Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Ven Jampa Ignyen examines verses 25–43 of the Wheel of Sharp Weapons in this 90-minute teaching, revealing how each obstacle—enemies, failing goals, illness, sleepiness in teachings—originates in self-cherishing. A central paradox anchors the work: those we call friends often reinforce self-cherishing, while those who criticize us are our truest allies. Rather than treat the text as doctrine, Jampa Ignyen investigates each verse in the present moment—How does self-cherishing operate in your mind right now? The teaching grounds itself in concrete examples: monks struggling to stay awake at His Holiness’s teachings, the hold of McDonald’s on our desire. Throughout runs a philosophical examination of enlightened self-interest—how a bodhisattva pursues Buddhahood to benefit all beings, a form of self-concern wholly unlike mundane self-cherishing. For practitioners familiar with karma and the bodhisattva path.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 04 WSW 2001 09 30.mp3
UUID: 836e5886-501e-44cf-8c8e-8ceb3cec0c86
Teacher: Ven Jampa Ignyen
Collection: y Wheel of Sharp Weapons 2011 Month 09-10 (Ven Jampa Ignyen)
Date: 2001-09-30
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 90.6 minutes
Words: ~9,131
Were there any points that came up from yesterday in terms of the text? Of course, this text is a text on mind training, and the benefit of a text is applying it in the present moment. So in that sense, there shouldn’t be a separation between our mind and the text. And we should be able to apply what is said in the text to the mind in the present moment. Of course, it’s not going to be possible to apply all the advice, but the only purpose in studying this text is really to investigate the meaning and that which is found to be suitable or appropriate, we should apply it in the present moment.
Yep. Our circle of friends just means those we’re friendly with, our friends in general. Here in the text it’s referred to as kor. That’s just a literal translation of kor, which means khortsog, düma tu jepetse. Yeah.
When our circle of friend gathers to circle of friends gathers together. So when we’re with those who we’re we’re friendly with, our friends. And when when that does occur, it doesn’t always occur. Often we get together with our friends and we just laugh and have a good time. At other times, disagreement occurs.
When that disagreement occurs, the reason for that is because in the past we’ve inflicted our nasty ways on others. But it doesn’t always occur. But when always occur. But disagreement does occur, it’s really coming from our past negative attitudes. Is that okay?
Or It doesn’t always occur, of course. Hopefully it doesn’t occur at all, but inevitably it does occur, often when we least expect it. And on those occasions, it’s really an indication of our inner temperament forged by self-cherishing has is at the root of the disagreement. Oh, yes. Most of our friendship is supported by our self-cherishing.
Absolutely, we have a definite interest. Those who are our friends are those who tend to affirm our opinion of ourselves. And as long as they affirm that opinion, they concord with how we view ourselves, all then they’re our friends. We put them into the friend category. If on the other hand, they start to disagree with our opinion of ourselves ourselves and start to point out our faults and so on, then very quickly we reassign them to the enemy category.
They’re no longer our friend. Absolutely. Our current way of defining a friend is very much centered on our self-cherishing. Actually, those that point at our faults, in a way, they’re our real friends because they’re the ones that are helping us to, hopefully overcome our faults. Oh, even if yeah.
It doesn’t matter what their intention But That’s right. It often we have a lot of resistance to accepting the truth about our faults. Because it doesn’t mean that we go out there and we seek out enemies and we then regard them as our friends and and so forth. It just means that those people that are criticizing us, if we can take it in the right way, they’re really beneficial. And they’re the ones that, whether they intend to or not, they potentially will benefit us a great deal.
On the other hand, our friends don’t necessarily benefit us a great great deal at all. But here we need, I mean, we also need to be friendly with others, but we need to be aware of that, that our friends are those that tend to affirm our opinion of ourselves. Which is okay, but we need to be aware of that and not necessarily believe what they’re saying about us and so on. So as much as possible, we need to be aware of our self-cherishing in that sort of situation. And how essential self-cherishing is in a way that we interact with others.
And that again is one reason why developing equanimity comes at the beginning of overcoming self-cherishing. And developing equanimity is simply starting to balance out the friend enemy and stranger relationships that we have. So by starting to balance those out, it’s starting to highlight the self-cherishing that we have. We need to highlight the self-cherishing because if we don’t do it, it doesn’t we can’t begin to deal with it. Because our self-cherishing just tends to merge seamlessly into our everyday life.
And often it appears to be something quite beneficial to us. Well, necessarily because strangers don’t really know us, you know, and they and all they have to go on is first impressions, and first impressions are often misleading. But the opinions of those that really have our welfare in mind are probably the most valuable. So really spiritual friends, those that are concerned about our progress in this and all future lifetimes. Whereas our worldly friends are not motivated in that way.
Our worldly friends tend to be motivated just by what sort of advantage in this life. So therefore, we have to take that what our worldly friends tell us, we have to take that with a grain of salt, Examine it. That’s well, it depends even though we have self-cherishing. That self-cherishing can also be the basis of generating some virtue as well. But ultimately that self-cherishing is going to go to a negative end.
