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 explains a striking practice of thought transformation: making gifts to the sentient beings who harm us. He grounds the practice in dependent arising and karma—the harms inflicted on us now stem from our own past lives, when we killed, consumed flesh, and drank blood—then guides practitioners through the visualization: imagining their body as vast as Mount Meru and offering flesh, blood, and skin to harmful spirits and insects as repayment. He illustrates with a personal story of confronting a mosquito, recognizing it as a former mother, and practicing bodhicitta to offer his blood. The teaching covers the philosophical foundation, the meditation technique, and how radical generosity toward those we fear transforms the mind.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1989-11-28 – 18B – Sun's Radiance of – KR.mp3
UUID: 0bab1be3-3e75-4245-8558-2635b4c761dd
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Sun Radiance – Thought Transformation
Date: 1989-11-28
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,851
Work on realizations and understanding within those practitioners’ mind stream. With the lamas and Buddhas, with one’s teachers and Buddhas, there is not any is not any work or taking practice to be done because they haven’t got any sufferings and causes of suffering but still with the lamas and Buddhas one can do the practice of giving and how that is done is whatever whatever virtues merits one has accumulated one thing that these virtues and merits are in the aspect of different offering substances like a victory banner, golden parasol, celestial mansions and all sort of different offerings also different offerings one visualized being offered to the Buddhas and Lamas and also one can visualize one’s merits and virtues being transformed into factors which help the lamas and Buddhas to do the welfare of other sentient beings, assist them in doing the welfare of sentient beings by whatever offerings one make and also the practice giving of one’s merit and the virtue being transformed can also be done with the intentional purpose for long life or stable life of lamas and Buddhas. So that meaning continuous appearance in the universe. And we have also another practice of giving which to begin about, which to explain about that firstly let’s say there are a whole lot of different kinds of sentient beings who inflict harm on us when we do practices and those who inflict harm and who who hinder us in our practice, they can be whole lot of different, they can be humans, they can be non humans normally normally called called spirits spirits, and and so so forth.
Forth. And for those type of sentient beings, there’s a separate way of doing the giving especially meant for them. So before one starts that practice especially meant for those group of sentient beings who inflict harm on us, before one starts doing that practice, firstly, one’s intention and motivation has to be by love and compassion and especially by love. So when one does the intention and motivation trying to generate a loving or called attitude for them How that is done is let’s say this is a situation normally that there are a whole lot of different sentient beings who harm and those who we can see they can be grouped into humans and non humans but still there are a whole lot of other that another category who we don’t see and invisible ones. So who we don’t see, there are countless out there.
So anyway whatever be the what call different types of sentient beings will inflict harm. Regarding the practice how to do is if one is to generate oneself as a deity as in tantric practice, tantric practices that is alright but even if one hasn’t visualized oneself in the aspect of a deity but still one can do this practice by visualizing lights being emitted out sending forth light in the form of a hook and this hook light, these hook lights are what called a strike at the chest of the sentient beings and what called draw or pulls, pull them towards you. So once you have drawn them, then you have to start talking to them, fixing them. They are like humans. Is a room.
There is a conversation is possible because they’re basically like human. You can’t talk to them. So now you have to start talking. So regarding the inflicting of harms, it’s kind of a connection with our past life because we had countless past lives in the past, we had countless past life because if we go on counting and searching out then before this life we had taken another life before and before that we had taken another life. So if we go on searching, the number of lives we have taken so far is countless.
So because there has been countless lives we have taken in the past therefore it’s very definite that in those countless past life we have taken countless different forms sometimes as leopard, as tigers, as different kinds of or meat eating animals, birds, cannibals and so forth and during those time we have have killed other sentient beings, we have drank their blood, have eaten their what called flesh and have worn their skin on us so what called the inflicting of harm in those or through those ways have been countless in those countless past lives. And as we have already inflicted harms on others, therefore somehow there will have to be time that those inflicting of harms on other will have to be ripened as a karmic result upon ourself. And that ripening of karmic and that ripening of karmic result is what’s happening now that we are being inflicted harms by others. On the great compassionate teacher, Buddha has said whatever type of action is done that type of result is to be ripened and that’s what is basically called in the teachings of Buddha the philosophical view or the foundation of philosophical attitude is based on the theory of dependent origination, dependent arising that if you do a good action then there is certainly it will bring about will be good and if you do a bad action there is certainly it will bring about with the bad.
