Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 46-minute talk, Kyabje Rinpoche challenges the assumption that worldly pleasures bring real happiness. Using vivid examples—eating when hungry, standing up when tired, sitting down when sore—he shows that samsaric pleasure is merely diminishment of one suffering immediately replaced by the start of another. Real, unchanging happiness comes only from Dharma practice leading to liberation or rebirth in a Pure Land. The core teaching: practice now, not later, because death is unpredictable and human life is rare. Rinpoche methodically answers three questions: why we need to practice (only Dharma delivers ultimate happiness), why we can practice (we have teachers and conditions), and why delay is impossible (we don’t know when we’ll die). He closes by distinguishing practitioners from non-practitioners by their attachment to this life.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1993-08-24 – Side 2 – KR.MP3
UUID: ae7ca701-46b1-4504-b40c-3d96602e3ded
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Three Principal Aspects
Date: 1993-08-24
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,621
The mind is really very strange. It’s The nature of mind is such that we can become tremendously accustomed to particular things, and they they come quite readily. Or on the other hand, the first time we do something, you know, something that we aren’t accustomed to, is extremely difficult. But if once upon accustomed accustomed to it, it becomes extremely easy. We can understand it easily.
We can involve it in ourselves quite readily. And this is the nature of the mind. So if were considering, well, what is a benefit to ourselves? That which is a benefit not only in this life but in future lives is the Dharma. What all other things aside from the Dharma, to a large extent, have no essence, and they’re unstable.
But it is a Dharma brings about a result of great happiness and in no way can bring about suffering to ourselves. The the Dharma only brings happiness. No suffering whatsoever on on one hand. On the other, most other things may bring some small happiness, but additionally, there is great suffering. If we we can take an example of when we eat food when we’re hungry.
So we do we do when we eat food when we’re hungry, we do experience some minor happiness. But if we examine that, what we’re experiencing, what we experience as happiness is actually a diminishment of our suffering, of hunger. That eating of that food is not, in fact, in the nature of happiness. If the food were in the nature of happiness, then as much as we ate, it should always bring us that much pleasure. It should if if it was in nature of happiness.
But we all know that the more we eat, there will reach a point when we’re it it starts to cause us suffering and we finally get sick. So another example is that, you know, we’re all sitting here and as we continue to sit here, soon we will all become, discomfort. We will experience discomfort, some degree of suffering. And so we get up, we stand up, and we all that feels good to stand up. And there’s the appearance of having eliminated our suffering because there’s some there’s a there’s But what actually has occurred is our great suffering has diminished into a minor suffering.
And it is the beginning of but it appears to us, because it is diminishment of a greater suffering, we experience that as a pleasure. But it is in fact only a diminishment of previously greatest type of suffering. And in fact, having stood up, we are it is the initial moment of the suffering of standing up. Because after a while, that suffering will gradually increase and then finally we think, well, this is this hurts to stand up. I gotta I gotta sit down.
So we sit down, and immediately we we we experience what appears to as pleasure, but which is in fact just simply a diminishment of the of the previous great suffering of standing. But it is now the minor suffering of having just begun to sit down. So we are fluctuating back and forth for these different types of sufferings. So that’s the nature of the contaminated pleasure of cyclic existence. Is such that when the contaminated pleasure of cyclic existence is such that it is simply the diminishment of previous sufferings diminishment of previous sufferings and is conceived of as pleasure and the beginning of a new type of suffering has begun.
There is no end to the suffering, in fact. If standing up were real happiness, then however long we stood up we we should always be experiencing pleasure. It should always remain that way, but it doesn’t. So understanding the nature of the Understanding the nature of the pleasures of cyclic existence and the pleasures of this life, we should seek not to become attached to them. And what are we to do if in such a case?
If if we meditate well and cultivate, our minds, we can attain an unchanging happiness. That is, let’s say, the happiness of liberation. Liberation is constituted such that there is only happiness. There’s there’s not the slightest of suffering. If we were to to, for example, attain a pure land such as Amitābha’s Pure Land, you know, there are in general three types of feelings.