So it’s something that we have to overcome, something we have to extract from ourselves. But also in our relationship with our friends and those around us, it’s not going to be possible to overcome self-cherishing straight away. But if we can minimize it, even use it as a basis for generating positive attitudes in the short term that that may be useful to us. But eventually, we need to remove self-cherishing from the basis upon which we make connections with others. So cherishing.
Yeah, that’s like the that’s that’s a very, very good point. In a in a sense, there’s two types of self-interest: mundane self interest and enlightened self interest. And what we need to do is eliminate the mundane self interest, which is self-cherishing, and replace it with enlightened self interest, which realizes that our best interest, our interests are established by generating cherishing of others. Then that’s fine. In fact, that will make us happy and it will make other beings happy as well.
It would be a mistake to think that bodhisattvas don’t have their own interest also in mind. In fact, in the beginning of one text, this the text on Abhisamayālamkāra, the ornament of realization by Maitreya. There’s a section there on really, it comes down to whether Maitreya has a degree of self interest or not. In Tibetan, it’s rang dön, a type of discernment which takes the purpose of that being to heart. The purpose of that being him or herself to heart.
So in other words, it’s questioning whether a bodhisattva does take their own interest to heart or not. And there’s a very extensive debate on this. But in the end, Gyaltsab Je, who was the chief disciple Je Tsongkhapa, makes the compelling point that bodhisattvas do need a degree of self interest or a type of discernment that takes their own interests as important or takes their interest to heart. Because if they don’t have that, it’s impossible for a Bodhisattva to attain the state of a Buddha. And the reason for that is that there are four Buddha bodies.
When he goes extensively into the reasons, the reasons come down to the fact that a Buddha has like, there are four types of Buddha. There’s Buddha who is an emanation body. And then there is Sambhogakāya, what’s called a Sambhogakāya, an enjoyment body, which is a Buddha who physically manifests in a much finer realm than say the realm of earth. And then there’s also the omniscient mind and the emptiness of that omniscient mind. So there’s really four.
Two physical bodies, one gross, one subtle. The mind of omniscience and the emptiness of the mind of omniscience. And a Bodhisattva must achieve all four bodies in becoming a Buddha. Two of those bodies are for the purpose of that being themselves. Two are for the purpose of others.
So the two for the purpose of others are the two like the two bodies, like the emanation body and the enjoyment body. The two for the purpose of the Buddha themselves are the mind of omniscience and the emptiness of the mind of omniscience. So his reasoning is that even a being, an ordinary being, they need a degree of self interest. Without that, they won’t be able to attain the state of a Buddha. But they need that also along with the thought of others.
It’s necessary to have both in order to attain the four Buddha bodies. Yes. Yes. Yeah. It’s absolutely necessary.
In order to enter the path, one needs to become a bodhisattva. And a Bodhisattva is one that overcomes self-cherishing and establishes cherishing of others. But one establishes cherishing others there in order out of the fact of the situation and also in understanding that that one needs to help other beings and help other beings in the best way possible. And that is one self attaining the state of Buddhahood in order to benefit other beings. In a way there’s no one can’t set aside oneself, oneself is always within the picture, but one overcomes self-cherishing on the path.
And by focusing on other beings and completely dedicating oneself to the purpose of others, one then indirectly establishes one’s own purpose. But one’s own purpose is there. In fact, one’s own purpose is only established by completely focusing on the purpose of others. That’s why within even the definition of bodhicitta, it’s stated that, that the mind the awakening mind, for the purpose of others, aspiring to attain the state of complete enlightenment. There’s really two parts there for the purpose of others, aspiring that I myself attain the state of enlightenment.
So even there, the two purposes are present. So it’s not contradictory that there are two purposes, but one, in order to establish the purpose of self, one completely focuses on the purpose of others. It’s a type of enlightened self interest. But in a way, at present, we’re so firmly entrenched in self-cherishing that, you know, we can there’s probably no fault in going to the opposite extreme and just completely focusing on other beings and not even thinking about our own purpose. Because at present we’re so far entrenched in self-cherishing.
And sometimes that can be a useful thing. There was one particular monk, a person in Tibet earlier last century Gendun Chöpel, who used to debate on Madhyamikan issues, on the issues of Mādhyamika. And there he would go to the extreme of saying nothing existed. In order to overcome our strong attachment to things being truly existing. In a way, was using that as a technique for under mining this strong attachment, this strong grasping we have for things to be truly existent.
But admittedly, it’s a fine line because we can easily convince ourselves that, you know, oh, I need this for my you know, I should do this or I should indulge myself in that for this or that purpose, when in fact it is just self-cherishing. But this area does need we do need to think through it. And at times it does become prominent and strong doubts do arise. What I’m doing has itself, is it for the self or is it for others? Is it just self interest here or is there some dharma there as well?
Yeah. So these issues we need to look at. I’m not sure if that’s any clearer, but it’s an issue that comes up a lot in the text. And of course it’s important because these doubts arise for us at present. And when they arise, they tend to stop us from moving ahead because we can’t clearly see, oh, wait a minute, is this type of thought just another expression of self-cherishing?
Or is this some virtue there as well? That also we should it should be understood that self-cherishing is not a wrong awareness. self-cherishing is something that even arhats have. The fully liberated beings possess self-cherishing. And our virtue at present, the virtue that we establish is mixed with self-cherishing.
