Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 99-minute teaching on the Three Principal Aspects, Kyabje Rinpoche emphasizes karma and cause-and-effect as the foundation of all Buddhist practice. He opens with equanimity meditation, recognizing that all sentient beings equally wish for happiness and freedom from suffering—so attachment to some while rejecting others lacks rational basis. The core examines karma in detail: what it truly is (action motivated by intention, not mechanical cause and effect), how it operates through examples like listening to teaching with good motivation, performing prostrations, or fishing to harm, and why it matters (virtuous karma brings happiness, non-virtuous brings suffering, only to the creator). Rinpoche stresses that all Buddhist practice depends on understanding this law and warns that anger destroys the virtues one develops. For practitioners already familiar with refuge.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2004-09-08 – LINE 08h48m13s – KR.wma
UUID: b0507bec-c6f9-47bc-9a7f-0d19a801d99e
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Three Principal Aspects
Date: 2004-09-08
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~5,331
One. On this. This one. Before we’re listening actual teaching, listening the both sound, you know, to develop this proper motivation, kind heart motivation. And if we engage in this way, there is a tremendous benefit, benefit oneself and benefit for others.
And then also So that and if we listen with such a motivation, you know, this way, then it can be a subdue one’s mind, and then it will be a great benefit and become very productive in whatever time that we spend here to listening such profound teaching and to thinking in actual to benefit for others. I’m going to listening here teaching to for the benefit of all being, not only for oneself and making oneself make oneself commitment to bring this state of happiness towards others. And then Rinpoche said to make oneself, you know, to strong commitment to bring this happiness to myself and others. So that we shall meditate for a few minutes. I’m going to listening this teaching to for purely purely to benefit of all sentient being and listening this profound teaching, you know, the three principal aspects of the path.
And so we shall meditate for a few minutes on this. The to recite the preliminary prayers, the if you’re not familiar with the Tibetan phonetic, it’s on page two. Otherwise, you just follow with the phonetic that first from b one, refuge in bodhicitta for teachings. So we should meditate for a few minutes on equanimity, you know, which is that it is so essential and important to develop this equanimity to in order to develop all the other qualities so that the thinking and meditating on equality of oneself, you know, like was others, you know, we always do not wish suffering and we always we do not wish any slight suffering, you know, and we always want happiness. And that apply for all sentient being in a similar you know, they are all having the same feeling and the same wish and same desire so that, you know, Rinpoche said, you know, to oneself should be try to develop this to less attachment and to develop and to to compassion, love towards them.
And one should oneself should be abandoned as best as you can to you know, to hatred towards sentient being because equally sentient being and oneself are same wish, you know, same desire to, you know, wanting have a happiness and do not wish do not want any slight suffering. And there is no any whatsoever. There’s no have a reason to to getting attached and to hatred towards sentient being because the to only what you gain into attachment and to some of those who are close and to hybrid towards, you know, some of those who are distance. There’s no reason. Rinpoche said only what you gain if you develop this kind of true feelings, attachment and hatred, oneself creating a negativity so that if oneself creating a negativity which is bringing all the negativities is the one who bring which brings all the suffering oneself and it has become, you know, to attachment and hatred.
Developing this attachment and hatred, it become a cause of suffering oneself. And looking from the from the sentient being side, you know, it is no point to be attached and to develop this hatred because the sentient being themselves in a in a very pitiful state, they are always and a very pitiful because No. I never they are they themselves, you know, for have no wish them to have a happiness. They don’t have happiness and wish they are not wish they might have free from suffering, but they are in torment by a great deal of suffering. So to in thinking towards by sentient being side, Rinpoche said, it is you know, there’s no reason to oneself to develop this attachment and hatred.
It’s on page five and Mendal offering short version, and we do the first and the last. So that the great master, you know, Tsongkhapa, who have said how do we overcome this clinging on the future pleasure on the future is if we develop, you know, to understanding and having a great faith and conviction towards the law and causality or the cause and effect and then understanding of actual the sufferings of the saṃsāra. Then if we do develop in these two subjects and to understand and develop in this you know, one’s mind, then to, you know, this will alleviate or to avoid or overcome on a clinging on the future’s pleasure. Pleasure home. So that first of all, we have to understand what the karma or the cause and effect.
Rinpoche said, the karma is actually vast. So that how the karma come about? Karma is actually with I’m just saying the motive is the afflictive emotion. The afflictive emotion, the ignorance is the one who prevents to see the true reality of the wisdom, understanding, emptiness. And cannot see the ignorance is the one to prevent.
