Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Ilia S. Durovic presents a 140-minute exploration of the foundational mental transformations required for Buddhist practice, grounded in Tsongkhapa’s Three Principal Aspects of the Path. He begins with the essential preliminary: generating bodhicitta, the motivation to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. He then builds the systematic progression toward renunciation: establishing equanimity toward all sentient beings as a bedrock (comparing it to leveling ground before building a house), followed by developing immeasurable love and compassion. Turning to the practical core, Durovic walks through each Principal Aspect in sequence. First, renunciation of saṃsāra—reversing attachment to both this life and all future rebirths by reflecting on the difficulty, rarity, and preciousness of human birth. Second, the cultivation of proper motivation for higher rebirths through the three foundational practices: ethical conduct (abstaining from the ten non-virtuous deeds), generosity, and patience—all accessible to lay practitioners. He repeatedly emphasizes that karmic imprints planted through hearing teachings create seeds that ripen across lifetimes, and includes practical advice on recognizing non-virtue and being one’s own protector. The Q&A section addresses whether merit dedication and mantra recitation benefit those without faith, using classical examples of karmic conditioning. Suited for practitioners seeking a systematic overview of renunciation and bodhicitta practice.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2025-09-08 – LINE 09h48m51s.mp3
UUID: dbc63b24-fc1d-4e2f-8044-719a8e50cf07
Teacher: Ilia S. Durovic
Collection: Three Principal Aspects
Date: 2025-09-08
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~4,641
So we should generate within our mind stream a mind which strives to benefit others. And this mind, Rinpoche says, is a mind which will be greatly beneficial both for us and for others once it is generated within our mind stream. It will enable us to attain a very vast collection of merit. So it is great with respect to its cause. It is also great with respect to its effect.
So we will meditate briefly on generating within our mind stream a mind of bodhicitta which aspires to place all sentient beings without exception who are as vast as space into the state of full enlightenment and which, will strive for their benefit, in particular in the specific instance of this teaching to listen, to think, and to meditate on the Three Principal Aspects of the Path which are the very essence, the very heart of all of Buddha’s teachings. So as I said in the Lama Chopa, bless me to understand the law of causality which places one in bliss and protects one from suffering. So in the light of this verse, we have to train our minds in the development of the understanding of the law of causality and eventually in the development of bodhicitta. And the first step to develop bodhicitta is to develop immeasurable equanimity as Rinpoche explained last time. Now with respect to immeasurable equanimity, if we examine our own condition, we will see that we want only happiness for ourselves and we cannot stand the slightest touch of suffering.
It is important for us to understand that all other sentient beings are like us. They only want happiness and they don’t want the slightest touch of suffering. So what is meant here by the generation of immeasurable equanimity is to generate a mind stream which is totally indifferent to the arrival of suffering or happiness, which has no partiality. Whatever arises is as it were taken on board irrespective of its source. And this is the meaning of the Tibetan term for equanimity.
Means equal. It means to equal out our reaction. So without the development of a mind of equanimity, is a mind which does not love some beings and dislike other beings, but which is neutral with respect to all beings, it will not be possible to generate great compassion or love. The reason for this is that if this mind of equanimity is not generated, then when on that basis we try to generate compassion or love, Our compassion and love will be partial. It will be subjective.
We will, have compassion or love more for some and less for others. It is the same way as when we want to build a house. We want to build a house, it is extremely important to level very carefully the ground first and to lay solid foundations. It’s on this basis we can build a house. Likewise, for our further development, this mind of equanimity is extremely important.
Therefore, first, we must attend teachings on equanimity, listen. Then we must reflect on its meaning, the activity of thinking. And finally, we must meditate on equanimity until we have an experience of equanimity through meditation. Without this experience of equanimity through meditation, our practice will not be solid. On this basis alone, will it be possible to develop further our practice?
So So among the great Kadampa Geshes of old, some of the greatest were Geshe Chekawa, Geshe Sharawa, and Geshe Kharagpa. And when they engaged in the practice of interchange of self and others, which Rinpoche explained last week in relation to the development of bodhicitta, they meditated on the interchange of self and others for twelve full years. And they did so to gain experience through meditation in this practice. They would only go to see their teacher when they had some meditative experience with respect to this practice to report. And otherwise, they kept on practicing.