And it’s even possible that self-cherishing can motivate us to practice virtue. Definitely. However, ultimately, it is that which prevents us from developing great compassion. So we need need to deal with it. Either we deal with it in the short term or we deal with it later.
More skillful to deal with it in the short term. Okay. So we’ll just continue a little with the text. So then verse twenty six. Where did we finish yesterday?
Was it first twenty six? Twenty Twenty five. When all those considered deer rise as enemies, it is through entertaining evil thoughts within. This is the weapon of negative actions returning. Now I shall diminish deceit and pretension.
Again, even those that are dear to us that we currently hold as friends, from time to time they rise as our enemies for one reason or another. One for one set of conditions or another. But the root cause is our selves entertaining evil thoughts within. So just like at present, we have this habit of, entertaining evil thoughts or maintaining negative thoughts to others. So because we have this habit, this manifests externally as from time to time, even those that are near to us turn against us, rises our enemies.
So when that happens, we should reflect that if I don’t want this to happen in future, I shouldn’t hold any negative thoughts in the present moment or future. We reflect that this is the weapon of negative actions returning. The harm that I experience in the present by my even dear friends abandoning me and so forth, is like the cuts of the weapon this weapon that I myself have fashioned in the past, simply returning to me. For now I shall diminish deceit and pretension. And then twenty six, when illness through interferences or gout, it is through lack of ethics, theft, and negligence with wealth.
So when we experience illness through interferences, spirits and so forth, and within that they accept that illness can arise through the interference or the intervention of unseen beings and so on. And gout. Gout also can occur in that way. It is through lack of ethics. So not maintaining our ethics, not holding to not harming others.
It’s also through theft. We’ve stolen things from others, and we’re negligent with our wealth and the wealth of others, the wealth of the triple gem and so on. So this is the weapon of negative action returning. Now I shall abandon misappropriating others’ wealth, etcetera. So I should practice ethics from now on.
I shouldn’t engage in theft, taking what is not given. And I should abandon being negligent with the wealth of myself and others. Absolutely. Common property, not taking care of it. Even small things, just not being sufficiently careful with them, especially common property.
There’s a common car or a common tape recorder or whatever, simply not treating it properly, will tend to, bring negative results. Very good question. That’s right. It’s something quite visible. Yeah.
I’m not sure. There it’s it’s just earmarked as one of the diseases. Yes, hopefully. And I think also in writing this, the author is also including other similar type of diseases and so on. So it’s often he uses etcetera in different places.
But in fact, indirectly that applies to, in fact all of our diseases and so forth that are occurring are coming about through, our own past actions. But here he’s particularly talking about mis others’ wealth and not giving rise to gout. Then when sudden illness or infectious diseases strike one’s body, It is through degeneration of one’s words of commitment. Here, sudden illness also refers to things like stroke or Bell’s palsy and things like that. So when these diseases occur, it’s really through the degeneration of one’s commitment, one’s ethics, one’s and so on.
But also infectious diseases, which are very many different types. Here again, the author is saying that they’re Dharmarakshita is saying that they’re coming about through degeneration of one’s words of commitment. And this is the weapon of negative action returning. Now I shall abandon these non virtuous actions. There’s there’s some similarity between twenty six and twenty seven.
But specifically in twenty seven, he’s designating non virtuous actions from broader category, whereas the previous one was simply misappropriating wealth, etcetera. Then twenty eight, when one’s intellect is confused to all objects of awareness, it is through treating dharma as something worthy to put aside. So often we have this problem of our mind is not very clear, our intellect is a little bit confused and so on. We have difficulty in studying. For instance, we read a book and we we know there’s a meaning there, but it’s it’s puzzling.
We just can’t penetrate to the meaning of the words. And some confusion exists. This is through treating Dharma as something worthy to put aside. In other words, this is through belittling Dharma. And here Dharma referring to those words which indicate the path.
So by belittling those words, the words that actually indicate how the internal path, the path by which we develop, then our intellect at present is confused. We don’t have this penetrating insight because we’ve taken worldly objects as our main focus. And taking worldly objects, worldly meaning, then when we come to try and understand things of a higher level, then there is some resistance to our understanding and meaning. And in twenty nine, when practicing Dharma and I am oppressed with sleep, it is through accumulating obscurations to holy Dharma. This also occurs.
Not only do we become unclear to the meaning, but we even start falling asleep. This often you see that when a teaching starts, people start to nod off. We even, especially in India where it gets very hot, everyone’s Prior to the teaching, everyone’s sitting there and talking and chatting away and gossip gossiping about this and that. And then the teacher comes like his holiness his holiness comes and prayers are done and his holiness starts teaching. People start nodding.
Almost like clockwork. Sometimes it gets very embarrassing even though those that are up on the stage with his holiness. You know, the high lamas, they start to nod off. Sitting there, you know, for an hour going like this, you know. I think someone’s gotta nudge him, you know, to He looks so embarrassing.