It stops or you cannot see the views of emptiness. And Rinpoche said that the ignorance has become like motive and then through that we’re creating our non-virtuous karma. For the ignorant as the motive, but it through that, you know, can So that the ignorance is actually the drive and it’s the motive. But then through that, we’re creating our virtuous karma and the non virtuous karma. We’re creating the positive karma and the negative karma.
So that the positive karma or the virtuous karma will bring happiness and bring all the goodness, all the qualities and all the good results. And the negative karma will bring us all the undesirable things like unhappiness and etcetera. It’s, you know, it’s a this you know, the karma creates the negative karma or the positive karma. That positive karma brings happiness, negative karma brings suffering. So the happiness and the suffering is really produced by the karma, the positive karma or the negative karma.
The negative karma produces all the undesirable and all the sufferings and the positive karma will bring all the happiness and all the goodness. We call karma is the one or key to bring this true. And in Rinpoche said the Sanskrit, it says karma and Tibetan is called le and English it means cause and effect. Is Tibetan on karma. But we do know that all the crops like barley produce the barley result and any other grains that seed that produce its own result.
We don’t call action that’s karma. We do not call cause an effect on those, the tree produced in a leaf, branch, etcetera or the flower seed produce the flower, etcetera. We do not call it as a cause and effect. We do not call that the flower seed, produce a flower and whatever particular the seeds they’re producing is on result. We call this called that the seed is the the cause and the the what?
Yeah. It’s we we call it it’s only the the cause and effect. And result. Water The flower, you know, the produce flower seed produces a flower but if it meets cause and condition and it produces the result, we call that sort of the language is cause and the condition produce the result on that flower but we don’t call it cause and effect or the karma. So that what’s the karma?
Rinpoche said karma is sometimes it’s not so easy. It’s difficult to understand. The karma is only applied for the being who has the drives on the motive changes the actual effect. The being who have the motivation to produce that effect, the new effect is called the karma. Like the seed does not have the motivation to produce on that particular result or that particular result so that it has to be a being who have depend on on the ones that motivation to produce in effect or the result, new result.
Okay. Ramesh said to all of you, you know, before you come here to listen teaching, alright, when you’re at home, you have this motivation. You I want to go to listen teaching today. And then you come here and listen. And actual listen is listening the teaching is the the the karma.
And you are the being and the motivation before you actually come out from your house, you have this thoughts or the motivation, setting one’s motivation. I want to go there and listen to this teaching. And then you actually come here. You listen to the teaching. Listening teaching itself is the actual karma and what is is brought by this motivation.
And myself, know, Rinpoche, I have have motivation before I came here and want to teach. And the actual coming here and giving actual teaching to saying, to remembering this again and again, the cause and effect and the sufferings of the saṃsāra, then they will to overcome this, to cleaning on future pleasure. And actual teaching is the karma and what is brought, you know, this karma is the actual motivation that he already when he was in his room. So that likewise, for you, you want to go to listening teaching and have this motivation. And then you came here and listening actual teaching is actual listening, actual teaching is the karma.
And like it was, you know, the if you were thinking, you know, doing a prostration, you know, before you actually engage in on an action, you know, on on a prostration, Rinpoche said, first of all, you have to to to motivate and thinking, you know, motivation. So I want to go. I want to do today. I want to do today prostration. Then that has to be a first thought.
You know? Then actually you engage on this prostration, you know, to to putting one’s hand on a crown and throat and heart, and then actual, you know, going through the gestures or the the process, you know, to doing actual action is the itself is the karma. Karma. This is a good karma. So likewise, you know, to in the morning, oneself thinking, you know, oh, today I want to do, you know, my spend my time in a good meditation, you know, and then that thought has to be to be at first.
And then, actually, you engage practice, you know, sitting oneself on a cushion and to developing all this love, compassion, etcetera. It’s the actual action that itself is the karma. Can we turn down the the heater? It’s a bit hot. So that that action is the actually virtuous action, and that virtuous that action itself is virtuous, and that virtuous will bring the the the the happiness.
So like we apply we put this in a virtuous karma or the positive karma, but you have to apply that in a similar same way to in a negative karma. Say like a person who, you know, to want to catch a fish, you know, before he actually catch fish, he have to thought, you know, today I want to go there and do catch a fish, you know, then that is the motivation. Then actually, you’re going there and throwing the rope and caught the fish itself is the action. And that is the non virtuous action. And because you bring suffering, you’re causing a suffering for the fish.
