Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Teacher Valham guides practitioners through a Chenrezig visualization practice and Lamrim meditation on the value of human life. He begins with detailed instructions on visualizing Chenrezig in four-armed form—holding a wish-granting jewel and crystal rosary, set on a lotus and moon disc—then walks through the meaning of the deity’s attributes and the practice of mantra recitation with visualization of light rays emanating to all sentient beings. The main body explores three reasons human rebirth is precious: the capacity for enlightenment and liberation, and the untapped power of each moment to create causes for buddhahood. He illustrates this with an investment metaphor, showing how even one thought of universal compassion generates inconceivable merit. The talk then turns to impermanence and death as antidotes to worldly distraction—money and reputation offer minimal satisfaction, while dharma practice alone provides genuine refuge. He closes by contemplating death’s certainty, its uncertain timing, and the need for inner development now, anchored in Śāntideva’s teaching that all things are empty and transient.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 02 M.mp3
UUID: 848edd2c-d7a9-4c41-80c4-af290cf622be
Teacher: Valham
Collection: Lam Rim Meditation (Valham)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Words: ~3,454
And now before we start, let’s begin by spending some time on the visualization of in front of us. You can visualize first very large, you know, like a mountain. Huge. It’s easier to see the details. So first of all, the very pure, clean, clear lotus flower that Chenrezig is standing on, supported by a radiant moon disc.
You know, feet and toes are like lotus petals, everything very refined, transparent, made out of light energy. Actually, it’s like Chenrezig’s body. Like one flowing energy of compassion manifested as white light. Chenrezig’s body is draped in very beautiful silk garments like a god or a bodhisattva? First two hands holding the wish granting jewel at his heart.
Looking the word actually means the one that looks with compassion on the world. So eyes are like that, gazing, on the sentient beings with a sense of commitment to protect living beings from suffering. Extremely beautiful face. And we can think beside the two first hands holding the wish granting jewel, the bodhicitta, we can add two more arms, you know, hands. On the right side, one hand is holding a crystal rosary.
And on the left side, one other hand is holding a pink lotus flower, symbolic of the innate purity of the mind. That the purity of Chenrezig’s holy mind is the same, you know, as the innate purity of our own mind. There’s no difference between the purity of Chenrezig’s mind and the purity of our own mind. The pure nature of our own mind. That even if something lives in the mud, like, you know, we’re living in the mud of saṃsāra, like a lotus flower grows from the mud of a pond.
When it fully opens, it is completely clean, pure, like that. Our mind is never affected by the mud of saṃsāra. The innate nature of our mind remains forever pure. So now while you while we recite the mantra, one mala mantra, softly, quietly to ourselves. Don’t think you are communicating with Chenrezig.
Chenrezig responding with a shower of nectar light that completely fills up your body. Not only going through your body, but actually fills your whole body with incredible blissful energy. Like you fill a bottle, you know. It just rises within you, until you’re completely full to the crown of your head, and it starts to pour over. So also you can keep the visualization of Chenrezig, and sometimes I go back to it.
Try to focus your mind on parts of Chenrezig’s body. So you can think that from every pore of Chenrezig’s body, an aura of light rays emanates out, touching all the universal living beings. And sort of bringing inspiration to us for our meditation practice. So when we meditate and contemplate the usefulness of the precious human life, Our three main reasons why this human life is so extraordinary that we didn’t know before, you know, that most people don’t understand. It’s useful because it’s the only it’s the only state in the six realms of existence where one can attain complete, full development of one’s body and mind.
You know, so awakening is the highest usefulness of this precious human life. It can be attained even in one lifetime. And the second most precious way, most useful way to use this life is to aim for liberation, to liberate oneself from suffering. Even that is something only human beings can do. So it’s like the whole purpose of having a human life is to do that, is to follow whichever spiritual path we choose to at least liberate ourselves from cyclic from uncontrolled rebirth in cyclic existence.