And Rinpoche says this is how we should strive to practice. We should put great effort in meditation and again and again meditate and not change topics of meditation and one day practice a sādhana of a Vajrasattva and the next day something else and try to have visions. These are not things which matter. Which what matters is the inner transformation of the mind. So we must reflect carefully on the fact, therefore, that we and all other sentient beings are identical in wanting the maximum amount of happiness and in wanting not even the slightest trace of suffering.
There is no difference between us and them. And through repeated meditation on this, we must generate a keen sense of identity, of commonality, of equanimity with respect to them. And then on this basis, we should generate the wish to place them in happiness, in the causes of happiness, which is immeasurable love and eventually immeasurable joy.
Therefore, instead of thinking, I wish to be happy, may I be happy, which actually, if we think powerfully a bit of it, is nothing else but self love, egotistical self attachment, which is the root of all suffering. We should reflect and think, may others be happy, may all others be happy, which is the love for others of which Lama Chopa speaks. And these two are like two legs or two poles. In dependence on self-attachment, all of the thoughts arise and we will just keep on sinking lower and lower. In dependence on love for others, all the virtues, all the qualities arise, and we will just keep on rising.
Page five. So in our text, the Three Principal Aspects of the Path, which he quotes the following verse, contemplating this when you do not for an instant wish the pleasures of saṃsāra and day and night remain intent on liberation, you have then produced renunciation. So the first verse of this stanza starts with the term thus, in Tibetan. Thus here refers to the occasion when we engage in these meditations on renunciation and the two categories of lives whose happiness, wealth, food, and general bliss we have to renounce. These are this life at first and all future lives.
So it is through reversing attraction to the pleasures both of this life and of all future lives that we can be said to have created renunciation within our mind stream. Now, with respect to this life, the best means of starting to reverse attraction to this life is to reflect on the precious human rebirth. To reflect first on how meaningful it is. Secondly, how rare it is. And thirdly, how beneficial we can make it.
And through thinking like this, we can then reverse attraction to this life. So here, it is said that this precious human rebirth, which is difficult to attain, meaningful when you have attained it and easy to lose, is profoundly meaningful and is the cause of all happiness in this world for the following meaning. It is the cause of all happiness in this world because in the context of this quote, this world refers to all sentient beings, to all beings. Now having attained such a meaningful rebirth, we are able to benefit beings. More importantly, this meaningful human rebirth is a rebirth which enables us to attain definite goodness.
Definite goodness here has two different levels of meaning. The highest level of meaning is that it refers both to full enlightenment and to liberation, which are definitely very good. And in those states, we can be of great benefit to beings. The lower level of meaning of definite goodness is that definite goodness refers to a higher rebirth. Now a higher rebirth as a human being or even a deity, but especially as a human being, as a being of good caste, of good family, good wealth, good education is a rebirth where even at the material level, we can be of benefit to others.
So this is really very meaningful. And this is the meaning of the fact that the precious human rebirth is beneficial both ultimately at the highest level and contingently at the level of obtaining another human rebirth and being of benefit to others. In comparison with this, striving in this life for wealth, for prosperity, for happiness is trivial and meaningless. What I think is So once we understand just how meaningful it is to establish a precious human rebirth in the future, then we will have dispelled any attraction to the appearances of this life, and we will lose all interest in this life. So we should reflect carefully on the precious human rebirth of endowed with the 10 endowments in the eight freedoms from the standpoint of its causes, how difficult it is to assemble the causes, its effects, how beneficial the effects are, and also from the standpoint of examples which give us a sense of just how difficult it is to get this precious human rebirth.
And through reflecting on how difficult, it has been to get this precious human rebirth, we will then understand that it is only during this life that we can create the causes to obtain the next human rebirth. We have at present the opportunity to do so. It is not at all clear that in future lives, you will ever have this opportunity again. Clear It will be very difficult to collect these causes again. And when we look at it in this in this light, then accumulating the causes to create a future precious human re birth is the most important thing we can do in this life, and this is what we should concentrate on doing.
So we have a good brain. We have a good body, good health, and we should use these to good avail for a good purpose. And if we reflect on just how important the precious human rebirth is, how difficult it is to attain, then we will put great effort in creating the causes for attaining one again. And if we do that, we will have put our present condition to good use.
