Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Using a thermostat analogy to describe saṃsāra as a self-reinforcing feedback loop, Ven Jampa Gendun opens this 46-minute session by framing practice as “disturbing the system” — awareness as the perturbation that breaks habitual cycling and starts genuine progress. He connects this to going for refuge and Buddha nature, citing a striking verse: the Buddhas cannot wash away sins with water, but by showing the truth all will be made free. He then leads a structured loving-kindness meditation, expanding outward from self through a friend, a neutral person, and an adversary, to all of Adelaide, Australia, and finally infinite space. The second half surveys the two vehicles — individual liberation and the Mahāyāna — before introducing tantra as the “crash course” for those who cannot bear to delay helping others, and outlines the six perfections and four means of cultivating disciples shared by both Mahāyāna paths.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 17 OtE 1992 03 25.mp3
UUID: 475dbd8e-7bad-4955-869a-aacdc98b9f25
Teacher: Ven Jampa Gendun
Collection: Opening the Eye of New Awareness 1991-1992 (Ven Jampa Gendun)
Date: 1992-03-25
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 46.0 minutes
Words: ~3,824
The beginning as we usually do by adjusting our motivation. This process of continually reorientating ourselves, reestablishing our priorities, what is important for me, what are central values to my life, what is meaningful. We get distracted by the various necessities which we’re called upon during the course of our busy lives to perform in a great activity. And we get out of touch, perhaps we lose sight of what has been working for me and what is of central value to myself. It’s difficult to maintain our clarity and intelligence in all the various situations which we’re confronted with.
Again and again in this process of redirecting ourselves to our inner world, that dimly lit place that we inhabit, that we seldom find time to pay much attention to. We want to be happy, We don’t want to continue with all the various varieties of dissatisfactory patterns. A very pervasive behavior, in various ways in which we cause ourselves pain. To that it requires some degree of awareness and some degree of purposefulness in our activities and our thinking. You know with our thoughts we make the world.
And that perhaps due to simple fact of habituation we unawarely reinforce, perpetuate what has gone before. So it takes some sort of initiative. It doesn’t come quite naturally to change. We’re involved in a system. The Buddha was the system’s endless.
He said that we are caught up in a system and he called this system cyclic existence or whatever you want to call it, the neurotic compulsive patterns which constitute most of our lives. He said that this system is dissatisfactory and should be exited from. The problem with the systems theory is that this particular system has negative reinforcement. It’s like a, for example, a thermostat and the warmth of the room, it regulates the temperature of the room. As the warmth in the room rises, the thermostat shuts off, the heater shuts off, and the room begins to cool down.
When it reaches a certain threshold, it registers on the thermostat, the thermostat turns the heater on, and the temperature in the room rises. So you develop a homostatic balance, and that’s what we are in a position of. We’re in a system which has a negative feedback loop and it keeps reinforcing itself. We perhaps aren’t even aware of the nature of the system that we’re involved in. This was one of the prime discoveries of the Buddha, seeing a system where a system perhaps had not been seen before and then describing it as dissatisfactory.
They’re coming in contact with the qualities, becoming aware of the recursive nature of our problem internally, within inter psychically and interpersonally. In both ways, various overlapping systems. And that the quality such that we determine, that we create, I believe there’s a word, perturbate. We disturb the system. This awareness causes new behaviors, new ways of thinking to occur and the system will change.
And there’s nothing binding us, there’s no agent which is forcing us to live the way we do, to think the way we do. There’s nothing behind it. It is simply a product of unawareness and the perpetuation of the nature of the system. But once through awareness we can simply cause new ways of thinking to arrive. And this puts us at a positive feedback loop where we begin to not simply circle, but perhaps to spiral.
Our life becomes purposeful, purposeful. If we are going somewhere, we’re traveling the path, we’re on a journey. Things change, we change. And with that our world changes, and our experience of the world changes. But the nature of the system is that it requires some initiative on our part.
Otherwise the default value, the status quo is maintained. That’s problem, that’s the situation that we’re in. Unless we change, unless we take the initiative, unless we are motivated with some determination, the system will perpetuate itself. And we’re going to be stuck into this satisfactory quality of life. So it’s not going to happen by itself.
There’s nothing outside of our own mind which can bring it about. Other factors can act as cooperative conditions, but the main cause is our own awareness, our own basic sanity, our own wisdom, And to actualize, to give our Buddha nature, this basic sanity, a space to find expression we call going for refuge. Last night, Tuesday night, Khensur Rinpoche, our Tibetan teacher has been teaching on Buddha nature. And how does our Buddha nature, this open and dynamic quality of the mind, this basic sanity, brilliant intelligence, how is it able to find expression? And he said the most basic fundamental condition necessary is to go for refuge.