To go beyond ignorance and its allies, you know, attachment and anger. To not accept that ignorant ruler in our life, but realizing that we have the power to overthrow this beginningless dictator within our mind. And then the most profound purpose of the human life is to realize that there’s not a second in our human life where we cannot where we cannot, you know, create a cause for enlightenment. Every second of our human life has the potential to become a cause for enlightenment, just by skillful means. One moment of thought towards the welfare of universal living beings creates the cause for compassion to arise, creates the cause for loving kindness to arise, and the mind that wish to accomplish the happiness of living beings.
You know, the bodhicitta thought. Even in one second has such an incredible, powerful effect on the mind, something inconceivable. Than to make than to make one offering with that kind of thought in order to become fully awakened for the sake of sentient beings. Waking making one offering for a flower, incense, light, or making a gift to a beggar, you know, generosity to beggars, to poor people, with a motive, may I guide you to enlightenment due to these merits? May I be able may my mind evolve to the state by this merit so that I can guide, you know, living beings to enlightenment or to liberation?
That moment of thought becomes a cause for Buddhahood. Even one kind thought. And we have a whole day where we have the potential to generate kind thoughts, to expand our consciousness, you know, from the narrow selfish concern that is so habitual, so habitual, so overpowering our mind, tightening us up, you know, and make us irritable, make all the negative minds arise, that even one moment of universal awareness of the need of, you know, the the living countless living beings completely change, you know, completely change one’s inner atmosphere. Atmosphere, completely has the power of calming and opening one’s heart. And that itself creates the cause for, you know, awakening in Buddhahood.
So think, the power of one moment of mind when one has the precious human rebirth is so, you know, overwhelming. It’s like if we have the opportunity to make an investment and gain one million dollars, maybe we have to invest one thousand dollars, and then we will have the prospect of gaining one million dollars. We’ll be so happy. We’ll be so excited. And we will run so quickly to make that investment.
We were pleased with ourselves and so joyful about it. Like that, you know, investing the moments of mind, of wisdom on into the path of enlightenment for the benefit of sentient beings has much more powerful effects, gives much more happiness, you know, long lasting, everlasting happiness than what one million dollar can achieve. One million dollar cannot give us happiness, true can’t even give us true happiness for one day. Whereas the precious human life used skillfully gives us everlasting happiness, not only ourselves, but to every living being that we meet and that we influence, you know, directly or indirectly. So think like that about how incredibly valuable the richness of having a precious human life.
And then make some determination. Think about it and try to make some conclusion. Now how to use whether to use it for the ultimate goal of enlightenment, for liberation, or to more skillfully use it use our life every day to create cause for true happiness. And realize that I am in the position to do this. It’s my, you know, precious human life.
You know, it’s like when we know the when we know, understand the value and the power of even one’s strong positive thought. Then passing them, passing the opportunities for generating them, appears as such an unbearable loss. Even even passing a stupa in the street without turning a couple of prayer wheels, making a wish in your heart, may I generate bodhicitta for the welfare of all living beings? You know, having walked past without using this holy object that has the power to grant our wishes, or the strength, you know, to, yeah, fulfill our inner wishes, would be so hard. Or passing a beggar in the street without giving something will feel like such a waste.
So that’s when you feel like that, then one has understood the meaning of having a precious human life. You have you want to use every opportunity that comes your way to create a positive imprint in your mind and to direct your mind in a, you know, wholesome way. Because we have infinite imprints and habits of negative states of mind, but we have so few. We are very poor when it comes to strong, wholesome attitudes. So how can we afford how can we afford to pass them by?
Or when we have the opportunity, which is even rarer than seeing a stupa in the street, to meet a spiritual master who has the insights, the methods to guide a sentient being like us all the way to enlightenment. Whereas the method, skillful means to guide us to enlightenment. Then not to make not to make an offering or a, you know, connection. Making an offering, establishing a connection with this Buddha manifesting for our welfare will be the great the greatest loss of all, isn’t it? Like we feel, you know, not having taken the opportunity to invest a thousand dollars in order to gain one million, much more loss, not to use the opportunities that comes by in establishing, you know, karmic connections and relationships with bodhisattvas and, you know, masters, spiritual masters.
