arising. It means definitely to rise. And we’re trying to arise out of cyclic existence, to emerge out of cyclic existence. This is the meaning of the word renunciation. But we simply don’t want to arise out of, emerge out of bad migrations.
This is not perfect renunciation. We’re trying to emerge out of cyclic existence altogether. This is fully qualified renunciation and fully qualified determination to be free beyond cyclic existence. So the determination to be free is the uncommon, unique cause for the development of an awakening heart. In order to develop an awakening heart, bodhicitta, we have to develop great compassion.
There’s no way to develop great compassion without first developing renunciation or the determination to be free. When we say great compassion, we mean the longing to free all sentient beings from their suffering. If we haven’t developed this longing for our self, seen our own suffering, then we are not going to be able to develop this longing for others. If we do not have as prerequisite, as we do not have as a prerequisite the development of seeking to free ourselves from suffering, then we are never going to develop a very powerful, strong force with which to free others from their suffering. So how are we going to develop this determination to be free?
That we have to begin to contemplate well our own sufferings. We have to begin to look at its nature, how they arise. We have to begin to look at the various faults of cyclic existence in general, its disadvantages. And we have to develop a longing to be free from cyclic existence. We begin to question whether this liberation from cyclic existence in fact exists.
Is there a liberation from suffering? Coming to understand our suffering, their evolution, we can, and that we can actually abandon cyclic existence. We can be rid of all our sufferings. And then we develop the determination. I must, you know, begin to understand the great happiness that we can achieve, developing determination.
I must achieve the happiness of liberation. I must get rid of all my suffering. And therefore, beginning to the thought which the mind which thinks which thinks I must abandon suffering and strives for the for the bliss of liberation is the thought of renunciation or the determination to be free. So, it’s very necessary to begin to look at the faults of cyclic existence, and we have to understand what cyclic existence actually is. Previously there were some masters of Tibet who thought that cyclic existence was, you know, maybe this house, the grounds around the house.
This was cyclic existence. This is not cyclic existence. This is the environment of cyclic existence. As Dharmakīrti says, cyclic existence are the suffering aggregates appropriated by the force of actions and afflicted emotion. This is cyclic existence.
The suffering aggregates appropriated by the force of actions and afflicted emotion. The suffering aggregates appropriated by the force of actions and afflicted emotion. So, how do these aggregates arise? That the aggregates arise through the force of previous actions which are motivated by afflictive emotions, and due to the power of these actions the consciousness enters into the union of the sperm and ovum, and this constitutes the appropriated aggregates. This union of consciousness, sperm and ovum by the force of previous actions motivated by afflictive emotions.
If we look at the nature of these aggregates that we’ve appropriated, that we have, we look at how it’s operating. When we, if, you know, for example, the aggregate of forms of the body, the aggregate of feelings, in the case, if we were to eat, for example, very delicious food, it’s, and we experience a very pleasurable feeling from having eaten this pleasurable food. The feeling is not eating food, it’s the body which is eating the food. The feeling is not eating the food. It’s only it’s experiencing the results of having eaten the food.
It cannot incorporate the food into itself, it only experiences it. Therefore, it wants to experience it again and it can’t bring it into itself. So again, it has to try to experience it. And again, we have to eat good food, and again, we have to eat good food, and this goes on. We always have whether we put clothes on, nice comfortable clothes, the feeling, aggregate feeling cannot put these clothes on.
It only has experience of putting good clothes on. Body is what puts the good clothes on. So again, it has to try. It is never satisfied. It can never achieve the satisfaction that it keeps seeking.
Again and again trying to achieve satisfaction, again and again having to try to re experience these these pleasurable feelings. So it’s as if we’ve become servants to the body that we are being used by our body body that, you know, that we keep, we go through so much difficulty trying to acquire things for our body. We have to feed it again and again and again. We have to clothe it again and again and again. And we can never achieve the satisfaction that seeking from doing, from going through all these difficulties.