So because of that truth in the dependent arising way of law of nature, because of that in this life somehow we receive this inflicting of harms by others that others eat you, eat your flesh, drink your blood, what call chew your bones and wear your skins and so forth. So now we have to do the talking with those sentient beings who are now after you trying to fix you in the form of getting the retaliatory revenge of drinking of blood and we call eating of flesh and so forth. Now you have to talk in this way. It’s very true that now you’re after me, my flesh, my blood, my bone, and my skin. It’s very true that you all are not to be blamed because because it is me who started the thing in the first place that I have harmed you in the past.
Now because that’s the truth and you are not to blame, therefore now it’s all up to you whatever you want to do with my body, I completely give it to you for those who want among you for those who want to have what I call quick flash of mine, they can have it raw fresh out of me, you can eat there and those who want to have a those who want to eat my flesh a little bit after a while, they can still take your time, means taking they can still take time cooking it and boiling it half and after and those who want to have my blood, they can have my blood, those who want to wear my skin, they can wear my skin. It is all yours and I am completely giving it for you all whatever you want to do with it. So at the time of doing that practices, one think one’s body in the present state of a very small size. One should visualize one’s body as big as what is normally called King of Mountains, Mount Meru which is supposed to be about 1,000 miles in height and think that one’s body is as big as that and one is sending forth one’s body to these sentient beings in whatever what called aspect they want to have.
Those who want to have flesh they can have flesh out of it, those who want to have what call blood have blood, those who want to have skin have skin out of it and think that this whole body in in that huge shape is unending that no matter how many of the sentient beings may for how long go on eating flesh, drinking blood, wearing skin, this body is what I call unexhausting or resourceful in providing continuously to them. That’s very true because normally when we take loan of money from somebody we have to return back together with the interest. So here when we do what we repaying whatever inflictions we have done in the form of drinking blood and eating flesh and so forth. We have to do our visualized thinking it’s being sent for unexhaustedly unending because it has been for too long duration of time. So at the end think that these sentient beings now very much satisfied and because having satisfied now at the end somehow their mind is transformed that now they are with complete pure thought of love, compassion, bodhicitta and after that one can do the sending of sending of as before explained before after that one can do the sending of lamas, teachers, the teachings and the companion or teaching or work of practicing companion to these beings.
So with these sentient beings one do not give the practice of giving sending for different types of things they want. Instead one, instead to these particular group of sentient beings who are after your flesh, blood and skin so forth for instead those instead of transforming one’s body into wish-granting gem, one transform it into huge shape still as a body with flesh, blood, bone and skin and give a work or do the giving of this because that’s what they want or that’s what they are after. So tonight, the explanation covered the practice of giving in relation with sentient beings or other word, the explanation of the practice of giving to the sentient beings and regarding the giving it is basically of two, giving to the sentient beings and giving to the container environment and regarding the giving to the environment will explained in future and tonight the explanation is to the sentient beings and that’s about it and there are some minutes left for questions. Any questions? It’s a combination of both sentient beings karma and not decision but what I call intention of the Buddhas that before the Buddhas they got enlightened they make intention and motivation of thinking that I will be enlightened at that time of the period when sentient beings require me in specific time and with that force of previous intention somehow they happen to come and at that time somehow sentient beings karma seems to be on right good form.
About the bad issue. For them good condition. Again. For them good condition together. Yeah.
Okay. Who is the friend? That’s very good. It indicates that he’s or the person, the person likes peace and person likes honesty, justice. So it’s good.
Very good. Yeah. So in Tibetan, require what I call a specific clarification like when you say idea of a Buddha Yeah. Regarding what? Vision of Buddha being your idea that it’s a Buddha or when you get an idea that it’s a Buddha It’s a Buddha or yeah.