By contemplating like this of the usefulness of the human life, it becomes very clear What is a meaningful action, and what is meaningless action? And then checking one’s own life and see how much we are able, you know, how much we have been skillful, and how much more skillful we need to to be and aware. And so to inspire oneself that I have everything it takes, It’s just a matter of being aware, mindful, and putting my life in a wholesome channel. Then there’s nothing at all that I cannot accomplish with this human life, whatever I wish, for my own welfare, for my own happiness, and, you know, for the ultimate happiness over others. Meditation two, this side.
So briefly recollect in your mind the visualization of in front of you as being the manifestation of all supreme beings’ compassion. You know, Jesus’ compassion, god’s compassion, Buddha’s compassion. Every supreme being’s, you know, compassion manifests in the form of thousand armed Chenrezig. Thousand arms because always having a hell being hand ready for the universal living beings to grab onto as a safe, you know, hand to grab onto. Compassion always benefits when we grab onto it.
So think again, Chenrezig, emanating billions of light rays, touching the sentient beings and the ones surrounding us, mother, father, friends, enemies, strangers, filling this whole earth. So with the recognition of, you know, the suffering of all living beings, different times, different places, we can recite the mantra for a short while again together. So now let’s continue that trend of thought, thinking that we have a precious human life and that it is so extremely useful in so many profound ways. You know? Then continue contemplating how how easy it is to get caught up in the habits of just seeking, just using this human life for, you know, health, food, and clothing, reputation, all the ordinary activities of this life that we can find most human beings get caught up in.
And so that takes all the time and energy in the life and makes one come home exhausted at night just from earning as much money as possible. And in that type of lifestyle, how there is no time and energy, no place for dharma, no place for inner development. So become mindful and not to let one’s life fall in the trap of the worldly concerns. Because somehow worldly concerns have so little little and short term benefit. The gain is very small.
And whatever we do gain, such as, you know, comfort, relief, it somehow still doesn’t give us a sense of satisfaction. But we keep on doing it. We keep on spending our time, money, and energy on the these kind of temporary enjoyments. And so our life becomes involved with hope and fear, clinging and, you know, fear. Always hoping to win, fearing to lose, hoping for comfort, fearing pain, hoping that people should like us, and fearing, you know, blame and criticism.
Hoping for good news, being afraid of bad news. These are the worldly concerns that when the mind is involved with the worldly concerns, one cannot practice Dharma. One lose the holy Dharma. So let’s just think about our own life, how it is, how it has been so far. And what kind of addictions we ourselves have towards the worldly concerns.
And remembering the how it has been in the path, how little benefit, you know, how little reward. It’s like we make our life a servant to the world of concerns, but the reward is minimal. You see, the the remedy for our addicted states of mind, whether we’re addicted to people always liking us, you know, admiring us, or smiling and being happy with us, being afraid of criticism, blame, loneliness, or whether we are attached to food and clothing and comforts and being afraid of the pain or loss or whatever. All these addictions that makes us serve our body and our situation. The remedy for that, the very powerful thought that eliminates, that cuts, that kind of negative trend in our mind.
But that’s only meditating on impermanence and death, our own impermanent state of being, and our own death. That none of these things that we are so involved with and craving so strongly, clinging to in our life, has no lasting value whatsoever. They are more like clouds in the sky or bubbles in a stream. Nothing of it remains. Nothing has an essence.
So we can we can conclude with some thoughts from Śāntideva’s text, the guide to a bodhisattva’s way of life. Where he says like this. My enemies will become nothing. My friends will become nothing. I too will become nothing.
Likewise, all will become nothing. Just like a dream experience, whatever things I enjoy will become a memory. Whatever has passed will not be seen again. Even within this brief life, many friends and enemies have come and gone. But whatever unbearable evil I committed for their sake, that remains ahead of me.
So now may we be able to discriminate clearly between Dharma and non Dharma and to abandon the meaningless actions and put effort and cultivate the holy Dharma in order to make our life beneficial for ourselves and others. Meditation three. So visualize the great compassionate mind generating in front of us, standing on the lotus moon with a radiant white body, draped in silk garments, and holding the wish granting jewel in front of his heart, looking with much compassion on all the universe of living beings, ourselves, mother and father. And you think the planet covered by living beings in the human form. Every single one, an object of compassion, compassionate concern for commune with that universal compassion in order to, you know, cultivate it within ourselves.