And this is this quality of setting. I often speak of it in terms of making the Buddha within oneself the inner focus of one’s life. And it’s setting up a model of sanity as you conceive of it to be. And then actually using the technique, means, the practice that is the Dharma to whereby we achieve, we actualize the model within ourselves. And this is done within the social setting of a spiritual community.
So this becomes our method whereby to cultivate the system, this initial going for refuge, setting one’s motivation such that the inner goal of one’s life is Buddha. And then what’s necessary to take the initiative to enact the means, you know it’s our responsibility, each of our individually. Growth is very much a matter of individual responsibility, though we can do it within a social context. We can aid each other. But the initiative and the following through must be done on one’s own.
No one else can do it for us. I think I’ve probably mentioned this quotation by the Buddha many times, but it’s quite beautiful that the Buddhas do not wash away sins with water, nor do they remove suffering with their hands, nor do they transfer their realization to the minds of others, but by their showing of the truth, all will be made free. So a Buddha is someone who is experiencing inner peace and by the force of their compassion skillfully works with others in order to lead them to that same state, which they are themselves experiencing. So that’s all they can do. They can only show you the way, it’s up to us to follow it, and this is very much a matter of our personal initiative.
And we won’t take that initiative unless we see very deeply the nature of the situation that we’re in. That there will be no knight in shining armor who will save it. That things aren’t necessarily going to get any better unless we do something about it. It’s up to us to do something about it to ensure that things get better and that we may not remain a victim. That we have a choice, we have a chance, we have the opportunity and it’s up to us to determine within the context of what we can do.
It has to be in a healthy sense. We all can do something, that’s for sure. Each day we can do something, and that’s something we’ll make over the years will make a difference, a significant difference, and there’s going to be some change for the better. I go for refuge until I’m enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the highest assembly. From the virtuous merit that I collect by practicing giving and the other perfections, may I attain the state of a Buddha to be able to benefit all sentient beings.
I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma, the highest assembly. From the virtuous merits that I collect by practicing giving and the other perfections, may I attain the state of a Buddha to be able to benefit all sentient beings. I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma in the highest assembly. From the virtuous merits that I collect by practicing giving and the other perfections, may I attain the state of the Buddha to be able to benefit all sentient beings. Meditation on mindfulness and breathing, and then we’ll do a loving kindness meditation.
So if you take a firm comfortable posture. Think about some of your own difficulties, some of your own problems, and the fact that you want to be happy. And whatever you may have done in the past, the various mistakes that you may have created, you can simply regret them and begin again. However you may conceive of yourself, whatever identity you may hold to you can change, you can become anything that you want to be. But for this present moment we simply want to make friends with ourselves.
All the various parts of ourselves, even perhaps there’s parts we don’t like very much. Be gentle with ourselves and wish ourselves well. To generate some kind, caring thoughts, feelings for yourself. Wish yourself all the good things of life, all that you’ve ever wanted, wish yourself happiness. May I be happy.
May I grow. Be kind to yourself. Think of someone that you like, that you love, someone of the same sex. Imagine that person in front of you. If you can’t see them, it doesn’t matter.
Just feel that that person is in front of you. And remember all the good times you shared together, the kindnesses that this person has shown you. Begin to direct, to radiate out the feelings of closeness, feelings of warmth which naturally arise when you think of this person in this way. Feeling and wishing they were happy, that they had everything that they could want. Wish them well, out some kind, caring thoughts to this person.
And think of someone you neither like nor dislike, someone you feel indifferent towards. Imagine that’s sitting in front of you. You want to go beneath the superficial appearances that we usually judge people by, whether they’re male or female, rich or poor, educated, uneducated, beautiful or unattractive. And look deep into their eyes and try to see if there’s someone there who wants to be happy and doesn’t want to suffer just like yourself. And wish them happiness just as you would for yourself.
Think of someone you’re having some difficulties with, one who disturbs your mind, someone you don’t like. Imagine that person in front of you. This person wants to be happy and doesn’t want to suffer just like yourself. Perhaps their method of finding their happiness, solving their problems, become in conflict with your method, but it’s just a conflict of self interest. You’ve heard others either intentionally or unintentionally in the past, forget what you want.