Because you’re If you’re the back, it’s not so bad, but the closer you are to the front, then you’re falling to sleep. And sometimes it’s almost like clockwork, you know, as soon as that first word, people are nodding off. I remember once going to a teaching and, oh, in fact it was Kālacakra, his holiness was giving Kālacakra. And there was a monk behind me and he was going to sleep. The only trouble is he was every time went to sleep, he hit me in the back.
It worked you out. It kept me from going to sleep. Exactly. So I had to put something up there, material there because he had quite a heavy head. But also, also I remember going to another teaching of his holiness and there was a monk nearby.
And of course in India there is a habit of taking snuff. Even the monks, some monks partake of snuff. And this monk would have, sorry? Yeah, it’s very finely ground tobacco. The way he had about keeping himself from going to sleep was he’d take snuff, but he used to take it in quite large quantities, you know.
You know, he’d put a fair amount in his nostril and, you know, breathe it in. And everyone around would sort of get this cloud of snuff. You get in your eyes and your ears and your nose, you know, and you start sneezing. Was a good way of overcoming the drowsiness. But of course, having this occur is through accumulating obscurations to listening to the Dharma.
And so therefore, when someone is teaching, especially like His Holiness, then there is this tendency to go to sleep. The one time we should be awake and listen to what he’s saying, because actually when often when the Dalai Lama when the Dalai Lama is teaching, as well as when many other high Lamas, they’re saying is of great importance. And it’s a great pity, you know, to make all the effort to get to the teaching, you know, spend all this money to get there, get accommodation, you know, get one seat, battle to get a seat there somewhere in the teachings, which is often very difficult, but then to go to sleep. You know, it’s so that occurring is through accumulating obscurations to holy Dharma. This is the weapon of negative action returning.
Now for the purpose of Dharma, I shall practice that which is difficult. So we should take on that which is difficult. Previously, when small obscurations arise to our study, we tend to put it to one side, but we should persevere with those difficulties, because then that will help us gradually to overcome falling asleep, and so forth during teaching. So this is talking about difficult karma. I think it’s putting up with difficult conditions That saying in saying I shall practice that which is difficult, meaning that when we’re trying to do something virtuous and difficulties arise, like practicing the Dharma at that point is gonna be difficult, then we need to persist or find another way of getting around that.
Okay, if I’m falling asleep now, getting bored, I’m back shaking, I’ll do something else for five minutes and come back to it. Because by doing that then later, it means that we will penetrate further into the dharma. When dharma comes up in future we have more momentum for penetrating further. Whereas if we when difficulties arise, if we just conk out, it means later, you know, when opportunity arise, we’ll also tend to do the same thing. Absolutely.
For both mundane and dharmic activities, it’s exactly the same. But here, persevering with that which is difficult or practicing that which is difficult. There are many ways of doing it. We can trick ourselves into doing it as well. But in a sense, all we have to work with are our preconceptions of things.
And at times, really, we should not accept that preconceptions or get around them one way or another. Trick ourselves into doing something of virtue when otherwise we wouldn’t do it. So here we should practice that which is difficult. Practicing that which is difficult is a sign of effort. And effort is taking delight in that which is virtuous.
Then when greatly distracted through taking joy in afflictions, it is through not meditating on impermanence and the disadvantages of Samsāra. So that verse is especially pertinent. So we’re often distracted through taking joy in the afflictions. We take joy in what’s worldly and mundane, which tends to we take joy in objects that tend to increase our afflictions, increase our attachment, increase our ignorance. Those things we take joy in.
It’s very true. We take joy in going to restaurants and eating good food. Although the food itself, you know, is not un contaminated. It’s nothing special, it’s just food, and so on. By doing that our attachment to the food is maintained and increases.
That also tends to condition the increase of our ignorance and so on. In general, we’re in this this is our main practice. We’re distracted through taking joy in afflictions. In other words, taking joy in objects that tend to increase our affliction. This of course doesn’t mean that we have to give up all these objects, you know, in the literal sense, but simply we need to be aware that objects that we’re engaged in in everyday life are contaminated objects, and taking joy in them may not be a skillful thing to do.
This arises, of course, through not meditating on the impermanence of these objects and the disadvantages of saṃsāra. In other words, we’re not meditating on death and impermanence. If we meditate on death and impermanence, then this taking joy in the afflictions is lessened to some degree. We don’t find as much joy in these objects if we meditate on death and impermanence. And so that’s a useful thing.
That may seem to be a little bit morbid, but you know, I like McDonald’s or I like this, or I like that. I like, you know, watching ten movies a week or, and so on. But it’s really not in our interest to be attached to these things or to indulge our attachment, increase our attachment. We should, if possible, be lessening our attachment. We can still go to McDonald’s or whatever, But we need to do it with mindfulness of death and impermanence.
We need to mix everything with the understanding of death and impermanence. So this is the weapon of negative actions returning. Now I should develop disappointment with Samsāra. So through meditating on death and impermanence, then we begin to become disappointed with Samsāra Because we see that the promise that is there when we’re taking joy in external objects mundane contaminated objects taking joy in those is not really that skillful because we are going to die and we can’t take any of these objects with us. So that type of disappointment is what we need.
