Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Kyabje Rinpoche opens this 48-minute commentary on the Eight Verses of Thought Transformation with a striking metaphor: grass will not grow on high plateaus and mountains, but thrives at their base and near rivers. This image introduces the second verse on pride and humility. He unpacks pride’s disadvantages—lower rebirths, inability to acquire knowledge, damaged relationships—then presents the antidote: placing oneself low, respecting all sentient beings, and understanding that disrespect from others is the ripening of our own past karma. The teaching emphasizes that practice serves future rebirths, not this-life benefit, and includes a question-and-answer section on applying these teachings when facing disrespect.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1999-06-12 – 1B – 8 Verses – KR.mp3
UUID: 6dcd07a5-73ae-4052-9476-ab9fb31766fc
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Sun Radiance – Thought Transformation
Date: 1999-06-12
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,198
Doesn’t pay respect towards one’s masters and never towards to one’s master, one’s spiritual friends, and other sentient beings and accumulates many non-virtuous actions. So here, the word we the mundane and the supramundane really contradict here. In terms of mundane things, we always said we should one should have pride that by saying and one should always have pride but say that I can do this and I know this and so forth. Whereas in or the religious practice when always shouldn’t develop, one should not develop pride at all. Yep.
So in the context of mundane things, we should have the a worldly. We should have sometimes it’s quite important. We should have the pride because that it helps one to one to have courage or yep. Help help ones to have courage to accomplish such. Say, some people, they consume or they take alcohol before, say, they were doing some show because of losing to lose shame or shy or nervous.
Which are the ones. Through this, the modern and the supramundane or the yeah, the mundane and the supramundane are really they really contradict each other and so what we usually say is to lead a very pure do a pure practice to one has to sacrifice the mundane things. So in the sense it’s is that without sacrificing the mundane things, it’s very hard to lead a pure practice. And also in the past all those Kadampa masters they always said that the mundane and the super mundane tasks are they our contradictory. And there is also a Tibetan.
And there is also saying in Tibetan that one saying that one should the both the mundane and the supramundane one excuse me. One should combine this mundane and supramundane tasks. So due to that, the present Tibetan government or the Dalai Lama’s government is called government which the is the combination of mundane and supramundane. So but anyway, the second verse is saying the disadvantages and the mistake, faults of having or developing pride. So if one if one generates pride through through one’s one’s one’s clan or one’s caste then one may get some benefits or yes, some benefits in this life but as a result of that, as a result of developing that pride, one will one will be born or take birth in a very very lower caste, like say, the lower castes as has been stated like the beggars and as a butcher and so forth.
And if I develop the pride through one’s knowledge of, for example, like the Dharma and saying I know this and this And as a result for that then one will hardly meet with the Dharma in the next lives and even if one meet the Dharma in next life but one will not able to and so forth. And also say and then but if one generates the pride through one’s physical appearance, one’s color and so forth or skin. And as a result of that, one will have very ugly physical or appearance in the next life. And, yeah, lots of disadvantages. And so those are the disadvantages one will have in the next lives.
But and it also say they are disadvantages in this present lifetime of developing, generating the pride. So if one is very one is very pride then and we said a man with with a pride will never be friendly with others. This is what he said. What the name So it says that it’s like that the like high on the top of the mountain or the high plateau, very high plateau. The grass will not grow on the high plateau and then the dew drops, the drops of water will never stay on the.
So in the means, what it means is that the the so a person who has strong who has who has who pride and he or she can never develop a great knowledge or have great qualities attain great qualities in this life itself means here the good qualities are the the for the. Yeah. So that was the example that the the grass will not grow on the high plateau or high mountains. And what way it grows, it grows at the bottom of the hill or near the river and so forth. Member.
So so one should one should not generate generate the pride because the pride if one has one one one cannot one one cannot acquire all those good qualities with pride. And so instead of that, one should have respect towards the sentient beings without pride. And when one when one has a faith or when one has a respect without pride within oneself then one mind or one always remains remains very low and so by remaining very low, putting oneself very low then through this one can cultivate a great qualities great qualities. Know, you mentioned the main secondary points. And so and to always and should always place one step below because as we said that the grass grows in the very at the bottom.
So so from putting through placing oneself low through that, one can cultivate that tremendously. So it’s been there is a saying that the lower cushions or the lower seats are the seats for the conquering qualities. So as for that the great master has stated that that by developing or generating pride, jealousy, attachment as a result for that one will not have the precious human rebirth and due to that one always been born in the lower states or take birth in the lower states and by taking birth in the lower state, one always cultivates or yet one always cultivate the negative actions and and and suffer for ever. And if you pay respect if you pay respect towards the beings, sentient beings, you can acquire all those good great qualities and then result for that one will have a better rebirth and the better states that one will take birth in high birth in high class, and and one can take one can one can born as a great king or great master or yep. No.