Perhaps this person has done the same. And just as you have to forgive yourself, you have to begin to forgive this person. So just for this present moment, set aside your hurt, your grudge, your anger, and try to see someone very much like yourself, Someone who’s trying the best they can to get some happiness out of life. Oftentimes being very confused about how to go about it, making many mistakes along the way, and wish them happiness just as you would for yourself. And imagine these four people together, yourself and these three others.
And though you have different feelings for each one of them, though they appear very different to you, Try to see that beneath those appearances they’re all exactly the same from the point of view of wanting happiness, not wanting to suffer. From that point of view there’s no difference. Without any feelings of bias, lay it out equally a wish of happiness to all four. And all the people in this room trying to take responsibility for their lives, looking for happiness, looking toward that end, Wisdom that they find that whatever it is they’re looking for, you know whether it be love or peace, enlightenment, understanding, Extending this wish out further and further to all the full attention,, all the people in their home eating, cooking, watching the television. Everything that they do and say, they do and say because they hope it’s going to bring them happiness.
That it’s going to solve their problem. Wish them that happiness. Breathe, breathe, extending his wish out to all of Adelaide, even the cars and buses and offices, in homes and shops, factories. Further and further extending this wish out to all of South Australia, people, animals, insects. Further and further, Alice Springs, Perth, Darwin, Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Hobart, the entire country.
Entire southern hemisphere. Engulfing the world in your heart. All the people, black, white, red, yellow, all the animals, all the insects, touched by your wish that they’d be happy, that they’d not suffer. Radiating out in all the directions of space. Further and further.
Without limits. Without limits. Until finally, without boundaries, without center, pervading all of infinite space, So may all things be happy. May all things be happy. We’ve been looking at the three higher trainings, three special trainings. Higher training in ethics then meditative stabilization, and then wisdom.
These are the various types of practices, and the basis upon these we enter into a particular vehicle. Last week we discussed how we proceed along the path in dependence upon these three higher trainings. Then this week, following along in the teachings, Opening the Eye of New Awareness by His Holiness, we’re going to discuss secret mantras or tantra. There’s a few synonyms. There’s secret mantras, tantra, vajra vehicle, resultant vehicle.
These are all synonyms. They all refer to the same system or method. We talked about the fact that a vehicle carries a particular burden, it’s that which goes. It takes a burden, a certain amount of weight to a particular destination. Within Buddhism we talked about there are overall two vehicles, the individual vehicle called hinayana and the universal vehicle called Mahāyāna in Sanskrit.
They carry a different weight and have as their goal a different destination. The individual vehicle carries the weight, the burden of one individual. It depends upon the lesser vehicle or the individual vehicle, that person can achieve the goal of a foe destroyer.. And we talked about how that person travels the path. And the doorway into that path, as we talked about, was the determination to be free, or renunciation.
This spontaneous longing to be free, to liberate oneself from suffering and the causes of suffering. This is the doorway into the path of the lesser vehicle, of the individual vehicle. Within that context one then proceeds along the five paths as we talked about last week. Path of accumulation, preparation, seeing, meditation and no more learning. And achieve the goal of an Arhat, the foe destroyer.
The foe being the afflictive emotions. Emotions like attachment, hatred, jealousy, pride, but basically the afflictive emotion of misknowledge or ignorance and this is severed by the generation of the wisdom realizing selflessness. On the other hand, there are individuals who have a longing to free themselves from their distress, but they widen their perspective. They see that others are very much in the same position as themselves. That others are undergoing the same pain, the same difficulty.
And so they develop an aspiration to liberate everyone, not only themselves but all living beings.. And in order to do that they make use of the universal vehicle which carries the burden of all sentient beings in order to achieve the goal of Buddhahood. That is to say the full complete actualization of the potential of sentient beings is the goal of the universal vehicle, what we call Buddhahood, we might conceive of it to be. So there are these two vehicles which in dependence upon two different motivations carries to two different destinations. in dependence upon the determination to be free, one enters into the individual vehicle and achieves the individual liberation, the level of an arhat or a foe destroyer.
in dependence on not only the determination to be free, but coupling that with the awakening heart, awakening one’s heart to the sufferings of others and determining not only to liberate oneself, to liberate all sentient beings, one enters into the great vehicle, the universal vehicle, and by means of that vehicle achieves the goal of Buddhahood. So we have two overall vehicles. Now we talked about the means by which we travel a path are in terms of method and wisdom. Method is that which energizes, which supplies the fuel. The wisdom is the actual rocket, which is the actual means of progressing along the path.
