Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 35-minute teaching on thought transformation, Kyabje Rinpoche teaches practitioners how to turn harm into a spiritual tool. When someone insults or harms you, recognize it as your own past karma ripening — not their fault but yours. Then generate compassion for the person harming you; they are creating negative karma by their own actions. Remember they were once your mother countless times in past lives; remember you may have killed them when they were animals, eaten their flesh. Accept the harm as fair recompense for past wrongs. Most crucially, see this person as your greatest teacher, providing exactly what you need to practice patience and purify your karmic debt. Rinpoche cites Śāntideva and Geshe Chekawa: those who harm you are your best teachers. Through this reframing, every affliction becomes a source of happiness and enlightenment-path progress.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1989-10-17 – 13B – Sun's Radiance of – KR.mp3
UUID: 83011d1a-89eb-4997-8127-28b509522707
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Sun Radiance – Thought Transformation
Date: 1989-10-17
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,202
So in the past one has done an action, a karma, and a bad one, and because we accept the law of cause and effect, infallibility of bad action bringing our suffering and good action bringing happiness because we believe in that. Therefore, as long as that bad karma is not purified by an antidote of purification complete with the full opening power, if it’s not purified by that antidote, then no matter how long, they may take time in between, let’s say, eons and eons, Still, that karma will have to ripen in the form of suffering. So in this way, one has to think, now there is not anyone who has done wrong for me to receive these unfair, what are called supposedly unfair criticisms in an unpleasant world. It is only me who has done wrong and it is only me who is to blame for because at this point of my life, my past life’s bad actions, are there because our results are ripening at this point. So that’s the way how one has to train one’s mind in those circumstances.
It is like in Rinpoche’s birthplace, native place, there are some people who, when it comes to real bad relationship with other people, they would kill without hesitation the other person. So when the other person is killed, that’s fine. But behind that person, there are a whole lot of friends, relatives who at one point afterward in the future would kill this person. So somehow that first act of killing another person, its karma ripens on this person in a very vague way. So this is just an example of how our karma at this point is ripening in the aspect of receiving insults and supposedly unfair treatment from others.
So in the first place, if one hasn’t killed the other person, let’s say if the person hasn’t killed the other person, then there’s no possibility at all for that person’s relative’s parents to take blood revenge and kill the first person. So in the same way in this life, in our lives, there are a whole lot of instances where other people treat us badly, insult, and sometimes even beat us up. So that whole thing will definitely have to be the cause of our same kind of treatment to other people in the past lives and the result is happening now. So in the same meaning to the point, great master Śāntideva says in a verse which in meaning is to be explained as meaning that in the past one has done wrong thing, kind of what I call beating up insult and saying unpleasant things to others. And these are now in this life ripening in the form of receiving the same thing now.
So in this work on explanation, let’s say in normal life, we seem to encounter some people who treat you badly. So that very person, the whole circumstance of person coming out there or treating you badly has to be a result of past life because why these circumstances arise and the person who is inflicting harm arrives there. At the same time when the person is inflicting harm on you, treating you badly, you have to think that, oh, at this point of circumstance it is because of me that this person is again going to create a bad karma. So it is because of me that he is being involved in this bad action. Therefore, with this kind of thinking, one has to especially generate a kind of compassion and care to this person.
And that’s how in such circumstances we have to apply this way of thinking as a kind of solution. And also, on the other hand, the way of thinking should be that this same person in the whole past lives of mine, he had been countless times, he had been my mother. And in all those times when he had been my mother, had been as kind as my present mother of this life. So in this way, with that kind of thinking, one has to work on in such circumstance, one has to regard that person as very dear and hold him as very precious. And also one has to think this way, that to this same person in all the past, countless lives, I have killed him countless times, in such time when he had been an animal.
And during those times, I have eaten his flesh and drank his blood and what I call what we normally call with bones you chew. Yeah. And I have chewed his bone countless times in the past when he had been an animal. And also, not only that, there have been occasions when out of I call out of envy trying to have good skin of an animal, I might have killed this person countless times, either to wear the skin on my body or as an ornament. And also in the past, I might have killed him countless times when he was born as an animal close to deer antelope in whose testicle normally we extract a kind of substance which is used for anti poison, especially against poisonous snakes.
So I might have taken or killed him as animal and taken that extract from his testicle. So in all those past life times, it’s possible I might have treated him badly and might have killed him. Also that’s another alternate way of thinking. So at this point, one thinks that things in this whole way of reasoning, and especially with this last one, that this person might have killed countless times in the past and might have treated badly him in the past countless lifetimes. Therefore, at this point now one has to have a kind of thinking that oh, all these, what I call, at this point all these bad treatment which you are inflicting on me, it’s fair, it’s most fair because now it’s like a kind of a same thing I have to receive in return.