Or you were called saying, oh, Buddha must be something like this. So yeah, you got an idea about Buddha how you know it’s true or not and So that’s our call idea about Buddha. So implication is because your idea about Buddha has an all knowing mind and has power that’s all excellent and because of that he can somehow manipulate future happenings as he knows everything and the specific example is what called this South Australian state election. So even though Buddha knows before the election that who is going to win but still Buddha will not involve in trying to in trying to in trying to manipulate whichever way he wants to and why he wouldn’t involve is because according to how things happen in the passage of time, things happen as ripening karma. So because it’s a kind of a karma being ripened, so Buddha wouldn’t involve in interrupting the karma.
So in the case when an election if somebody is winning, so let’s say B is winning, Buddha knows that the B is winning but Buddha will not involve in trying to manipulate it to A side because it’s time for the B for his karma to arrive and to win and to continue with his result and experiences. The insect is hungry and that’s why it’s after your blood and it would be nice to think this way that the insect is hungry and also this insect has been countless times my mother in the past and now it’s time I’m really having the occasion to repay my debt of kindness to this insect and with that kind of thinking and try to have a motivation of love, compassion as well and then think that I will do the practice of giving to this insect very well and that’s how normally the attitude has to be and if you want to do it in the most perfect way of doing the practice in that situation then perhaps the best way is to think this way, I’m going to attain Buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings and for that purpose I’m now going to give my blood to this insect and that is called the attitude of bodhimind or bodhicitta, precious bodhicitta and that’s amazingly good.
Sorry? Mosquitoes whose sting, they also have what I call poisons to some degree, but still if you do the if you hold the attitude of love, it wouldn’t matter very much. Maybe if you are too frightened then you can apply means like putting creams and antiseptic creams and also put on mosquito net and closed the door. A few days ago, one one night Rinpoche was sleeping and somehow at the middle of the night, the Rinpoche heard a buzzing mosquito around his head and instantly Rinpoche somehow accidentally happened to just automatically scared away because at that time instantly Rinpoche had imagination about the situation being in India where there are too many mosquitoes and it’s quite natural sometimes to just scare away the mosquitoes by hand gestures. And so that was the work on imagination of India that instantly because it was the starting of mosquito or what called a few days ago and instantly Rinpoche happened to do that and it somehow disappeared, he couldn’t hear it and instantly Rinpoche felt, oh what a terribly bad thing.
I’m supposed to be a Dharma practitioner and more than that, I’m supposed to be a great vehicle practitioner. So, oh, it has been too bad, so terrible. And then Rinpoche expected the mosquito to return back and waited for a while and after a while the mosquito came and then Rinpoche made a strong attitude, may I attain the state of Buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings and for that purpose I will engage in this practice of giving my blood to the mosquito and with that Rinpoche somehow spoke mentally you can drink as much blood you want to drink. And after a while, there wasn’t any sound at all. Yeah.
So do not resort to good manner or good nature, nor speak roughly, it says not to do physical and verbal expression in a good manner which provokes or stimulates attachment and anger in other people’s mind stream. And to explain it more in-depth precise way of explanation is So to explain more precise and in-depth way of explanation is whenever afflictions normally called delusions whenever delusions arise do not remain good nature, do not be lenient good nature, instead instantly be harsh towards the delusions and try to apply countermeasures and eliminate them and especially in this context of thought training, advice on the afflictions or delusions refers mainly to self-cherishing and true grasping. So whenever these two principally whenever these two wrong minds arise, do not be lenient, do not be good nature, do not be too smooth instead harsh and just apply the antidotes countermeasures. So most of the root text require a lot of what call a lot of explanatory clauses, phrases. So basically this all or the remaining part of the text will be explained by Rinpoche in future but because you have brought up the question so the three objects referred to the three objects from whom one would call arise the three poisonous minds, the enemy, the friend and the stranger so unrelated neutral person sentient beings and the three poisons refer to those three principles root poison, attachment, hatred, and ignorance and the three roots of virtue refers to non attachment, non ignorance, non hatred.
Anyway, we’ll be explained afterward. So one has to work on the three persons in relation to the three objects and one has to meditate or practice on the three three roots of virtues. So tonight we will stop here and the root text there is one in the advice from a special friend in that book in English but this root text as Rinpoche explained is very different on many many points and so since maybe we have to work based on this one.