What? So why should we strive for definite goodness? In other words, a higher rebirth or liberation or full enlightenment, we should strive to attain happiness. Now, generally, in our present state in this life, it will be very difficult for us to attain liberation or full enlightenment.
There is, however, good hope in this life to set the groundwork for attaining definite goodness at the contingent level. In other words, a good rebirth in the next life. And if we do this, then from life to life progressing from good rebirth to good rebirth, we can eventually move upwards to liberation and full enlightenment. So this is the road which opens up for us. And when we speak of a good rebirth in our next life, it is not just a mere human rebirth.
There are countless millions of people on this earth at present who are desperately poor, who don’t have the opportunity, the leisure to do anything with their lives except to scramble for food. Such a rebirth is of very limited benefit. So we must engage engage to start with in practices which give us access to a good rebirth. And this is a practice of morality, which protects us against lower rebirths because he or she who practice morality will not be born in the lower realms. But on top of morality, we have to engage in the practice of generosity of giving.
Because it is through the practice of generosity that we will attain prosperity or even wealth in a future life. And in addition to having a good rebirth and being prosperous in our future life, we should also engage in the practice of patience. What is meant by the practice of patience of forbearance is to practice acceptance of the difficulties which befall us and of the harm others may inflict to us. If they insult us, if they yell at us, if they use harsh words, we should just take this on board with equanimity, with patience. And this practice of patience is very important in which Jesus, because this practice of patience is connected to Dharma.
Because it is connected to Dharma, it means that in future life, we will actually engage in Dharma practice. We will have a connection with our teacher. The future life in question will become meaningful. And on top of this, through our practice of patience, we will have a beautiful physique and appearance with which we can benefit others. Therefore, to aim for a high rebirth is not sufficient.
It must be qualified by the three practices of ethics, of giving, and of patience. I don’t know. I don’t know. So we have to put effort in trying to get a precious human rebirth for our next life. And it is obvious to us now that it is something we must do.
The question is, are we able to do it? We must do it because it’s the only way forwards. But do we have the capacity capacity to do it? Well, Rinpoche says, if at present, in good health, with good minds, with decent wealth, having heard the Buddhist teachings, having Dharma friends, being members of a Buddhist center, we don’t have the conditions to attain a precious human rebirth, then it is not terribly clear what more would be needed. So then we really have to put the effort now because it’s not at all clear that in the next life, we’re going to have all these conditions.
And if we are not members of a Buddhist center, we have not met the Buddhist teachings, we are poor, we don’t have any Dharma connection, we will not be able to practice. Now, on top of this, Buddha himself has greatly praised the three first practices of the training and the perfections, which is ethics, giving, and patience. And he praised them because they were the foundation for a higher future rebirth. Now, these three first practices are perfectly accessible to lay people like us. As lay people, we have to work hard to gain a living.
Because we work hard, we have the possibility to practice generosity, to give to others. We also are able to protect our ethics. Whatever vows or the basic ethics which we have, we must protect. And on top of this, precisely because we all have to work for a living and work hard, we encounter a lot of problems in our life and difficulties. And we are in the context of the workplace able to practice patience.
So the three practices which enable us to attain a fully qualified human rebirth, which is ethics, generosity, and patience, are practices which we can engage in as lay people. So Rinpoche says, this is very, good. And if we engage in these practices, we will get such a fully qualified human rebirth. Otherwise, it will be very difficult. We are not, for instance, animals.
We are human beings. An animal has no control over anything. He has no control over its next life. But as human beings, we do have such control. Other thing is that.
I’m not saying that way.
Okay. So then, but she says, basically, we have to examine very carefully our behavior and see for ourselves whether we are engaging in the three non virtuous deeds of the body, which are killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct. The four non virtuous deeds of speech which are lying, divisive speech, slander, and idle talk, or the three non virtuous deeds of the mind which are covetousness, ill will, and wrong views. And we ourselves have to examine our three doors, our body behavior, our speech behavior, and our mental behavior to see whether or not we are engaging in these deeds. Through abstaining from engaging in these deeds, we are practicing morality which leads to a higher rebirth, and we are our own friend.
We are as it were our own protector. We are someone who is helping ourselves. On the other hand, we engage in these practices, if we engage in killing or stealing or adultery or lying, then we are our own worst enemy. We are the person who is precipitating ourselves into lower rebirth in the future. Because when we engage in non virtue, we ourselves are our own enemy.