Therefore, I completely think that it’s all up your freedom, up to whatever you want to do. It’s most right, most fair that you may do whatever you want to do to me. So with that kind of total submission to that person and try to kind of a way of thinking that I offer all my body wealth body wealth and and all kind of article I completely give to you and therefore, thereby I submit to you. So kind of thinking that it’s all fair that you can do whatever you want. So there shouldn’t be slightest of dislike to that person in that sort of circumstance.
One has to, on top of all this, one has to think also that, oh, it’s because of you that now I have this wonderful opportunity to have all my past, that karma ripen and be purified. And also if these are not purified, then there’s possible that I might be reborn in lower realms, such as the hell of incessant suffering where I have to again experience all the intense suffering. Therefore, you are most kind to be able to provide this opportunity for me to purify all my past bad karma. And not only that, one should have a kind of total rejoicing thinking that especially you are most kind because you give me an opportunity for me to perfect in my practice of perfection of patience I by become so close or I get closer in my goal of achieving Buddhahood. Therefore, the precious work of state of Buddhahood is also being made closer, quicker by you.
So you are very, very precious and I thank you. And at this point, I want to offer a khata of great compassion and one wish — in Tibetan the word for great compassion means ‘I thank you’. So meaning just a kind of work of humor, saying you have to offer a khata of gratitude, which represents in Tibet a gesture of thank you. On the great Kadampa Geshe Chekawa, he says in a verse which in meaning says, whichever person who, either in relation to an enemy or one of his relatives or friend, whenever there is an occasion of anger and hatred being caused by these people, either their enemy or their one’s friend or relatives, whenever they try to cause hatred and anger, at that point, whichever person can look at those objects of hatred and anger as the best teacher. So that person, wherever he goes, at whichever place he stays, that person will have the most peaceful mind and there will not be any other person more happy than that one.
Whoever can see the objects arising in anger and hatred as the real teacher. So with regard to teacher, which in literal meaning of the word is a friend of virtue, whoever helps you to increase your virtue. So with regard to teacher, it’s the person whoever gives you teaching and who bestows you the vows like the bodhisattva vow and tantric vow by which one makes progress on the path and attains Buddhahood. So a teacher is already somebody who is very precious and kind for one in the course of attaining Buddhahood. And in the same way, that person, whoever supposedly arises or causes you to become angry, may also be like a teacher because he provides you the chance to practice patience by which one also attains Buddhahood.
So he should be same as a teacher. So whatever kind of person can see this in that person, that person as a teacher, then this person, whoever can see that, then this person, wherever he goes, his mind will be always peaceful and happy. So as a practitioner of the Great Vehicle path, whenever if we encounter such situation where other people inflict harm on you, insult you, and even if possible that other people may kill you, in that sort of circumstance, if we as practitioner of Great Vehicle Path, if we can apply this way of thinking, then all these circumstances will become enhancement of our bodhicitta practice. And it’s never possible that these practices, oh sorry, it’s never possible that these circumstances will decline our practice of bodhicitta. It will increase it.
That’s why normally there is a saying, which in meaning, thought training, the city of happiness. So this in meaning, the thought training, the city of happiness. So this in meanings is like whoever, a practitioner, whoever does good practice of the thought training, then for that practitioner there will never be slightest of suffering and problems. It will be all happiness because he can transform every bad circumstances into a source of happiness. So maybe, okay then, we stop here.
There are about five minutes left. Any questions? Any questions? If there is no question, then we’re going to do meditation for five minutes thinking this way. At this point of our life, we seem to experience a lot of harms and insults from other people, especially during this degenerate era where all the sufferings and problems and harms and bad treatment from other people are like countless, like a constant shower.
So this is how our normal situation at this point of degenerative time is. But still, let’s think that all these, if we can handle it properly, then we can think that this is actually like our countless past lifetimes, bad karma ripening, and especially to the people who supposedly aren’t fairly treating us with all the what we call insult and so forth, to that if we can think of him as very kind who provides us to do our practice on love, compassion, and think that this person is like a lama, a teacher who makes sure that we are doing our practices properly. So with that kind of thinking, if we at the end have a kind of genuine compassion for this person at that circumstance when he harms us. So let’s try to think that way and that the point conclusion is to have a kind of genuine compassion for that person in such circumstance. So imagining such circumstance and trying to generate that genuine compassion.
So in that we meditate for five minutes. During this degenerate time, there are a whole lot of problems and afflictions. So at this point, if the practitioner is not able to practice the thought training, then we can clearly see from our own examination that it is never possible to practice the path of the great vehicle to be progressing. Therefore we can clearly understand how precious and important the thought training practices are at this time. And also I can tell you a little bit about.
He’s he was born in Tibet. His name is Dawah Dhondup, born in Tibet. And following the Chinese occupation in ’59, his parents left for India. And Dawah studied in various Tibetan education institutes in India. He graduated in Buddhist studies from the Tibetan University at Sarnath with a master’s degree.
And since then, Dawah has personally translated more than 30 Tibetan texts. He’s translated text in English.