There is a foe which is to be destroyed by the lesser vehicle or the individual vehicle, and a foe which is destroyed by the universal vehicle. Now as I just mentioned, the foe of the lesser vehicle, the individual vehicle, is misknowledge, a misconception as to the nature of the self. But that in itself is not sufficient whereby to realize, actualize all of one’s potentiality. There’s another foe which needs to be destroyed and this is the foe of the knowable obstruction or the obstruction to omniscience. The reason that the individual enters into a greater vehicle is to become a Buddha.
Why? Because it is said that through obtaining omniscience one is in an optimum position to be able to benefit others. One is able to understand the disposition, the capacity, the evolutionary history of each and every single living being and has an extended array of methods whereby to apply a specific method to the correct individual in order to facilitate that individual’s spiritual growth at that particular time in their evolution. So this is like the optimum mode of possibility in order to benefit others. This is a Buddha.
This is what a Buddha means. So the quality of a Buddha is that they have omniscience. In order to obtain omniscience we must remove the obstruction to omniscience. So the mere wisdom realizing selflessness, merely that in conjunction with the determination to be free is not sufficient. It must be coupled with the awakening heart.
If we can develop the wisdom and couple it with the method of the awakening heart, this has enough energy and the wisdom is profound enough whereby to overcome the obstruction to omniscience and one can achieve Buddhahood and thereby be in the best position to benefit others. So it’s necessary that we simply go beyond determination to be free, that we awaken our heart in order to become a Buddha. So there’s a difference in motivation. The motivation has been increased further. The wisdom is the same.
It is the driving force behind that wisdom. In one case simply the determination to be free, on the other the determination to be free in conjunction with the awakening heart. There are those who have even a more profound motivation. It’s simply not enough to become a Buddha. They want to do it as quickly as possible.
It’s like someone saying, I’m studying in medical school. People are out there dying on the streets and they need my help therefore I don’t want to spend nine years in medical school however long it takes. I want to do it as quickly as possible. I want to take a crash course. I want to be able to attain that skill, but I want to do it quickly, not being able to bear the suffering of others.
So they enter into what is called the secret mantra vehicle or the tantra vehicle. These are those of the highest intelligence. Those have the greatest motivation. Now there is no difference. Why?
There’s no difference as far the goal. So within the great vehicle, we then divide the great vehicle into two further vehicles. Lots of vehicles like a used car lot. The great vehicle, universal vehicle can be divided into two. These have different names, but here His Holiness refers to them as one, the perfection vehicle, and the other, secret mantra.
Perfection vehicle and secret mantra. In accordance with the perfection vehicle, someone who has developed an awakening heart, in Sanskrit bodhicitta, has entered into the great vehicle, universal vehicle path. And then one goes about his work or her work. His or her work is the six perfections, the practice of the six perfections and the four means of gathering disciples or cultivating the minds of students. This is the work of a bodhisattva.
The six perfections, what are they? Giving, Giving. Generosity. Mhmm. Ethics.
Good. Patient. Good. Anybody else? So generosity, ethics, tolerance, joyous effort, which as we said, and meditative stabilization, wisdom.
Are the six perfections. This is the work of a bodhisattva. This is how he’s going to move through these five paths which we outlined last week. Also in the course of engaging this perfection, the bodhisattva engages in the four means of cultivating disciples or helping their students. This is done by supplying their material needs.
If someone is hungry, it’s difficult for them to listen to the teaching. So first you have to get their stomach full, supplying their material needs, speaking an encouraging word, inspiring them, comforting them, giving vows, initiation, teaching, and fourthly acting in accordance with what you teach, practicing being an example or model with respect to what you say. These are the four means of of cultivating disciples. So this is like the main work of a bodhisattva, is how he’s going to travel along the path. So also within the secret mantra, this is the work.
This is the business of the tantric practitioner. So what do we have? We said the means of traveling the path are wisdom and methods. The wisdom of the perfection vehicle is exactly the same. This is the wisdom according to what school?
Anybody? The wisdom according to Prāsaṇgika Madhyamaka school. That’s the final thought of the Buddha on the nature of reality. Of the four tenet systems, the final and most subtle is according to the Prāsaṇgika Madhyamaka school. They both adhere to that particular system.
This is the view that they seek to adopt. So the wisdom of all the vehicles is exactly the same. Now as far as means, they practice the six perfection within secret mantra. They practice the four means of cultivating the mind of students within the secret mantra. So have to, know the six perfections.
If we look at ourselves existentially we have two overall aspects to ourselves. And I think I’ve talked about this. The fact that we have an aspect of ourselves which is experiential, private, which is not open to others, to be known by others, our own inner world. That’s one aspect to ourselves. Then there’s an aspect of ourselves which is public, exists in a relationship like a social self.
Buddhahood