Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 47-minute talk, Kyabje Rinpoche opens with a striking worldly analogy: how we abandon jobs seen as defective and pursue work we see as beneficial. He applies the same logic to Dharma practice, catalogs the faults of self-cherishing and self-grasping through vivid images—a chronic illness from beginningless time; an invaded nation forging weapons from its own treasures; ignorance sowing seeds of endless rebirth. He reveals a subtler fault: self-deprecation is itself rooted in self-cherishing, disguised as humility but actually laziness. The teaching concludes with technical analysis distinguishing the naturally existing self (the object of negation) from a general self that rightly needs care. For practitioners studying thought-transformation.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1989-09-05 – 9B – Sun's Radiance of – KR.mp3
UUID: f1944996-40b9-4ba8-911b-5f653edce280
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Sun Radiance – Thought Transformation
Date: 1989-09-05
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,287
So the way of the world and the way of Dharma are very similar in this one respect. When we begin to see the advantages and disadvantages we will make appropriate we will behave appropriately in the ways of the world. If someone would say, you know, that you were involved in some kind of work and someone, Oh, this is a lousy job. You know, this is it was lousy before, it’s lousy now, it’s going to be lousy in the future. You know, just kind of really list all of the defects of this type of work, then you aren’t going to make any effort.
As a matter of fact, you’re going to give it up. You’re going get rid of this type of work and look for something else. On the other hand, if you had a job which you enjoyed and you thought about all the benefits from doing this type of work, all its good qualities, the profit to be made from it, then you’re going to apply yourself very enthusiastically to this type of work, seeing the benefits to be derived. Likewise, from the point of view of the Dharma, we try to make we try to see what are the faults of what we’re doing, and what are the benefits of some other type of motive behavior of a different type of practice. Looking at the various faults of one type of behavior, we begin to reject that type of behavior.
Looking at the benefits of another type of way of acting, we begin to adopt that more and more. So we abandon various ways of conduct and dependence upon seeing their faults. And we begin to practice other types of behavior by seeing the various benefits to be derived. Just as in the world, through seeing faults and benefits, we’re going to either abandon or practice. In the meditative tradition of exchanging self for others, we now come to two of the main divisions of this practice.
And this is setting forth the disadvantages of self-cherishing as one, and then the benefits of other cherishing as the other. We’re going to begin the discussion of the faults of self-cherishing. In general, there are the two attitudes of self grasping and self-cherishing. Self grasping is that which acts as the root of cyclic existence. It acts as the root of cyclic existence.
self-cherishing is the holding of oneself as dear, holding oneself as dear. These two are associated, are like companions. These two are companions, self grasping and self-cherishing. They are what holds us in cyclic existence. They are due to their force that we create all the various types of karma and continually undergo suffering.
So it is due to these basic attitudes of self grasping and self-cherishing that we generate the attachment, hatred, various delusions. That is to say, that we generate all the various afflictive emotions. In dependence upon afflictive emotions, we create karma, both negative and positive, in all the various varieties. In dependence upon creating karma, we perpetuate cyclic existence, and therefore have to undergo all the various types of suffering, dissatisfaction within cyclic existence without end. So there is a verse by the Master Śāntideva which says that whatever troubles there are in the world, however much fear and suffering there is, if all these come from self grasping of what use is this great demon to me.
So all the various troubles, all the various sufferings whatsoever, all that is undesirable that we have to experience all arises in dependence upon self-cherishing. The various — in dependence upon self grasping, the view of the transitory arises, and that these two are looked upon like demons, and these are to be gotten rid of. If, you know, during the course of this present life one were to undergo a long illness, one were to be very sick for one’s entire life, then this would be a catastrophe. People would think it was such a horrible thing to happen. But in fact, due to the force of self-cherishing, we had been, from beginningless time, taking dissatisfactory rebirths again and again and again up to now.
All the suffering that we constantly experience has been arising from this sickness of self-cherishing. And still, if we do not seek to get rid of it, it’s going to again cause us suffering again and again in the future. So from beginningless time up to now, again and again, we’ve been forced to take rebirths within cyclic existence. We’ve been forced to undergo aging, sickness, and finally death. All the sufferings that we experience no matter what, even a toothache, the harsh words that we are forced to experience, all that we that is undesirable that we have to undergo is all brought about, arises from self-cherishing.
The fact that we are we aren’t able to attain Buddhahood is dependent upon our self-cherishing. Not having understood this fact previously, and that’s why we have remained continually in suffering states. Now we know a little bit about the Dharma, and we know what is the root of our problems, that this self-cherishing from beginningless time is the root cause of everything that we undesirable experience that we constantly are going through. Now we have to make to develop the determination to rid ourselves from the root of the source of suffering, the self-cherishing. This self-cherishing is like a chronic illness due to which we have been paralyzed.
We cannot move, we cannot walk, we cannot eat. We are constantly undergoing the torment of this illness. Everything that we experience that is undesirable, no matter what sicknesses, dissatisfactions, troubles, problems, the fact that we aren’t able to attain liberation, the fact that we haven’t attained Buddhahood, is all dependent upon self-cherishing. This is the fault. This is the defect of self-cherishing.
