Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 19-minute teaching, Ven Jampa Ignyen guides practitioners through exchanging self for others—the Lamrim practice of taking on all sentient beings’ suffering and giving them happiness. He details the taking meditation, where suffering is drawn into the heart; a rising sense of fear signals genuine progress. For giving, he teaches visualizing one’s body as emanating replicas that transform into what each realm needs: cooling light for hell-beings, wisdom for animals, armor for demigods, sense objects for gods, and desired things for humans (television, pizza, McDonald’s included). The cautionary story of Anathapindada establishes ethical limits—don’t impoverish your own family. The session ends with breath integration: inhale taking, exhale giving, a practice that deepens over time. For serious Lamrim practitioners.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 14 2001 08 30 LR.mp3
UUID: fd247ae4-6aa1-4684-9165-b49e9753ccda
Teacher: Ven Jampa Ignyen
Collection: y Lam Rim 2001 Month 07-09 (Ven Jampa Ignyen)
Date: 2001-08-30
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 19.2 minutes
Words: ~2,084
So there’s different ways we can do this. As Pabongka Rinpoche says, we can do this in many different ways, as it appeals to us or as it is easy for us. But we do take on the sufferings into the center of our heart. And as he mentions, it is good if this makes us fear for our very lives. Even the practice of taking, we start to develop a sense of fear, even have a sense of danger or whatever, then this is a good sign.
Actually, it’s an indication that we’re purifying a little bit. So we should visualize that we’re taking on this suffering into the very center of our heart. You may not really be able to take on these things when we do the meditation, but it will give you great impetus to complete your merit collection. And if your mind becomes more familiar, it is said that you actually take on sufferings of other beings as illustrated in the story of Maitrayogi and so forth. In giving in order to build up our love is as follows.
So firstly, we take on the sufferings in that way, and then we practice giving. So as it says in the root text, in order to benefit sentient beings, my body shall become whatever they desire. So in addition, in the Vajradhvaja Sūtra and the Gandavyuha Sūtra, it is stated that giving away our body and possessions is a a great practice. So using that as a source, it states in those particular sutras that one should give away one’s body and possessions. We don’t have too many opportunities for giving away our body, but many for our possessions.
And in fact, it’s said that it’s not a good idea that we give away our body unless we understand emptiness. Because, Well, we’ll probably die in the process, definitely, but unless one understands emptiness, one can if one is still attached to one’s body, one can very much regret having given away one’s entire body or even a part of the body. So it’s necessary that we understand emptiness before we do that. So up until one understands emptiness, one shouldn’t give away parts of one’s body to other beings. But this particular sūtra says give away our body and give away our possessions.
This has to be done within reason. At the time of the Buddha, was a particular layperson called Anathapindada. Anathapindada made a vow that he would always give, especially to mendicants if they came seeking alms. And he started out as a very wealthy businessman. Then the monks would come and he would prepare these really delicious meals and forth.
Became known that the offerings were really good and and prepared at this place, and so he would tend to get more people coming by there for alms, but he would never refuse because he’d taken his vow to always give. So he would give and give, and his possessions started to decrease. And people would come and ask him for other things, and he started giving away his gold and furniture and so forth. Till he got to the stage of being very, very poor, and he still had his family, and they were in danger of starving themselves. This came to the attention of the Buddha, and so the Buddha made a rule that no one was to go and beg for anything from Anathapindita.
So we need to be careful we don’t give away. Unless we take a vow that we give to anyone who asks. Probably we should do that with caution or secretly, not let anyone know that. But it’s good to be generous, but we shouldn’t be generous to a fault. But in this particular sūtra, it says that we should give our body and possessions.
And in using that as a basis, Pabongka Rinpoche then gives a description on how we should give. So, as he says, in accordance with these sutras that talk about giving away our body and possessions, we can think that we emanate replicas of our body. When we give, when we practice giving, which become the things that other beings in the universe desire. So these things emanate out in the form of soothing rays to the denizens of hells, for example, thus easing their sufferings. So when we practice giving in this way, we can think of the denizens of hells and of actually giving them what they need, such as soothing rays of light to alleviate their suffering.
And then through that, through those light rays, they obtain an optimum human rebirth or a positive precious human rebirth. Their dwellings become beautiful mansions. And then we send out bodies that turn into delightful things for them to enjoy, an abundance of food and drink to satisfy them. And we emanate bodies that transform into clothing for them to wear, and bodies that even become spiritual guides to each to teach them Dharma. And through that, they come to the very point of reaching enlightenment.
So one can practice generosity in this way of emanating replicas of our own body that would even reach to the, say, the hot and the cold hells. And if they were to reach the hot hells, then they would those bodies would, for instance, transform into a gentle rain, a soothing and cool rain that would cool the fires of hell. Beings there would gain some ease, physical and mental ease, because of that. Or in the cold hells where these replicated bodies would turn into golden rays of light that would warm them and melt the ice and so forth. And through that then they take rebirth as humans with good conditions, and then emanate bodies that would act as food and clothing and all the other, anything else that they wanted.