That of course is not disappointment in the state of nirvana or those things which are pure. In fact, developing disappointment with Samsāra will then focus our minds on what is pure and what are things that we should seek to achieve and attain. Then thirty one, when whatever one does not one does declines or fails, it is through deprecating karma and causation. So at present, our goals are some are fulfilled, many remain unfulfilled, and even what one’s achieved can decline. This is really through deprecating causation.
So in other words, by belittling the relationship of cause and result, then we don’t achieve what we seek to achieve. Really, we don’t have some then it’s very difficult for us to achieve what we seek to achieve. And even what we have may decline, because we don’t understand how results are achieved or how even current current attainments are maintained through the law of causation. So this also refers to wrong view. Of all the views that exist in in the world, the worst is wrong view.
And wrong view is holding that the law of causation does not pervade all impermanent entities, especially the mind. But by having faith or conviction in the law of cause and effect, then one is able to assemble the causes in the conviction, in the knowledge that once they’re assembled, the result must arise. So, this is the weapon of negative action returning. Now I shall strive in patient action, etcetera, to assemble all of those causes and conditions we need to assemble or the results that we want to achieve. Then verse number thirty two.
Whenever the performance of ceremonies goes wrong, it is through placing our hopes in black practices. This is especially it occurs for instance, in Tibet or in India, there were those who engaged in black practices in order to establish what they wanted to establish: to gain him wealth or have good crops or get their son or daughter married and so forth. There are various: overcome enemies and so on. The fact that when we perform ceremonies at present in order to establish worthwhile goals, and those ceremonies do not produce their results, in fact the ceremonies go wrong and so forth, This is because in the past we’ve engaged in negative actions, negative ceremonies and so on, that now act as a hindrance to us achieving the goals that we seek to achieve. So this is the weapon of negative actions returning.
Now I shall stop my reliance on black practices. Story of Milarepa comes to mind. Everyone is familiar with the story of that in the early part of his life, through a land dispute with his auntie and uncle and so forth, He trained in the black arts and through mastering black practices, he killed, I think, thirty guests at a wedding, because his mother very much encouraged him to do that so that they would not lose their inheritance. Then later, in great great fear of the consequences of those actions, he sought out a dharmic teacher, and then he met Marpa and so forth. So black practices are something that certainly we need to avoid.
Then the next verse, verse thirty three: When a request to the Three Jewels are not fulfilled, it is through not having conviction in the Buddha. So, when we do make requests for various things, to the Three Jewels, and they’re not fulfilled, this is because our conviction in the Buddha is not sufficiently developed. We still have doubts and so on. So this is the weapon of negative action returning. Now I shall rely on the Three Jewels alone.
In a sense, in relying on the Three Jewels, one is relying on virtue. So directly, very much, this is relying on a virtue within one’s own continuum. So our ability achieve what we seek to achieve very much depends on the amount of merit that we have in our own continuum, which is dependent on the virtue that we practice. So in a sense, in saying I should rely on the Three Jewels alone means I rely on practicing virtue alone as the means by which I achieve all my goals. Then thirty four, when weakness and strokes occur and evil spirits arise, it is through accumulating negativities related to deities and mantra.
So again, weakness and strokes occur from time to time and evil spirits arise. Here unseen beings who potentially hinder us. It is through accumulating negativities related to deities and mantra. So in the past, we’ve accumulated negativities related to divine beings, and even through using spells or types of mantras and so forth. The word mantra there means protecting the mind.
Man is a Sanskrit word. Manas, meaning mind. Tra means to protect. Mantra in general is something we use to protect the mind from negative states. But at times, people use mantras in a negative way.
And by using them in a negative way, later various negative consequences arise. So here, this is the weapon of negative action returning. Now I shall annihilate all preconception. Oh, this here in relation to particular deities who have particular mantras, you know, like Milarepa. Milarepa, he went into a retreat for a certain period and he had a mantra to recite, to accumulate, and to visualize this particular deity who had the capacity to and through that, he had the capacity to bring hailstorms and so forth.
But it’s possible that one is able to placate worldly deities through meditation and so on, applying and then reciting mantras and so on that pertain to those particular deities. In the past, in order to overcome our enemies, we have probably engaged in such practices. And this we need to purify. So here the author suggests I shall now annihilate all preconception. So preconception is the very root element there.
It’s this in Tibetan, it’s namtok. And namtok refers to conceptions we have about things. In the broader sense, it refers to just the way we think about things at present. And of course, we’re full of preconceptions about things. How things actually are, how they exist, how I am, how others actually are and so on.
We have an instant impression and then we that impression is like a preconception. And we have them about just about everything. And it’s good that we have less than more. Tibetan, those with, that have many strong preconceptions are called hot preconceptions. Meaning that there’s a tendency there to really very quickly decide on what is like.
And then to hold it to be like that very definitely. That we shouldn’t do because often we can’t see very clearly what a situation is, how things actually are. So here the author is suggesting we annihilate all preconceptions. And here, the way we overcome our enemies is not through relating to or resorting to such practices, black practices, but through overcoming self-cherishing, which is the greatest preconception. Then we beyond our control, are forced to roam.