Whereas when others engage in non virtue and, for instance, harm us, they themselves will reap the fruit of their deeds. We will not. So they are not enemies. They are their own enemies. So we have to think about it in these terms, and we should try to be our own friend and not to be our own enemy.
Because once we are reborn in future lives as an animal, let us say as a dog or a horse Uh-huh. Then, basically, there is absolutely no way we can engage in any virtuous practice. If you take a dog, the mind of a dog is completely non virtuous. He’s not able throughout his entire lifetime to engage in one virtuous practice like reciting an OM MANI PADME HUM. The same thing is true of a horse.
All animals animals dedicate themselves to is various forms of sexual misconduct and violence. So they are basically reborn from that point on only in lower rebirth. There is no way they can create within their mind stream virtue. Therefore, Rinpoche says, we have to strive to be our own protector, and we have to strive to be our own friends and abstain from the practice of non virtuous deeds. So if we look at ourselves in this life, what can we do?
We can abstain from the non virtuous deeds, and we can implant some karmic imprints in our mind. If we meditate on bodhicitta, if we meditate on causality, we will have some sort of karmic imprints in future lives. And then from life to life quietly over many, many lives, we will move upwards. We will not attain any of the grounds and paths because we are lazy. We don’t meditate.
No meditation, no attainments. So that’s not gonna happen. But through trying to meditate progressively, we will imprint karmic imprints in our mind. And from life to life, we can hope to move upwards from one good rebirth to another good rebirth and eventually, we can reach our goal. Now, if you look at this world of ours, there’s a huge babble of people and they’re all talking all the time.
It seems to be the main human activity. But what are they talking about? Nonsense. Garbage. There’s not a single one of them who says one.
Not one of them takes refuge once. Not one of them recollects the teachings. Most of them don’t believe in future lives. So what is gonna happen to them? Well, they will go down, all of them.
They will be reborn in the lower realms because that’s what they’re training their minds in. So we should reflect on this, and then we should really generate a profound sense of sadness and compassion about these poor beings, these poor people who are so foolish and who are going to be reborn in the lower realms, and there’s nothing we can do for them. And we should reflect on this and generate compassion within our mind streams. And then Rinpoche says, for those of us who are putting effort, who are trying this is very good. We are really trying to familiar familiarize our minds with the teachings, and this is what can lead us out of the mud we are in at present.
So we should make strong prayers to have a fortunate human rebirth in our next life. And these strong prayers will act as causes, as karmic imprints which will give rise to this human rebirth. It is very good that we are engaged in this at present, and we should put effort in listening and trying to understand the teachings. The best is to listen, to reflect, and to meditate on the teachings. But if you even if we are not able to do that, there will be a karmic imprint in our mind.
And this karmic imprint is not something negligible. It is something which is like a seed. A seed, if you plant it in the earth, can spread many years after it has been planted. So these karmic imprints will ripen. And when they ripen, we will instantaneously gain understanding of what the karmic seed is related to, the teaching it is related to.
So So says that your translator is entitled to ask you if you have any questions, and please think carefully. Yeah. So says, because of the extraordinary power of the Buddha’s name, because of the vast gigantic accumulations of merit the Buddha has accrued, then just hearing his name is enough to put an end to lower rebirth in a being which is going in that direction. I think you got your answer. They take home.
So but he says, this is the time when you practice patience. And if you die in the process, and that’s the way it is, in your next life, you will have a very, very fine rebirth. If you can meditate on compassion at the in the process of dying or being beaten up, then it’s very good. And then, obviously, if you can’t do it, then he doesn’t he’s not quite sure what to do. And you see, in all these situations of violence, if you from your side are not violent, but instead you say to the other person, please don’t do this, please.
Try to understand that it’s not good for you and it’s not good for me. You appeal to the better part of their nature, and there is a good chance that they will desist. You see, if you strike back even in defense of yourself or another, then the other person will strike you. And in the process, there is a very high risk of somebody getting killed or badly hurt. This is a grievous form, you know, and therefore, instead of entering in the cycle of violence, it’s just better to say, I’m really sorry.