Therefore, it’s a non virtuous action and therefore you will experience in a negative you’re creating a negative karma and therefore you will experience consequence of the suffering. So, again, the the person who want to have, you know, kill the the sheep, you know, first of all, have motivation, then you actual, you know, cutting or whatever way you do engage and kill that sheep. That is the negative action, and you’re creating a negative karma. And likewise, you know, the the being who have someone who want to say some nasty words, a harsh word, you know, and say that person have to be develop this first one to say. And then once you met that person, you’re saying, you know, very strong, very harsh word.
And that itself is you creating a negative karma by in a verbal verbally. And, you know, like, if you have someone who dislike and you show you a very nasty, you know, what do you call the body language, you know, to turn totally your face around, you know, and even the your eyes, you know, you know, turning around towards that person. It’s that actually you’re creating a negative karma and that itself is a negative action so that you’re creating a negative karma. And say that if someone who hates so much that person, and when you see this person, you have this motivation. I will hate this person.
And when you met this person, you hit. And that itself is a negative action. The so that itself is a negative karma. You’re creating a negative karma. If you hit, you know When you actually hit the, you know, the person, and then you you that self is a a karma, and there’s a negative karma.
Like karma, the it’s only can apply on a being who have developed this motivation and then follow that motivation and to engage in action. It is the karma. Like someone who have wanting to do some nasty thing for someone else and that itself first, the motivation and the second, your actual action. And then that action become the karma, but it is negative karma. So that this we apply the native karma, you know, that we but in the same way, the the being, the person who motivate want to do in some goodness, you know, all the you know, to, you know, want to to help others, want to do, you know, to the love, compassion and going for refuge and to for the Triple Gem, etcetera.
All these virtuous practice is positive karma. You’re creating a positive karma. But first, have have to be motivated and then through action, taking that place, you know, then that’s the karma. That is the virtuous karma. Then the positive karma.
So that the the the in the Buddhadharma, it’s really it’s a purely it’s it’s Rinpoche said, mental Dharma or the mind. So the the Buddhadharma or the Buddhism, the Buddhist teaching is totally one’s depend on one’s mind. If you have a virtuous thoughts like love, compassion, wanting help for others, etcetera, that is the virtuous. That’s a virtuous action. Therefore, you’re you’re creating a virtuous karma and you’re creating a positive karma.
And and therefore, it’s totally depends on mental state. You know? If you have all the goodness thinking, you know, all the the positive thinking, then it will creating a positive karma. So that if you are in a in a other hand, if you’re thinking all the to a motivation in negative, you know, wanting harm and to creating problems, you know, like harsh words, etcetera, Rinpoche said that itself is a negative karma, and you’re creating an that is a self negative action, so you’re creating a negative karma. You know, the Buddhism teaching is really total depend on one’s mind, how you brought up mind.
You know, the the ones if you are, you know, have something or someone who have thought benefit thought towards based on the benefit thought towards work towards on others is to become the virtues and it become a positive. You’re creating a positive karma. If you have the base on this very harmful thought, negative thoughts, you know, then you’re creating a negative karma. So that to thinking benefit thought towards others is like a of is a compassion thought. Once you have developed this compassion thought, you do not actually create harmful thought towards on you.
Harmful thoughts develop in one’s mind because Rinpoche said The Buddhadharma is really based on one’s developing this compassion. If you develop compassion towards other sentient beings, then of course there is no place, no no space for to a harmful thought thinking a harmful thought towards others so that the the So the the Buddhadharma is the very is very rooted on a compassion. So the Buddhadharma or the Buddhist teaching or the Buddhadharma is a very the root root of the Buddhadharma is love and compassion. You know, the the when once you develop love and compassion, you there’s no way. If you say that wish to others for free from suffering, then you do not harm for others.
And when you wish to achieve happiness, you do not harm for others. And likewise, Rinpoche said, Buddhadharma is really rooted. The root of the Buddhadharma is love and compassion. So the being who have developed this motivation, wanting to help others, and then you actually follow that motivation action. If you take the person, the being takes the action, then that being creating virtues, is creating a positive karma.
And in the other hand, if the being who has developed this motivation, wanting harm for others, and then following that motivation and act on that motivation, the harm to others, and you’re creating a negative karma and you it’s non virtuous. It’s the action itself. It’s a negative action. Therefore, you’re creating a negative karma. So the the action.
Actually, the the whether depend it’s really depend on one’s the motivation. If either whether you want to create a negative karma or the positive karma. If you have a negative motivation and you follow that motivation to act and you’re creating a negative karma. And if you’re in the other hand, if you create we have the motivation on the virtues or the the positive motivation and then following that positive motivation, act on that, then you’re creating virtues and you’re creating a positive karma. You have to understand this very clear, you know, to the how the karma creates, how the karma come about.