There’s feelings of pleasure, equanimity or feelings of pleasure, indifferent indifference, and suffering. There there is not even the feeling of equanimity, let alone to say the feeling of suffering. There is only the feeling of happiness. Not only is there not only there only the feeling of happiness, but there’s no experience of suffering to the extent that one doesn’t even hear the sound suffering or see suffering. There is only happiness.
So such a situation, why is there no suffering? Simply because there is no cause of suffering. Without the without the cause of suffering, then resultant suffering cannot arise. There is no cause of suffering. Therefore, there is no suffering.
So the reason that we’ve gone into this this discussion is that is trying to come to a determination that of what is going to be a benefit to ourselves at the time of death. We’re going to have some difficulties at the moment of our death and what can help us. It is the Dharma, know, these healthy states of healthy attitudes of mind that if we can eliminate any types of negative states then we can those negative states are those which are going to give us difficulties, which are going to present us problems. If we can eliminate them, then we will eliminate all difficulties. So it is the understanding and the determination to develop healthy states of mind to practice in this way.
So it’s necessary that we we cultivate, that we meditate on these skillful states of mind trying to generate these healthy states, the kind hearted attitudes, and to try to cease negative, harmful states of mind. And moreover, it’s necessary that we make effort today to this end. If we make effort today, then we are going to be benefited in the future. If we think, well, I’ll put it off till tomorrow, we can’t be sure that we won’t be dead before we we institute our practice tomorrow. It’s uncertain.
If if we’re planning to go to India and, you know, we think it’s we’re going to have a good time there, it’s necessary that we make some kinds of preparations, you know, what are we to do, making all the necessary plans such that when we do go, our trip will go well. On the other hand, though we might if we were to put off making these preparations and then suddenly we had to leave and go, then we are going to experience a great deal of difficulties not having made preparation. So this is the this is the benefit of of preparing ourselves in terms of why we meditate on impermanence in terms of death. Because we will make preparations for ourselves in the future, that we will implement methods whereby to ensure that we will not experience difficulties in the future. On the other hand, if we aren’t mindful of death, if we don’t cultivate and meditate on death, then we’re simply not going to involve ourselves in preparation.
We’re not going to ensure that involve we ourselves in the means of eliminating our difficulties in the future. So the meditation on the impermanence of death is extremely important. It’s extremely important over all three times of our practice. In terms of our Dharma practice, in the beginning it is the means by which we actually enter into our practice, that we are motivated to do something in terms of our spiritual practice. In the middle of our practice, in the medium term, intermediate, By again and again taking to mind the impermanence in terms of death, we will sustain our practice.
We will carry it through. And then finally, in the end, it will by being mindful of the impermanence in terms of death, we will bring our practice to a conclusion. We will complete our practice. So it is important in all of the three times in the beginning, the intermediate, and finally at the end. Initially it is the way that we will be motivated to begin a practice.
In the intermediate, the way that will serve to sustain our practice. In the end, that will help us to bring our practice to some kind of conclusion. If we aren’t mindful of death, then we won’t involve ourselves in this way and our life will pass and our life will come to will be exhausted without having practiced. And meditating on the impermanence in terms of death is extremely useful in diminishing our attachment and anger and hatred. It will help us to be less attached to things such as food and clothing, to riches, to our friends, to negative types of activities which we involve ourselves in to get all of these things, and additionally to the attitudes of hatred and anger.
The source of our present discussion in terms of the text are the lines by Tsongkhapa where he says, Leisure and fortune are difficult to find and life has no duration. So here we, by reflecting upon the fact that we possess a life of leisures and fortune, which it has great meaning. That we through reflecting and it’s difficult to find and has great meaning. And understanding this, we will begin to understand the necessity to practice the Dharma, that we are able to practice the Dharma, and that we should begin our practice now. With respect to the necessity for our practice of Dharma, And this arises out of the fact that we all want happiness.