It is through displacing our gurus or our teachers from their abodes. So now if we’re forced into exile or we’re refugees or we can’t stay where we wanna stay and we change our address and so forth, especially if one becomes a refugee. This is through displacing our gurus from their abodes. So really forcing our teachers themselves to have to shift, then tends to bring about this result. So this is the weapon of negative action returning.
Now I shall not evict anyone from their harm. Even animals too. We should let them live where they abide as much as possible. Even insects. We’re often evicting insects from their homes, although that’s that’s often necessary, especially the really poisonous ones, or the bees and so forth.
But we have to be careful because we face the situation of ourselves being evicted in future. Ah, yes. That’s an implication there. Yeah. But then it’s just like our karma as well.
We have accumulated every type of karma in the past. So we’ll know, we we can guarantee that in future we’ll be forced into exile. We will be refugees. And that would have come about because those types of actions. And then when undesired events such as frost and hail, etcetera, occur, it is through not properly guarding our words of commitment and ethics.
Again, when even harsh physical conditions arise suddenly, again, it’s through not guarding our words of commitment and our ethics. So probably within that, there are other things like earthquakes and floods and so on. These come about because of our lack of ethics, our lack of virtue. And as much as possible, we should keep our words of commitment and ethics pure. So this is the weapon of negative actions returning.
Now I shall purify my words of commitment. So whatever commitments I’ve taken in the past, I’ll purify them now. And that’s why, for instance, many Tibetan practitioners of highest yoga tantra will do the full self initiation every day, because by doing that, then that purifies all the breakages of one’s commitment. And every day one has a fresh set of precepts or vows, a nice new set that are because when we have them, they very quickly start to accumulate faults and so on. In the Bodhisattva commitments that we have, in the tantric commitments, and also the individual emancipation commitments that we have.
So these have to be regularly purified. Because our mind is just full of faults, and the commitments are a little like posts. They’re like damn walls that are there to try and minimize the amount of fault that enters the mind. But because we have such strong negative habits, faults are always arising, and if we’re not on our guard, they increase very quickly. So we should purify our words commitment as often as we can by the appropriate means.
Then when we are poor, yet with great attachment to possessions, it is through not giving and making offerings to the Three Jewels. So the fact that we’re poor and, on the other hand, we greatly desire to have possessions, and we’re always seeing things that we want. So the fact of our poverty and our great attachment is coming about through not making offerings to the Three Jewels, or those objects that are really worthy to be made offerings to. At present we’re probably making most offerings to our self-cherishing. We should reverse that and make offerings to the Three Jewels instead, because the Three Jewels are those especially the in a great vehicle, they’re those beings who have no self-cherishing.
And so they’re only motivated there to help other beings. So they’re really worthy of making offerings to. Our self-cherishing, we make offerings to our self-cherishing, it’s insatiable, it’s inexhaustible, and it only brings, it only increases our unhappiness. So therefore, the fact that we are poor is the weapon of negative actions returning. Now I shall put effort into making offerings.
It’s not easy to do, but we should do it even if it’s, you know, to make a cup a cup of water offering to the Buddha, to the fully awakened state, and so on. This is useful even with a we can even stand at the at the faucet at the, you know, in the kitchen and pour out a glass of water and offer it to the to the Buddhas and so on. The food that we eat, the house where we live in, the car that we have, the clothing, a bank account. We can offer all of these things to the Buddhas. Then verse number thirty eight.
When our circle of friends condemn our appearance as ugly, it is through making ugly statues and being consumed by anger. So again, our friends tend to laugh at our appearance. And that makes us unhappy. And really we can one comment and we can this can cause a lot of unhappiness over a long period for us. Our nose is the wrong shape.
Our teeth are the wrong shape. Our ears are funny. We don’t walk properly. We don’t sit properly. And so on.
We become so sensitive to We don’t wear the right clothes. We’re very sensitive. One comment can really make us very unhappy through our attachment to our appearance, can make us unhappy for a long period of time. But the fact that we have an ugly appearance is through making ugly statues, for instance, and also by being consumed by anger. Certainly when we’re angry, we have a terrible appearance.
We look very wrathful and our mouth is sort of twisted and wrathful and horrible and so on. As I said, the patience, practicing patience, one attains a very pleasant appearance. So necessarily, if we practice the opposite of patience, we practice impatience, we’re going to have an ugly appearance. So we should also always practice patience. So this is the weapon of negative action returning.
Now I shall raise beautiful images. If I’m going to do anything such as make tsa-tsas or paintings or statues and paint them, I’m gonna put as much time and effort into making them as beautiful as I can. Because this will be a cause in future for my myself having a pleasant appearance. And by having a pleasant appearance, I have more capacity than to help other beings. All other things being equal.
And then also, I shall lengthen my temper. I won’t get impatient with others as quickly as I do at present. I’ll practice patience. I won’t start I won’t use the horn when I’m driving. I won’t threaten make threatening gestures.
By doing this, by practicing patience, one has a pleasant, attractive appearance in future. But one doesn’t want that simply as a further, means of increasing one’s attachment. A pleasant appearance is there or should be sought because it is can be a means of helping other beings. When agitated by attachment and hatred, matter what we do, it is through obstinately engaging inappropriate and evil states. So at present, we’re agitated by attachment and hatred.