Or person in great positions. So so for for here, if you want to take a take a rebirth as a great being or in a great class, like you so on as the Lama, you should from now today onward, you should place yourself at lowest among the beings and then pay respects to its and pay respects to its beings. And then by doing that, you will take birth as a great birth in a great class, upper class people. So you should normally we say that we should practice, we should practice and the purpose of practicing is that is to have a better state in the next.
So the purpose of practice is not for this life. We are seeking benefits or or or better state in next rebirths, next future life. So if if one if one overcomes or if so if one overcomes the pride, it is to be sure that one will have a good rebirth. So and then the the so Striving, yes. Striving very hard for the food, shelter, cloth, and and having great reputation or the fame are called the mundane, only this, only for the purpose of this life and these are called the mundane or worldly concerns.
Sooner or later, the time will come, the death will come and at that moment we have to leave everything behind. So if one tries to have or only for the happiness or the benefit in this present lifetime, and at the time that death approaches or death comes, you have one leaves everything behind and as a result when one passes through the bardo of the next life, one will always, one will go through the suffering. So the practicing is proposed for the next lives and due to that, so at the result one will have always, one will travel through the better rebirths, yep, in in the next lives? Very, very good. Yeah.
According to the teaching, here it says the paying respect towards others. So one is not so to do a real pure practice, we always we do pay respect to others and one should not concern about what how others treat you. I mean, they pay dis they disrespect you or so forth. And what the main thing is to you have to always respect pay respect to other and shouldn’t worry about not receiving any respect or something. So you shouldn’t be concerned about whether people disrespect you.
So if one tries to do the pure practice here in the the practices of Guru Puja has stated that no matter, I mean a person, so no matter one how much others abuse you and all your secrets, means your misdeeds in the earlier lives and how much they use I mean, they use use slander and harsh words and how much they say you how much they beat you, but you should always and you shouldn’t be you shouldn’t give I mean, say, you shouldn’t be your mind you shouldn’t be distracted by all those this I’m disturbed or disturbed by that person. And instead of instead of challenging them, you should pay respect. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
So back to your question, so saying that you pay respect and so forth to others and say and as for the reason of that respect and so forth. But so at the moment so when someone does this or treated you badly with not paying disrespect and not paying respect and so forth. So at this stage, it’s been, it’s quite difficult because we are under, our mind is not trained, it’s under training again at the moment. So what we need to do is if you think about that the, so it is not his fault, that person’s fault giving you, you disrespect and you should think about the past actions. Are the results of the past negative actions are ripening on you and then it’s like thinking that I have hurt that person in my previous life and that now I’m enjoying or receiving or that result is ripening on me.
And just think that this is not his fault, it’s my fault. But through this So if one wants to be well trained then what one would think is that it’s great that the the result of my bad actions is ripening and it’s also coming to an end. And instead of feeling distracted or unhappy, you should rejoice on on it. You. Pinky.
Rejoice. So thanks for that person. Who pay with and that person who pay with this. So that person’s karma is negative. They he cultivated that karma or negative karma, and it’s a result he he had to face with this result in his next rebirth.
And so it depends on for what reason that person disrespect you or dislikes you. And you need to examine within yourself that, I mean, is that disrespectful or dislike, I mean, that you who provoked that person to dislike you or disrespect? If it is, then both sides are accumulating non virtuous. And then if you haven’t done any wrong to that person and you had paid helped him or paid respect to him or her, and then if they get angry then it’s nothing to do with you. Are you I mean, there’s no nothing that you can you haven’t become with any non virtuous.
It’s only the person who committed that karma of non virtue. Don’t know. Should say I don’t know for that. The best thing you could say you should you should say, I don’t know because, I mean, there could be a I mean, the mother could be a be a Buddha or may not be something else. So that’s the reason you and you can only you can say inside and know.
If you’re a community, I don’t really get that part. Yeah. Yeah. That’s alright. Lot.
The this this road has a cup. If this if your humility is. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah.
Okay. If you have a real motivation, sincere, proper motivation or yeah. Is that what is that the same? Get to the point or no? It’s possible to have them ever since their motivation.
Oh, yeah. Alright. This one. Thanks for the number. The I So here it says that the say depend it’s it’s not that if one I mean, one has the one is not necessarily be or respectful just by having the or wanting or having intention to attain higher rebirth in the next life.
Because because because say, if one cultivate say, one has the motivation. Oh, sorry. One has a wish to attain higher rebirth in next life. But it’s not sure that one can attain the rebirth, achieve higher rebirth in next rebirth just by having that wish because it depends on whether one engages or involves actual intention of cultivating the causes through virtue.