We don’t want to suffer. And leading from this, it is only the Dharma which is able to eliminate all our suffering, which is able to bring us an ultimate happiness. It is simply based on the fact that this is what we want. Don’t want to suffer. We want happiness.
The only thing which can bring about this ultimate end of what we want is our practice of Dharma. Therefore, we need to practice. Having understanding the need to practice the Dharma, then we may question, well, am I able to practice? But in fact we are. We have those individuals who are able to teach us what is to be adopted, what is to be avoided, and that we can understand what is being taught.
And moreover, we have all of the internal and external conditions whereby to practice what is being taught. So therefore, we can we are we are able to practice. In terms of the fact that we are able to practice, well, is it necessary to practice presently? And in fact, it is. It is dependent upon this human life that we can carry on a successful practice.
Moreover, this human life that we possess is extremely rare. Its conditions, its causes and conditions which brought it about were extremely, are extremely difficult to create and therefore a human life is extremely difficult to find. We cannot be assured that we will find it again. So we have to begin at present. And so we may come to the conclusion, I have to sometime over the course of my life, maybe next year I’ll practice Dharma.
Gradually I’ll get around to it. But in fact, that’s not the situation in which we can allow ourselves to remain in because of the impermanence in terms of death. We we don’t know when we’re going to die, which which which day we’re going to die, which month, which year. If when our time of death comes, we might not have even five minutes to practice. If if we reflect in this manner, then we will we will not become overly involved in the various activities of this life.
They will not have, great power over ourselves to draw us into them. That we, we will begin to see that they have the various activities of secular activities have no really great cannot bring about any really great results. They’re really not of that much benefit or use to ourselves because at the time of her death, then no matter what activities in terms of secular activities they will be of no use to myself. And we don’t know when we are going to die. All these secular activities which are devoted to this life are in a sense essenceless and meaningless in terms of when thinking of death, in terms of death.
It is said that that one who clings only to this life is not a practitioner of Dharma. What do we mean by Dharma? What use is it to ourselves? It is that which, at the initial level, is able to ensure that we attain an excellent human life in the future. Dependent upon that, then we can attain liberation from cyclic existence altogether.
But we can go even further in that, in terms of the use of Dharma. That is, we can bring about the ultimate interests of oneself and others. This is the real use of Dharma. So it is only the Dharma which can bring us happiness in future lives, can bring about liberation, which can bring about omniscience. There is no other thing which can bring about this in.
There is nothing within the secular world which can bring us this happiness. There is no there is nothing within the secular world which can bring us which can eliminate all our various faults and bring to consummation all our acts and qualities. It is only the Dharma which has this ability. Therefore, it’s extremely precious. The motivation for those who practice Dharma and do not practice Dharma are extremely distinct.
They’re extremely differentiated. The great difference between the two. So you who have listened to the teachings of Dharma again and again, who carry on a practice, are very much different than those who have not engaged in such types of activities. Your attitudes are very different. So those who practice Dharma and those who are not are very different in their attitudes and their motivations.
Do understand the difference in the way the difference in the motivations of these two types of individuals? Usually you ask me questions. Today I’m going to ask you a question. Do you understand the difference between the attitudes and the motivations of these two individuals? Would you repeat that?
Very good. Very, very good. Yeah. Everybody? Yeah.
Good. Very good. Yeah. Yeah. So you you all answered well.
Mañjuśrī said, in determining the distinction between a practitioner and a non practitioner is differentiated in terms of whether there’s attachment to this life. Previous to our involvement in the Dharma, We we we only made effort for the pleasures of this life alone. That our our entire motivation was bound to finding happiness and eliminating our sufferings in terms of only this life. We, you know, were very trying to find food, clothing, all the good things of life. We would involve ourselves in great difficulties in all our various activities.
We’re all motivated only for the welfare of this life. Whereas as a practitioner of Dharma seeks to decrease this attachment to only the welfare of this life, The practitioner begins to concern themselves with the happiness of future lives. Even further, concerning themselves with liberation and finally omniscience, their motivation is more and more directed toward these ends. And there is a