It’s one’s motivation. If you have a positive motivation and act on that positive motivation, follow on that motivation and act and you’re creating positive karma and they resolve with the positive. So that in a similar if you have a negative motivation to wanting harm for others and if you follow that motivation and act on it and then that that itself is a negative action. It is a negative karma, and the result of that negative karma is the suffering. This this karma.
The karma is is developing the motivation once. The being who have to develop first motivation, then follow that motivation. Following with the body, speech, mind, creating in a in a different ways, you know, the following body, speech, mind. Rinpoche said that you can create the virtues through the body, speech, mind, and you similarly, you can create a negative, you know, in the same way to from the body, speech, mind. The negative karma or the positive karma is only applied that in a being, on nobody else because the being is the one creating the karma and it cannot apply the the anything else.
It only has to be applied on the being, whether they are or not. So that the created karma by the being and experience the result of that karma has experience upon the being and the created karma being, but experience the result for others. It cannot be like that. Like Rinpoche said, The result of the positive karma can only experience on a being and it does not experience on either a rock or earth or tree. It’s only experience and the result of that positive karma is the only experience upon that being, nobody else.
Myself, Rinpoche said, if I create the positive karma, I will only experience this result, the positive result, experience upon me, nobody else. It does not experience the result on anybody else. Likewise, if I create a negative karma and I have to be the the result of the negative karma that I create is only experienced upon me and nobody else. So Śākyamūni Buddha who said whatever the karma that you create, you will experience that result. There’s nothing else unless so that if you are creating a virtuous karma, you will experience the virtuous result.
And in the reverse, if you’re creating a negative karma, you will experience the negative result of that. And Śākyamūni Buddha who said, you know, I shall not create any negativities and always do virtues, all the virtues. Rinpoche said, why is that? If you’re creating a negative karma, then we will experience a negative result and we will experience the suffering. If we do not wish suffering, then we should not engage on a negative action.
And likewise, he said, to always to create virtues or virtuous action so that if you do wish to achieve happiness and all the goodness that one wish to experience, then to engage on a virtuous action. And the virtuous action will bring all the happiness and all the goodness. So these two words is very important. If we do not wish, then we should not engage on a negative action. If we do not if we wish happiness, then we should always to create the cause which is creating a virtuous karma.
So that we should really practice on our We should practice in the karma because what how we can do practice in karma is, you know, if one who abandons, you know, the non virtues and creating virtues is the the actual practice in the action, cause and effect. So that You know, how do we define all the to, you know, practitioner or not is really it is depend on one’s the where that person’s engaging and practice on a karma or the cause and effect. So so that Rinpoche said, all this that the small scope and medium scope and high scope. This is all come about with the this is dependent on on a that also includes on all the practice of karma. Rinpoche said in a small on a stage of a small scope practitioner, you have practice in abandoning 10 non virtues and to adopting 10 virtues.
And then, like again, in immediate scope, to engaging a practice, it extends a bit further on the cause and effect practice. Then if you are saying in high scope, it’s practice Rinpoche said, like engaging in bodhicitta and wisdom understanding or emptiness, etcetera. These are the all applied the same. The cause and effect has to be the base. If we do not have a practice on the cause and effect, then you’re not a practitioner.
The practitioner has to be based on first cause and effect. Cause and effect is practiced in various the small scope has a small in a the base on attainment virtues, etcetera. And then the medium scope talk about 12 links and four noble truths, etcetera. It’s all talk about the abandoning how this cause and effect. Again, in the high scope, we talk about practicing on a bodhicitta, wisdom understanding, emptiness, etcetera.
It extends once the law and cause or the cause and effect practice on the cause and effect extends a bit bigger and bigger. And therefore, three scopes has to be based on this the cause and effect practice. Rinpoche said that if the practitioner who does not have practice on cause and effect and no matter what other practice they do, it’s not really counted. It defines whether that practice or not is a practitioner or not. If the practitioner engages on this cause and effect practice.
So we said it’s very important to understand the way to start first. Where to start? Like for example, the practice is begin from the cause and effect, the karma. And to meditation is begin by the motivation. And actual practice, the Dharma is begin from So the Dharma practice begin from the impermanent and to all the good qualities.
All the good qualities begin from one’s devotion. And the lamrim begin from one’s understanding of the optimum, precious human rebirth. So this is very important to where to actually begin. Rinpoche said the actual practice, nyamlen, is practice. Once practitioner who practice begins from the cause and effect understanding and having great views and great faith and understanding on the cause and effect.