That we have to eat and then we have to eat again, and then we have to eat again, we have to eat again. We go through a great deal of trouble earning money to clothe ourselves well, but still we have to clothe ourselves again and again. They’re not able to bring about the satisfaction that we’re seeking, the contentment satisfaction. But we can make rather than having a body use us, can make use of the body. That, you know, we can give it food, we can give it clothing, but we should use that body and giving it food and clothing as a method of practicing Dharma.
We can use the body for example do prostrations, all types of various types of positive actions through the body. And therefore using the body rather than having the body use us. So Śāntideva says that if he is addressing his body and he says, If you don’t benefit me, I’m not going to give you any more food and clothing. And, you know, we should treat our body as if it was a servant. You know, just as in a servant who follows out your order and you give them something in return, you give them pay, that the body can be extremely useful to us.
We can carry out various types of practices such as prostrations, we can use it in meditation, we can use it for our various recitations. So what’s the use, you know, going through all our trouble, going through so much work to, in order to feed and clothe our body if in return it’s just going to engage in all types of negative actions which are going to bring us suffering. You know, it’s not a very skillful way to act. That we can, you know, if it’s simply feeding and clothing our body, we just carry on negative actions such as sexual misconduct, stealing, hurting, harming others. Then, we’re going to trouble for nothing.
But on the other hand, we should make use of our body. We should come to an understanding of the nature of cyclic existence transitory. It’s not stable. And we’re not going to be have this body long. It’s due to this aggregate, the physical aggregate of the body that we have to undergo various types of physical suffering, you know, that we have to undergo the sufferings of hunger, thirst, and sickness.
So, there’s a correspondence between the type of suffering that we experience and the type of aggregate that we have, that we’ve embodied. In dependence upon having a human body, we are forced to undergo all the various types of human suffering. A cat, in dependence upon having that cat body is forced to undergo all types of cat suffering. A fish, in dependence upon a fish body, is forced to undergo all types of fish suffering. That according to that aggregate that we’ve that we’ve appropriated, we will undergo a corresponding suffering.
If we don’t appropriate any aggregate, we’re not going to experience any suffering. So there’s no stability to cyclic existence. There’s no stability to, there’s no firmness to our body that it’s transitory. It’s going to last for a few years. That even before that in an old age it’s quite, it’s not of much use.
That this becomes difficult to really engage in practices. It’s untrustworthy. So the suffering that we experience is due to the force of having taken this type of body that we possess. And we took this body due to the force of actions and afflictive emotions. When we, by not taking such a body in the future, then we can experience the bliss of liberation which is, which has no suffering.
Seeing the faults of the body, the physical aggregates, seeing its suffering nature, we develop the we see the need to attain liberation. The mind which seeks to attain liberation is what we mean by renunciation. So we’ve completed what is the preliminary to the actual presentation of the text. That the preliminaries were the contemplation of leisures and fortunes, the impermanence of death, the actions and the results, and then the disadvantages of cyclic existence. And next week we’re going to bring begin the actual the main the actual presentation of the text which is the method of developing an awakening heart.
So we’ve run out of time, but we’ll take ten minutes to answer questions. So here expert does not mean expert in something like scriptures and things like that. Here expert means an expert in confession of negativity. Does it have any effect on your potential to commit negative action? If you So if we, for example, apply the four counteracting agents, the four antidotes well, then this will have a tendency to reduce the force of engaging, of collecting negative actions in the future.
Why? Because within these four antidotes there is the power of regret Because which would in which you would understand the faults of what you were doing, and there’s also the power of reversal which you begin to turn the mind away from repeating these actions again. So these two would have the tendency to reduce the force, the power of repeating these negative actions in the future. So someone’s doing something which you see, which is bad and you intervene? Yes.
And what way do you intervene? So the quality of the action of the second person would depend upon their motivation whether they had a beneficial attitude. Whether it was altruism. If it was if they had a beneficial attitude, this was their motivating force for engaging in all this activity, then it would be positive, it wouldn’t be negative. Had a positive motivation but things didn’t go well.
Whatever problems may arise from your side that you had positive motivation from your side. Would remain positive. The action is positive no matter what difficulties, problems may arise. If your motivation was positive.