Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 38-minute session, Khensur Rinpoche teaches the four foundational attitudes that lead naturally to compassion. He starts with equanimity—recognizing that all living beings, across countless rebirths, have been one’s mother. From this recognition flow the second and third attitudes: remembering their kindness and developing the wish to repay it. The fourth, a grateful disposition, completes the foundation. Rinpoche shows how these four, when genuinely cultivated, spontaneously generate authentic love and compassion, not through forced effort but through solid ground—a principle he illustrates with the metaphor of building a skyscraper: you must lay the foundation completely before building upward. The teaching concludes with a direct appeal to the Buddha House community to volunteer time and return borrowed books.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1993-11-02 – Side 2 – KR.MP3
UUID: 27beb504-f86a-49f5-a484-ebb8cbef6daf
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Three Principal Aspects
Date: 1993-11-02
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,216
If if I if I benefited one someone today and then and and I benefited I have benefited them today. And if in in additionally, I had benefited that person last year, I can’t we can’t say that I didn’t benefit that person last year. And so the individual of this life who has benefited was our mother, and that of the previous life was our mother. All living beings are our mothers. So, this is we have to since all living beings are our mothers and we have a liking for our mother of this life, we should develop that same quality of liking toward all living beings since they were all our mothers.
That develop the same attitude of looking upon them as being very appealing to ourselves. So initially, firstly, developing equanimity. And secondly, developing the attitude which looks upon all living beings as one’s mother. And then thirdly, seeing that all of these that just as they all have benefited oneself in the same way as one mother of this life over the taking of rebirth, that at those times when in the taking of previous rebirths that they benefited you in the same way, that they benefited you as much as they were able in those previous rebirths as your mother, in developing the same liking toward them as one would have toward one’s mother of this rebirth. So, remembering the kindness of our living beings, and then how they have shown us such great benefit, And then having been mindful of their great kindness, then we develop a sense of a wish to repay their kindness.
You know, if someone who reflects well upon their parents of this life and considers how kind they have been and is mindful of their kindness that they have shown us, they will develop a sense of gratitude which wishes to repay that kindness. So, someone who considers well and is mindful of their kindness will develop a sense of gratitude wishing to repay their kindness. Considering the great benefit that we have been shown, if we were not to develop a sense of gratitude wishing to repay that kindness, then from the point of view of the universal vehicle, we have no practice. We have no really redeeming quality. This is a very inappropriate way of thinking.
So in the context of our practice of actions as causes and their results, karma, Then, you know, if someone were if another person benefits ourselves, then in view of this law of cause and results, we are to return that benefit and benefit them. Even when somebody harms us, in the case of the bodhisattva, the bodhisattva returns that harm with benefit. So without such an attitude of at least trying to return benefit for benefit, then we have no real practice. We’re not practicing the essence of the of the practice of the karma as actions actions as causes and the results. So, we cultivate these four attitudes well, Firstly, equanimity.
Secondly, recognizing all living beings as our mother. Thirdly, remembering their kindness. And fourthly, the attitude of repaying their kindness. All act as the method to develop altruism or beneficial intention. If we cultivate these well, then appealing love will spontaneously develop.
So, in dependence upon appealing love, then we will spontaneously develop the attitude of love, which wishes, thinking how wonderful it would be if others had happiness and the causes of happiness. When that develops, we will spontaneously develop compassion, wishing wishing others to be free of their suffering. Because, you know, because all the causes are complete. If there’s no cause, then no result will arise. But if the causes and condition are complete, then the result will arise automatically.
But what we want is to achieve a result without having created the causes. If we want to to develop well these results, and we’re going to have to go through some difficulty. You know, if we go through the difficulties of cultivating these attitudes of equanimity and recognizing our mothers and remembering their kindness and developing a wish to repay their kindness, then we will develop these results. But these results will come out of having expended having gone through some difficulty. So, you know, in in in the in the course of building a skyscraper, you know, you you have to begin at the bottom.
You have to dig out the foundation, remove all the the earth, and then prepare the foundation. And upon that, you begin to build the walls and the various floors in that way. But we we want to put the pinnacle on the skyscraper first. So we’re going to stop there. But for today.
But the the directors of Buddha House have asked me to say a few words, so I’m going to say them. So there there are within the center, there are variety of of jobs which need to be done, and many of them entail some difficulty in completing them, the different types of work. If nobody does the work, then things will degenerate. They’ll deteriorate. So we you know, if we want things to go well, then if we want things to improve, then we have to in this we have to make effort in the means of developing the center.
So, you know, up to now, the center has relied completely on on voluntary labor that everyone who the the various people and the students who have done the work of Buddha House have done so without any salary. We’ve gotten to this point where we are now. So, we could consider paying people salaries, but in fact, we’re not in a position to pay people a salary to do the work. So, you know, just as the students have previously volunteered their work and have in this way been of tremendous kind have shown a great deal of kindness, Likewise, again, we need to I ask you to please, I request you please to again to show this same kindness again to become involved in some voluntary work at Buddha House, whatever ability, whatever abilities you may have, whatever type of work, however much time to help in whatever way you can. I’m quite aware that in general that many of you have limits upon the time that you have in terms of the difficulties, in terms of time.