As it’s said in the thought training, in thought transformation, that we are to drive the blame onto one, or to place the blame onto one. That this is the one thing that no matter what arises that is undesirable in our life, we are to blame it, to place the blame on this one thing of self-cherishing. It did it all. So these are not only from the negative side the suffering that self-cherishing brings us, but also from the point of view of what it prevents us from experiencing. That all the various excellent qualities, happiness, that the attainment of the various paths, liberation, Buddhahood, are all prevented by the force of our own self-cherishing.
self-cherishing stops us from being happy. It is in dependence upon self-cherishing that we develop various distorted views, such as the distorted view of discounting the existence of the law of cause and effect. And due to discounting the law of cause and effect, then we simply we continually engage in various types of unskillful actions, bringing us constant suffering, and on the other hand we do not engage in various types of actions which will bring us happiness. Just as in the case of one planted a field and hoped to get a good harvest, but before one could actually harvest the crop someone came along and stole it. Though one had great hopes for harvest, one would not reap the benefit of having planted the field.
And likewise though we do engage in various Dharma practices, And, but due to the force of attachment, hatred, pride which arise, these afflictive states destroy all the benefits which arise from our Dharma practice, and these all arise from self-cherishing. So an analogy of self-cherishing would be the situation in which China invaded Tibet and having invaded Tibet they collected together all the precious jewels, gold, silver that were in the country. And they used these as a means for building weapons of destruction, weapons of war. And they carried and they made use of these weapons in destroying other nations. And in doing so they brought great harm both to oneself and to others and carrying out this war with these weapons.
Likewise, due to under the influence of our self-cherishing, we are engaged in various negative actions, create various negative actions, and the result is likewise suffering for both oneself and others. So, this example whereby due to the force, due to the influence of self-cherishing, we engage in various negative actions, and due to these negative actions, the result is that we have to experience, we have to undergo suffering. So it is said that karma — actions are compared to a field in which the consciousness sows seeds, and due to the cooperative conditions of attachment and grasping which act like water, the conscious is forced to again and again to take rebirth, experiencing all the variety of sufferings, and this all comes about by the force of self-cherishing. So it’s said that the growing up of the sprout is taking birth in cyclic existence and having to go, having taken that birth unnecessarily undergoing all the variety of sufferings. And this is by the force of our own self-cherishing.
So previously the Buddha was just like ourselves wandering in cyclic existence. But we still abide in cyclic existence. That is to say we have not attained liberation, we have not attained Buddhahood. But the Buddha has gone beyond cyclic existence. He has gone to he has achieved Buddhahood.
And what is the difference that we still remain in cyclic existence and the Buddha is now in the bliss of Buddhahood is due to the fact that we’ve held onto self-cherishing and the Buddhas have abandoned it and practiced cherishing of others. So we could go on and on about the all the faults, the defects of self-cherishing, but we just we only have a few minutes left. So we tried to, you know, to go into a detail, an explanation of the faults of self-cherishing in in order to develop the thought, Wow, this is really terrible, and in order as a means of saying, finally getting rid of it. So we’ll spend five or ten minutes answering questions. But it’s causing suffering for themselves.
For example, what have you? Well, you know, maybe some people think their mind’s too clouded to, you know, they can’t be able to attain enlightenment. So, with lack of confidence? With self-defeat. So this attitude of self deprecation is not though it doesn’t appear to be self-cherishing, in fact, the root of it is self-cherishing.
So one with the attitude, Oh, I can’t do this. It’s because if they try to do it, they would have to go to a lot of trouble. And because don’t want to, because of their self-cherishing, don’t want to go through a lot of trouble. Don’t it would be difficult and they don’t want to go through any difficulties. This is also, as you said, related to self grasping.
This attitude of self-defeatism is a type of laziness, and it’s a fault, and it arises due to self-cherishing. So when we talk about the self grasping, another way to translate it is conception of self, grasping or conception. There is a self. In the term self grasping within the Consequentialist Middle Way School, that self that we’re talking about here is conceiving of or grasping a naturally existing I, conceiving of or grasping a naturally existing I. So this is the self we are referring to when we say self grasping.
In general there is a self, there is an I which must be taken care of, That it’s quite proper to seek happiness for it, to give it food, to practice Dharma in order to experience happiness for it in the future, to develop happy feelings. But when we talk about the self of self grasping, this self is an object of negation. It is the we are talking about a naturally existent self which is to be negated. So we must differentiate between a general self and the self of self grasping. So the cause of self-cherishing is grasping at a self of a person.
So the conception that self grasping induces self-cherishing, but there are though an example of a Hearer of the Lesser Vehicle — for a Hearer, there is no self grasping but still self-cherishing remains. That is not pervaded — just because there is no self grasping, it does not follow there is no self-cherishing. But in general, because there are different levels, but in general we can say that self grasping induces self-cherishing. Why are we not satisfied with the naturally existent self? Through ignorance, we grasp at what is not truly existing. So what is the cause of the ignorance?
The way that ignorance grasping itself operates is in dependence upon two objects. One is the object of observation, which is the nominally existent self. The nominally existent self is observed. This is the eye which actually exists, the eye that naturally exists is nominally existent. And then it has a referent object.
This is the naturally, naturally, inherently, inherently existent I. So ignorance observing upon observing the object, the object of observation, which is the nominally existent I, creates a referent object which is an inherently existent I and grasps to this. This referent object does not exist. Ignorance, this ignorance arises due to a previous similar type to itself. A previous similar type to itself, ignorance is continually arising in dependence upon a previous similar type to itself.