And at times, probably in the course of today, at some point, we’re gonna be agitated by attachment and hatred no matter what we do. Someone’s gonna come to mind, a situation, another person, and it’s going to just sit there and make us unhappy. And we think of we’ll try and think of something else or we will apply various remedies. But at times we can’t overcome that sense of agitation. All of that, the reason why it’s so obstinate that we can’t get rid of it is really because we’re so familiar with it.
Because we’ve obstinately engaged in inappropriate and evil states in the past. In other words, we’ve held on to that these negative states in the past so ferociously, so single pointedly, that now when they arise, they’re almost rock solid. And even though we wish they’d go away, just leave me in peace. They remain there. This is the weapon of negative actions returning.
Now I shall expel from the root this obstinate one. So they’re all coming from the obstinate one, self-cherishing. So that self-cherishing, we’re gonna pull out by the root. And by doing doing that, then all the other afflictive states such as hatred and anger, attachment and so forth cannot survive. When whatever we do doesn’t achieve our goal, verse number forty, it is through deeply entering inferior view.
So, again, when whatever we do doesn’t achieve our goal, similar to before, we have various goals that we want to we have them lined up in front of us and we keep we think about them often. Yet, they offer the conditions for establishing those things and not coming together. We put time and effort into them, they don’t move forward. They sit there. This comes about also because we deeply enter inferior view.
Here, the view of self-cherishing, the view that’s holding myself as more important than other beings. So this is the weapon of negative action returning. Now whatever I do, I shall do for the purpose of others. Holding to the obstinately holding to self-cherishing means that I’m not able to achieve what I want to achieve. That what’s limiting me in the present is this self-cherishing.
This what’s self-cherishing? It’s this view at present that’s focused solely on my situation to the exclusion of others. And what I’m trying to do all the time is move my situation forward. And this is an inferior view. And we deeply enter that inferior view.
We’re always deeply involved in trying to move our situation forward. Not really thinking about the situations of other beings. Because we’re not thinking about others, there’s no way we can move our own individual situation forward. So this is the weapon of negative action returning. Now, whatever I do, I shall do for the purpose of others.
When our continuums are not tamed, though we train in virtue, It is through taking on the vanity of this life. So even though we train in virtue at present, we think of love and compassion, patience, generosity and so on. Our mind stream is not tamed. It’s it’s unruly. It’s like a bull in a China shop.
We wanted to do one thing, and it does the opposite. Our mind remains untamed even though we know what virtue is and we put effort into practicing virtue. This comes about through taking on the vanity of this life. Our minds are not tamed because we’re fully focused on this life. What are we gonna get out of this life?
The pride of achievement in this life, and so on. So this is the weapon of negative action Now I shall hold fast to the desire for liberation. Through holding fast to the desire for liberation our mind will become tamed. But it won’t be tamed by involving ourselves in the vanity of this mind. When we examine and regret what we have just done, it is through shamelessly pursuing new friends of high status.
So here, what we have just done refers to our virtuous actions. We engage in virtuous actions, and then we examine them and we start to regret them. That’s coming about through shamelessly pursuing new friends of high status. That new friends of high status is really referring to those who are not involved in higher pursuits. We pursue, shamelessly pursue those that have high status in this lifetime, but know that are not interested in the dharma.
And we put aside many things in order to win their friendship. And in doing that, we even become embarrassed that, oh, wait a minute, I’ve been engaged in these virtuous actions. Then that’s a great obstacle to us. This is the weapon of negative action returning. Now I shall be careful in the way I make friends with anyone.
We shouldn’t make friends or try to make friends with those who have little interest in in their welfare beyond this life. We’re very careful in the way we make friends with such people because we don’t want to take on their view, the the view that this life is of of great importance, of the greatest importance to us. We make friends with them, but we don’t make friends in a way that where we’re taking on their views. Because if we do take on their views, then they will look at us and see that, wait a minute, we’re making offerings, you’re doing these religious things for your future lives, and they’ll criticize us for doing that. And then we’ll start to regret, oh, wait a minute.
I’m doing things and they’re not gonna be friends with me if I continue to act in this way. We start to regret the virtuous things that we do for our future lifetime. This undermines our practice of virtue. And so that would be a great loss to us. We should be very careful with such beings.
In fact, in the world today there are many that have this view that this life itself is the most important life. And we should put all our effort into working for this life alone. It’s a very materialistic view. From a Buddhist point of view, our future lives are are countless. They’re much more important than this current life.
And we should spend as much time as we can in engaged in activities for our next life, the life after that. And lessen our attachment to this life and be very careful with those who are always urging us to just be involved in this one life. In verse number forty three. Fine. There are many people like that that are very skeptical about future lives.
And we know people like that and we should remain as friends to them, but we should be careful not to adopt their views. And if they’re skeptical about our practices that we do in order to benefit our future lives, then we should be very careful in what they say. We don’t want to put ourselves off these practices that would benefit us in our future lifetime. If we do, there’s no practice of Dharma left. The practice of Dharma really only begins with thinking about our next life.
Anything that we do for this life is non Dharma, in the strict sense. Because it doesn’t fit into any of the scopes, the small scope, the medium, or the great scope. Yeah. Oh, that that is fine. Yeah.