You have you have homes, you have children, you have work to do. So what I’m asking is just in terms of whatever time that you do have to spare. Even if it’s only a day every month, or two months, or a year. And if even it’s only you’re only going to be able to work for one month or during that time or two months or even one week, that you’re not going to be able to work after that time at all. Whatever whatever time to consider volunteering that time.
And to all of those who have been of such help in the path, And then presently, I’d like to say thank you. So, Buddha House is a Dharma center that was founded by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa. And why did they found Buddha House? It was in order to facilitate the practice of Dharma. And this to be able to bring about the benefit of both the practitioners and others.
To bring about the welfare, to bring about benefit, to bring about the situation where people could carry on their practice of Dharma. And this is this is why they founded Buddha House. So, you know, the I think it’s really wonderful that that Buddha has been founded. And, Because it is a place for those who are striving to in their practice of Dharma, that they don’t have to go far. They don’t have to go to a great expense.
You know, if Buddha House wasn’t here, then how far do you think you would have to travel in order to hear the teachings to be able to plant the latencies and to understand the practices? You know, if you would, it might have to go all the way to Dharamsala at a great expense and great People simply don’t have the time. So I think it’s been extremely wonderful and a great kindness that a center such as this was established where people can come to learn. And they don’t have to travel far and it’s not tremendous expense and it doesn’t take great time. And additionally, know, Buddha House is trying to provide a place where people can come to listen to the Dharma, to practice the Dharma.
And it would really be wonderful if we could offer this Dharma without any charge. That would really be wonderful. Anyone who is aware of the accounts of Buddha House would be aware that we simply can’t do that. There are all the various expenses which are incurred in the running of Buddha House, the building itself in terms of having to pay the mortgage off and the electricity and the upkeep and the expense for the newsletter and providing the expenses for the monks. This all requires money and Buddha House simply doesn’t have it.
So, we’re not in a position where we can we can offer that we might like the the the teachings freely, you know, free. Again, you know, if, the Buddha House is a place where people can come to listen to the teachings, and we can gather together for all types of various functions that go on at Buddha House, and this has been of extremely great benefit to the students and others. And so, having Buddha House supplying the facility of such great benefit, it seems only fitting that we who are benefiting return that benefit and benefit Buddha House. So Buddha House has, you know, has helped us all. It has been a real benefit to ourselves.
And if we can maintain Buddha House and to develop Buddha House, And likewise, just as it has benefited ourselves and is benefiting ourselves, it will be able to benefit even more people in the future. So we have to think about the prospects of benefiting even more people in the future. And so we have to consider the fact of all the benefit which is being derived. And so, in that terms, in thinking to return that benefit to Buddha House, thinking in terms of benefit, not in terms of salary or any type of wage, but simply to benefit. One is benefiting and one gives benefit in return.
So, in thinking in these ways, whatever you can do, you know, whatever ability or time that you may have, I ask you I request you to please make use to return that benefit and do whatever you can for Buddha House. And also with respect to the the Buddha’s library and the bookshop, if you know, there have been many, many books which have been borrowed and not returned, perhaps as many as 200 books. And so asking you to because those books can be of use to others, that if you have borrowed books to please return them. Or and if you’ve borrowed, also if you borrowed books from the bookshop to to please pay for them. So, I mean, the the library has a procedure for the borrowing of books.
You know, generally, you can borrow a book for one month, and, you know, that probably should be sufficient time to read a book. But, you know, if you if you haven’t been able to finish it in one month, then you can renew that your borrowing. And and so this procedure is set out, it would be good to follow that procedure. So, you know, we’ve discussed the Dharma a lot and the Dharma is taught in terms of what is the benefit, what is useful, and what is not useful, what is disadvantageous. You should the Dharma is your home.
The Buddha House is your home. It’s the place where we teach the Dharma, and you know, you should treat it as you would your home in the sense that when you think, when you see things that need to be done, then go ahead and do them. Things, if something if you take something from someplace, then put it back. If you if you drink a cup of tea, then wash the cup and put it away. And if you see something that needs to be cleaned up, then go ahead and clean it up.
So, you know, Buddha House is like a restaurant where, you know, you do pay a bill, then you can know, whether you you don’t have to wash your own dishes. You don’t you know, if you move the chairs someplace else, can leave them wherever you left them. But somebody else is being paid to take care of that, and, you know, you leave it to the waitresses and the people who clean up to take care of things. But we don’t there’s no one being paid here to do these things. So I’ve talked a lot about the situation in Buddha Buddha House, and I I apologize if I made any of you feel uncomfortable.