And likewise, all the others. Rinpoche said when you the meditation begin from motivation. Rinpoche said when you do meditation, first should be investigate oneself, the one’s mind state. So if there is the negative thoughts and then your mind will be are not able to comprehend to meditation. Rinpoche said, you have to investigate before and to set one’s motivation properly.
Properly. And this the the meditation begin from the what do call the the motivation. And the Dharma begin from the understanding of impermanent and all the goodness and all the qualities begin from the one’s devotion. This this, Rinpoche said, is very important to read one’s Lam Rim. You know, Lam Rim has a very clear instruction and to to to to to this where all the begins from.
Whether you are entry into the Buddha, Buddhist path is really whether you have the the refuge or not. You know? If you have a refuge, then you enter into the path to the Buddha Buddhist path, Buddhadharma. So, you know, it’s dependent on the one’s the the refuge. If you are taking refuge, then you are entry into Buddhist path.
And all the the the the the all the goodness and the the happiness. Again, you can’t listen. The name? There was the. All the goodness and the happiness, they are come about from the one’s karma.
One who abandons all the negative karma, all the non virtues and to adopt virtues and all the positive and all the goodness or the sorry, adopt all the virtues, then that being creating virtuous karma and creating a a positive karma so that the being will experience in all the goodness and all the happiness out from that. How do we come about, you know, this achieving, the permanent happiness is if somebody one being who abandoning all the non virtues and create the virtues and then that being will experience the happiness, that unchangeable happiness. Happiness. And to achieve Buddhahood, if you abandon completely all the negative action, all the negative karma and to create virtues, then the being will experience all the goodness and all the the the happiness. So if we we not satisfy happiness, we not have enough happiness that we wish, but that’s because we’re not it’s not enough to creating our virtues, you know, karma.
Therefore, we’re not experience we it’s not we’re not experience full satisfaction, all this happiness. So that if you wish achieve total happiness, then we have to be abandon the negative karma and create the virtuous virtuous karma, the positive karma. And then Rinpoche said we will achieve, you know, all this complete happiness, and we will have always happiness. So that the happiness and the So that You know, we will it will not cause suffering, you know, if we abandon all the the nonverge all the negative karma because there’s no cause. Therefore, no you will not experience this suffering.
So that if we abandon the non virtuous or the negative karma, then you you will no longer experience the suffering. And in the other hand, if we are engaged in the virtues always, then, you know, the the result of that, you know, there was a continuous we experience this result of that virtues, the karma that we create at home. So that we try to do develop these virtues, but however, there is anger which destroys one’s, the virtues. We try to develop and we try to create the virtues, but somehow, you know, because it’s we not completely abandon this anger. You know?
The once the anger rise, you know, that the virtues that you create to diminish some. Anger no good. Anger no good. Okay. Why about the No.
If you those who engage in a virtuous, it’s very let me say to very make sure away, you know, that to not let anger to arise in one’s mind. So Rinpoche said that the teacher who, you know, always sits in a bit of, you know, slight position in this his head. You know, we have to understand. The the the great master The great master Atisha who slants his head on a on a right hand right side of the body. So he actually developed, you know, through meditating and developed this bodhicitta.
So the the ones, you know, in a there’s channels, you know, and there’s on on the right side of the body, there is a channel that rise comes, you know, raising anger. So he’s trying to push the channel. So that anger. It’s called a Roma channel. The Roma channel usually there’s the the anger rise from that Roma channel.
And if your the channel is straight, then the anger will arise. There so that his slide pushes down on that side of the channel. So that, Rinpoche said, it’s a very great distraction for the ones who one who develop bodhicitta if anger rise. So that he’s meditating but at the same time he making sure that pushes down one’s anger. The the the the not push down anger, to try to stop anger to coming out from that channel.
So that he pushes a bit slight, you know, the channel. And so that if you are straight channel is straight, you know, that the anger can rise and come very fast. And therefore, it pushes down a bit. The Ro-ma channel, you know, rise anger and the channel arise attachment. Once if you have a more attachment coming, you know, then Rinpoche said, you make sure slight hit on the left side.
That’s. Rinpoche said there’s a little bit benefit if you do it. Okay. Okay. Okay.
Page 10 page nine. Know, if you like interest, you know, to listen, you know, 12 links. The Tuesday night, there is a part the Buddhist part to explain. And if you like to listen, you know, the panelist explaining the 12 links and related with modern whatever what’s it called? Yeah.
Her research on her, you know, special field. Yeah. And, you know, it would be great if you can come. And, can I have that, please? Yeah.
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