Yeah. That’s right. There are many who don’t believe in reincarnation or that there is a subsequent life. Although they may have a degree of open mind on the issue. I think here what the author is suggesting is that we have to be careful with such people that they don’t, through their views, influence us not to engage practices for the benefit of our future life.
Like, they might look down on us if we, you know, make offerings or if we, you know, engage in any sort of practice for the benefit of our future life. We need to be skillful with that. Of course, we should remain friendly with such people, but we shouldn’t allow ourselves to be influenced by their skepticism about future lives. We ourselves might be somewhat skeptical about future lives as well, and we’re very susceptible to peer pressure, to not engage in these activities, engage in virtuous activities for our future lives. So we well, there’s many ways we can deal with that as well.
We simply don’t have to mention what we’re doing to others because they might, you know, be offended by that or they might but fine, we don’t have to mention those things that we may have been done. But still remaining friendly and then, of course, practicing to help them as much as possible. But it’s true in this society, know, if we went out and, you know, discussed with others on the street what we’re doing, they look at us and say, what are doing that for? What are you? Some sort of of course, we understand this.
So we need to be skillful in how we practice. Yes. Yeah. Yep. Oh, very much.
There are those that have those that are almost, what, non religious, anti religious, but still they have strong humanitarian views and so on. They want to help others. They believe in not harming others, which is what virtue is. And by holding by holding that and practicing in that way, they’re gonna benefit their future lifetimes whether they believe in future lifetimes or not. And in fact, this humanitarian view has some benefit.
There’s no doubt. In a bit, it’s the the view of the human. Okay. human view, humanism, humanitarianism, which is a very interesting thing. It’s not really a religion, but it’s a type of ethic.
It’s almost it’s separating ethics from religion in a way. But the foundation of all religions is ethics, and it completely corresponds with the Buddhist view of ethics. Well, it does correspond. It’s maybe not completely, but it’s in harmony with the Buddhist view. But it’s not necessarily more virtuous.
It may actually tend to weaken one’s practice of virtue because it’s not accompanied with a view of future lives as well. Whereas I think if we, you know, if we have a view that we do continue to exist in future and that our future status will depend on what we do at present, that can give us added incentive incentive to practice well in the present. Whereas if it’s open ended, we don’t know or, you know, we’ll practice in the present some virtue, whether or not that has any effect in future or not, but still I’m gonna practice it, is good, but it may not have the same sort of strength that virtue has that’s accompanied by a particular philosophic view. In another way, it almost appears as if it’s lacking the self interest that goes along with the philosophic view. But not all self interest is necessarily bad.
Enlightened self interest can be very beneficial. That’s right. I think there has to be some element there. Not just inborn wisdom, which is a tendency to act in an ethical way from the past. But, yeah, I think as you say, gain a certain joy from helping others and that seemed to be sufficient.
Because you didn’t give more love for them to do it again? That’s right, if it was If you a mental pain from giving or helping others, then yeah, it wouldn’t last long. But that’s right, you can see it and people often talk about this element that just helping others brings a certain joy in the present. And that’s great. Well, it is a little More motivation either.
Yeah. Absolutely. It’s there’s a tendency or there’s a danger of abandoning beings also with that type of humanitarian view, whereby one’s only thinking of this life and, okay, I’ll do what I can. I enjoy giving, I enjoy helping others in this life. I’ll do what I can.
And then fine. That’s it. Whereas if one has the view that these beings, just like myself, will continue, I need to help them now and I need to help them again in their next life and the life after that and so on, I need a strong commitment to help them in all their future lives, then that can bring about a a deeper sense of virtue. I don’t know if this the just not having that view would make the virtue free of self interest. It’s a very interesting point.
That’s right. It because this area is this whole area of philosophy and religion and so forth has been pushed to one side for many years. And it is probably a number of reasons for that. But the issue of whether the from a Buddhist point of view, enlightened self interest is a good thing. To want to practice virtue for one’s own benefit in future lives is a good thing.
But one needs to eliminate self-cherishing from the equation so that that enlightened self interest is quite pure. It’s a self enlightened self interest that is self that is cherishing others. But probably neither those of us who still have self-cherishing, whether we’re humanitarians or whether we follow a Buddhist philosophy, so long as self-cherishing is there, that self interest that we have will not become like an uncontaminated or a you know, the while we have self interest, of course, cherishing others is not there. While we have self-cherishing, cherishing others is not there. So it’s limited by them, whether we have a view of the next life or not.
Or otherwise, the ignorance is the same. But from a Buddhist point of view, one is has the belief in karma and rebirth. Whereas someone say from a humanitarian point of view that’s non religious doesn’t have that particular conviction or belief or conception. So the difference here is the difference in conception. But it doesn’t mean to say there’s a difference in ignorance, difference in correct belief or not, but not necessarily a difference in ignorance.
Or at least you have a view of the law of cause and effect that progresses into one’s next life. Not that one understands all the details of all the implications of that, but it’s said that our development depends on view, that we move forward by developing, progressively developing a clearer and clearer view of our own situation and the situation of others. And that view is a philosophic view. We already have it at present.