Whatever happened, I’m really
As I’m saying,, just, you know, say no no, please, and things will work out. So well, this is basically because these birds are unintelligent. They have very, very limited, if any, mental capacities. We cannot say per se whether there is direct benefit or not in the recitation of mani. There’s no motivation from their part to do this.
Having said this, because the mani mantra is very blessed mantra, it will definitely implant karmic imprints in the mind of the bird. And these karmic imprints will mature eventually. So it’s a debate about a bird. But basic there was a very great scholar in ancient India, Vasubandhu, who composed Abhidharmakośa by Vasubandhu. And when he composed these great texts, he would mutter to himself as he composed them.
And in the process of bird, and that was the unclear bit, it seems to be a a form of dove, a type of dove, was sitting in the trees nearby, and it obviously couldn’t understand anything at all, but it heard the sounds. And as a result of the karmic imprint thereof, when this dove was later on born as a human being, it is said that it had was able to repeat Abhidharmakośa. It had an acquaintance with Abhidharmakośa. And then this dove was reborn as a human being and eventually became a student of Acharya Vasubandhu under the name of Acharya Lorikpada. I I don’t have the Sanskrit on this one.
But he basically because he had heard so often Abhidharmakośa from Vasubandhu was one of Vasubandhu’s foremost students. And Vasubandhu had many students, and he was very learned in Abhidharma. So he attained this state purely through the force of the karmic imprints implanted in his mind when he was just a dove. And therefore, Rinpoche says, definitely, there is benefit in these matters. Just reciting a couple of manis to dumb creatures will be of help to them through the force of the mantra.
So in Tibet, teachers always instructed their students to recite whichever text they were memorizing as loud as possible. And this was so that as many beings as possible could hear this because there were most definitely karmic imprints being implanted, and they would most definitely benefit from this later on. So with children, children are completely unaware of what they do. They are just little children. So if you do whatever a mother has to do for meditating on patience and on compassion thinking, poor kids, they really don’t have a clue.
They don’t understand what they’re doing. Then whatever you do to discipline them will be beneficial. Don’t be Don’t Hello? So generally speaking, Rinpoche says there is benefit. Now clearly, if you are a Buddhist, if you consider yourself a Buddhist, irrespective of rituals being undergone or not, if you consider yourself a Buddhist, then when you dedicate merit to attaining full enlightenment for the benefit of others, there is great benefit.
Now, if you’re not a Buddhist, then it is a little bit difficult to see how merit dedicated to attaining a Buddhist goal from someone who didn’t believe in it could actually lead to fruition. However, it is clear that there would be benefit in all the thoughts you take or you make for helping others. So overall, it’s beneficial. So generally speaking, this is any thought to help others is very beneficial. Now if you recite without having taken the refuge vows, the refuge pledges, then this is beneficial because eventually, through the force of faith and conviction, you will de facto become a Buddhist.
You will be a Buddhist. It is, however, even better to have actually taken the refuge vows. So the foremost thing from a Buddhist perspective is the intention. It’s motivation. The words in and of themselves are effectless.
It’s the intention which which with which they are pronounced. So if with a good intention, with a good motivation, you recite the words of refuge, this is very beneficial. So the Buddha Dharma principally depends on the mind. It is a practice which focuses on the mind, and it is your
Intention which determines whether a practice is beneficial or not. It’s not terribly important whether you’re a Buddhist or not. It’s not really relevant. Somebody with a good mind will who has a good motivation to help others will improve even if he’s not a Buddhist. And somebody who does not have a good mind, who does things for formal reasons, will degenerate even if he is a Buddhist.
Yeah. Okay. I have a few announcement. This Sunday, there will be a teaching. The December 10, Rinpoche will give a teaching.
And, also, in November, November 19, is a teaching. And so that there is a precepts and refuge, from which Rinpoche is going to give a ceremony, I think, appropriate, that question that you asked. And so that if you want to take refuge, please register or, you know, just give me note or something like that. And, also, we have a Friday night movie on what day was it, Carol? Third.
October 3. And I heard I haven’t seen yet, but I heard this is fantastic movie. So you better write down your name somewhere. And we have annual general meeting on the November 30. Yeah.
Alright. Thank you very much listening. Hello? Hello? Two.
Hello? Sorry. Does anyone have a blue Commodore here? Okay. Thank you.
Any luck wants to
Sunday.