Television sets. Just like ourselves, what do we like? We like television sets, we like music, we like, you know, so forth. Anything like that. Good food, pizzas, maybe, a bit of McDonald’s on the side.
Absolutely. Yeah. Yep. And this we can do very easily. We just visualize that we’re emanating replicas of our own physical body that are transforming into these offerings.
And this we can do very, very abundantly, even as in the form of Samantabhādra offerings, whereas each of the replicas bodies then itself emanates replicas and they emanate replicas. And so, really to fill the entire universe with such offerings, especially for the beings in the hells, because they are beings who are undergoing the most intense sufferings in the universe. And then as Pabongka Rinpoche continues, then for animals, we emanate replicas of our body as food and drink for the animals, wisdom to differentiate phenomena properly for the hungry ghosts, because animals tend to have less wisdom than human. Wisdom in the sense of being able to differentiate what is good from bad. It’s not easy to be able to teach an animal what is good and what is bad, or what is a positive action, what is a negative action.
It’s hard for instance to get Mungtu to stop chasing mice around. It’s very difficult for an animal to generate that type of wisdom. But we can emanate here replicas of ourselves so that animals do generate this type of wisdom that acts to activate this sword of wisdom so that they can protect themselves from negative actions. And then and armor for the demigods. So here, replicas of our own body as armor for the demigods to prevent them from being killed by the gods in the wars that they engage in with the gods.
And then the five objects of the senses are the gods. But the humans have the greatest desire, so we send them bodies that become whatever they want. We send out our possessions, root virtues and so on in the same manner, and make profuse offerings of such bodies to our teachers, to our Gurus, thinking that these will increase our own Gurus’ actions and the scope or the pervasion of their actions and so on, and their good works. So this is all included within the process of giving. And as Pabongka Rinpoche says, although it is fine to give away our root virtues of the three times and our bodies and possessions of both the present and the future, we should not give away any of our bodies or possessions from the past.
When practicing this giving, you principally develop love. So by doing this, this is the process by which we develop love. And as Pabongka Rinpoche has already pointed out, because through this, it’s a practice of love because we’re thinking of generating happiness for those who lack happiness and so on. So here, he, Pabongka Rinpoche goes on to mention that we should take to mind the words of great texts and so forth that we’ve read and contemplate their meaning in order to enhance our practice of these five points. So again, we have this equalizing self with others, thinking about the faults of self-cherishing, the benefits of cherishing others, meditating on exchanging self for others, and then engaging in giving and taking.
By which we practice taking first, which is taking on the sufferings of all sentient beings. And then we practice giving, which is giving our happiness and our root of happiness, all the accumulated positive actions that we have from beginningless time and practicing giving those to other beings. And as Pabongka Rinpoche says, these points are absolutely essential pith instruction. And in order to keep this in mind, many, Lamas in the past have, have recited words that, teach these pith instructions such as the line from the Guru Puja which says, Venerable compassionate Guru, bless me. May all the suffering, sins and obscurations of all beings who were once my mothers ripen on me now without exception, and may I give out my happiness and virtue to others, and may all beings have happiness.
And so on that particular verse that comes up, which teaches giving and taking in the Guru Puja, everyone knows that verse in the Guru Puja. It’s there anyway. Some people memorize that verse and just recite it on their rosary because as a way of getting the mind familiar with the practice. And as Pabongka Rinpoche says, there are cases of those in the past who would recite entire malas just on this verse to help in this process of softening the hard, brittle mind that we have in terms of this practice. And then further, if we have time, we should read extensively the words of the Buddha, which is inspired by great which are inspired by great compassion and often and teach great compassion.
And here, Pabongka Rinpoche gives some of those sutras such as the Avatamsaka Sūtra and so on. And then the root text says we should mount these two on the energy winds. So the practice of giving and taking also should be applied therefore to the energy winds, meaning with the breath. And I’m sure as everyone is familiar, these two practices of taking and giving are applied to breathing in and breathing out. And the root text of the seven points on mind training does say, mount these two on the energy winds, meaning that we live this practice, in a sense, through the breath.
But this practice takes time to develop. As Pabongka Rinpoche says, at first we may not be able to mount these on the energy winds, but with continued familiarity, we will be able to manage it. The mind and these energy winds go together. And so this advice of exchanging self and others, greatly facilitates the development of bodhicitta. It also has its direct counterpart in a Tantric context where the vajra recitation is discussed.
When Kedrup Je praised Tsongkhapa with O Protector, even your every breath became a balm for all sentient beings, it was understood in that way, that Je Tsongkhapa was practicing taking and giving on the breath. So anyway, we can stop there for today. But the main point here is, if possible, remembering the seven points and the five points of exchanging self rather, which aren’t very difficult. And if we can memorize them, keep them in mind, it has great benefit. So we’ll just have a break and have a cup of tea.