So first, we pay homage, and then we do the rest of the seven limb practices. Then we even offer, you know, the the universe, the sense of ownership in the universe and attachment. We offer it all to Chenrezig in order to develop universal loving kindness within ourselves, to become like Chenrezig. So whenever we go and see somebody we want a favor from, you know, we do the same kind of a is that kind of attitude to please. Making offering means to please.
Please the mind of Chenrezig in order to ask a favor of Chenrezig. Reverently, I prostrate with my body, speech, mind. Present clouds of every type of offering, actual and imagined. I declare all my negative actions accumulated since beginningless time and rejoice in the merit of all holy and ordinary beings. Please remain until the end of cyclic existence and turn the wheel of dharma for living beings.
I dedicate my own merits and those of all others to the great enlightened. On page twelve. This ground anointed with perfume, strewn with flowers, adorned with Mount Meru, four continents, the sun and the moon. I imagine this as a Buddha field and offer it. May all living beings enjoy this pure land.
The objects of my attachment, aversion and ignorance, friends, enemies, and strangers, and my body, wealth, and enjoyment, I offer these without any sense of loss. Please accept them with pleasure, and bless me and others to be free from the three poisonous attitudes. Now when we contemplate our impermanent nature, we focus more on the on the subtle impermanent nature. You know, not the gross one where we think we come into existence and then remain in existence for a while. And then finally, you know, die or pass out of existence.
This very gross way of thinking of the impermanence of life and death. You know? Actually, within that time of existence, if we look closer, if we really investigate, we can see there is not a moment where we remain exactly the same. And that is the nature of impermanence. We are in a constant state of change.
And life itself is continuously running out. The precious human life does not last from moment to moment. It’s continuously disappearing. Always disappearing. When you meditate on your own impermanence, you think that level, that reality of our body and of our life, continuously becoming less and less, less and less.
As if we were in odd shape. Or as if death was chasing us. Anyway, like a chase, we are running towards death. And when death will happen, we have no idea. Not slightest idea.
That can happen. The time of death can be any moment because of because this body is so fragile. When the elements in the body gets out of balance, we instantly become sick. And the condition can be so small, you know. One meal or one thorn or one cut, sometimes not even visible.
But the inner elements come out of balance, and so causes sickness. Or, you know, even death. His body is like a, you know, water bubble. It can pop at any time. So let’s contemplate for a while just on how How one thing is definite is that each of us will experience death.
There is nothing more definite in life after being born, you know, than that we will we will die. We will take our last breath and then go on to completely different existence, completely different body, in a completely different place. That will definitely happen to all of us. And when? Could be any time today, tomorrow, next year, next week, next year.
No no certainty. No guarantee that we will live a long life. Why? Simply because this body is so fragile And because there are there are more causes for death than staying alive. Even sometimes medicine becomes the cause of death.
So contemplate like this and that, you know, if we were confident about our future life, then death would not, you know, We wouldn’t have to feel upset about that. But if we look within our life, probably most of us find, you know, that we haven’t even created a cause for a human life, a precious and much less a precious human life in the future. So thinking in terms of impermanence and death then, you know, makes it very clear. The need for inner development makes the need for inner development very clear. Since death is definite to happen to each of us and time of death is uncertain, and since when it happens, none of the things that we ordinarily spend time and energy on, like the comforts and pleasures, even friends, body, and possessions, none of it can really alleviate the fear and uncertainty at the time of death.
Only Dharma can be of any benefit. Only our inner confidence, our compassion, faith, you know, wisdom, those are the inner qualities that can benefit us, that can be a source of refuge at the time of death. So make a determination to spend our life in such a way that we will at least have no regrets at the time of death, or even be able to die without fear. Or the best way of dying, like Lama Yeshe used to say, death is definite, but we have a choice. Death can be pleasant, just like going home.