Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 46-minute talk from 1989, a Tibetan Buddhist teacher explores the foundation for developing bodhichitta, the awakening heart at the center of the Buddhist path. He opens with a striking classical story: the arhat Śāriputra’s clairvoyant recognition that a family’s meal contains the father reborn as a fish, the dog is the father’s mother, and the nursing child was his killer—illustrating how karma constantly shifts our relationships across lives. This recognition of interdependence leads naturally into the core practice: the seven-cause-and-effect method of cultivating love and compassion by recognizing all sentient beings as former mothers, remembering their kindness, and developing heartfelt gratitude. The teacher stresses that bodhichitta requires deliberate cultivation of its causes and conditions; repeated dedication prayers alone will not suffice without underlying practice. He concludes by comparing this approach with Śāntideva’s method and offers students the freedom to choose the path that resonates with them. The final section addresses practice questions about overcoming aversion and understanding how beings remain in the same continuum across different lives and forms.
File metadata (for organising)
File: tbi-duplicate-kr-thought-tranf-suns-radiance-suns-radiance-of-thought-transformation-6b-1989-08-22
Teacher: TBI (duplicate – KR Thought Tranformation 1989)
Collection: Sun's Radiance (TBI (duplicate – KR Thought Tranformation 1989))
Date: 1989-08-22
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Words: ~3,103