Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 82-minute session, Ven Sanghy Khandro establishes the foundational practices of refuge and bodhicitta, then unpacks a teaching that cuts to the heart of authentic practice: “If you have attachment to this life, you are not a religious person.” She examines how moral conduct, study, contemplation, and meditation become spiritually hollow—even harmful—when motivated by worldly gain instead of liberation, however sincere they may appear. The core message: a practice focused on career, fame, or comfort misses enlightenment’s actual point. She concludes by examining why a precious human birth is extraordinarily rare, using cause, comparative statistics, and the blind tortoise parable to show just how difficult the conditions for genuine practice truly are.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2 Compassionate way of life.mp3
UUID: 4ec26075-8f5b-4acc-94a7-fb4af33a5d51
Teacher: Ven Sanghy Khandro aka Kathleen McDonald
Collection: Compassionate way of life (Ven Sanghy Khandro aka Kathleen McDonald)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 82.4 minutes
Words: ~5,279
Vision of enlightenment thought is very important to do, to to practice as a preliminary practice with every practice that you do always begin with taking refuge and the creation of enlightenment thought. So here that we will have a short break. So now in continuation continuation of our weekend course, normally, there are teachings there are two different types of teachings. Teachings that you study the philosophical text with great detail and that you just study only, of course, main aim is to practice, but the first you study, you spend the time on study and then later on you practice it, one type. And another type, this kind of teaching is a profound teaching.
Right from the beginning, the practice is emphasized. So while you are receiving teaching at the same time that you do it, you meditate, you do it with a practice. So therefore now our second discussion is to practice with the practice and that every practice of course have to begin with taking refuge. Taking refuge I have explained to you with the five divisions, the cause. The cause is fear, faith, and compassion.
And then the object is the Buddha, the Buddha who possess the three kayas, Dharma which has the true path, the realization and the teaching. And then the Sangha, the the true Sangha are those who have already gone beyond the worldly path and who reach the irreversible state. And and the way is the Buddha as our guide, Dharma as our main path, and Sangha as our spiritual companion and with the and then the benefits and rules. So with this in mind that you do the first taking refuge with the visualization. That one when one is doing the refuge, that one should sit in comfortably in the cross leg possible.
But those, of course, who cannot sit in the cross leg for some reason or other than that, they can sit in whatever way that they feel more comfortable. And then in front of you, you visualize the lord Buddha in the center in golden color with three robes adorned with all the thirty two signs and eighty qualities surrounded with the many all the lineage gurus starting from Mañjuśrī, the great Sakyapa, Kunga Nyingpo and his sons and disciples up till until now, as well as all the other bodhisattvas and Sravakas, and Pratyekabuddha, bodhisattvas who are in the denounced form, which means in in monks form as well as from householders form, and as well as the Sravakas and Pratyekabuddha. And then facing towards this yourself, your present root parents, which means the root father and mother, as well as all the sentient beings of the six realms, the hell realms, hungry ghost realms, animals realm, human realm, demigods realm, and the gods realm all surrounded. All are in human form. Although at the moment, they are in different forms, but by visualizing in human form that they will in the future, those who are not in human life will have the opportunity to be born as a human being and then to practice the Dharma.
So with this, with respect respectful form, physically with the respectful form, speech with deep devotion, recite refuge, mentally with a deep devotion that that whatever happens in our life that we rely on the blessings of the Triple Gem. In the past, for countless lifetimes, we did not follow the virtuous spiritual masters’ advice and we have not taken refuge in the Triple Gem. So for this, therefore, today we are in the saṃsāra. We have to experience so many different types of suffering. Diligently, until I reach enlightenment and that also relies on the depends on the triple gem, the guru and the triple gem. And so with this kind of very strong intention, guru as well as Buddha as our guide, the one who show us the path of liberation and Dharma as our main path, and Sangha as our spiritual companion with a great devotion.
Taking refuge means not only recitation of refuge, it means mainly from depth of one’s heart to rely on the blessings of the Triple Gem In order to escape from the rain, it is not enough just to say the words ‘house’ or ‘cave’ or ‘shelter’. But in order to escape from the rain, you have to go, you have to run into the cave or the shelter. Shelter. Similarly, just by reciting itself in words, reciting by words is also, of course, important, but the main thing is from one’s heart, from the depth of one’s heart to take refuge in the Buddha Dharma Sangha. No matter what happens, should have the faith that is unshakable by desire or fear or anger or the ignorance, which means, for example, the desire means that by giving up by giving up the tribulation, if even while it it means sacrificing the the kingdom, you have to sacrifice the kingdom in order to follow, in order to take refuge in the Buddha Dharma Sangha.
One have to sacrifice by by remembering the faults of desire or the attachment attachment. And the hatred out of hatred that one loses one’s spiritual practice. So the hatred is not that through hatred, one could destroy one’s enemy. It only destroys oneself. So by remembering the faults of hatred, that one should that out of hatred that one should not lose the spiritual practice.
And out of fear, if somebody says to you that if you do not give up the gem that I will take your life. But even this kind of fear one face that it is far better to lose one’s life rather than to give up the triple gem. Because if somebody kills you, it means just to lose to lose the present life. But if one is lost fighting with the defilements, that the defilements can, not only in this life, but for countless lifetimes can put you in the burning fire of the lower realms. So, therefore, that one should by remembering this that out of fear also, one should not be to not to lose the the spiritual practice and and out of ignorance.
Also, by by doing the right which is the right thing, by knowing the what is the right thing and the what is the right the wrong thing, etcetera. That so in this way, that one should take refuge with oneself, all sentient beings from this moment until enlightenment is reached for the sake of attaining ultimate enlightenment or the full enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. So without any distraction on outer objects that by remembering all these things in your mind with a deep devotion, then you should recite the the refuge. Those who cannot those who can’t can’t recite refuge in Tibetan can recite in English also kind of silently. The word is that from this moment, and I, with all sentient beings, from this moment until enlightenment exists, take refuge in the root and lineage gurus, and take refuge in the fully enlightened Buddhas, take refuge in the holy Dharma, and take refuge in the noble sanghas.
So this kind of things that in mind that you should recite the the refuge. So in this way, do you remember the great qualities of the Buddha that are indescribable qualities. And by praise praying to the guru and Triple Gem by taking refuge and then after taking refuge by praying to the guru and Triple Gem through their blessings that once you request to bless you so that one’s mind will not go on worldly activities, that one’s mind will go into the Dharma practice. And that also you request to bless you so that the Dharma practice, Dharma path that you began will be a successful one. And you request to bless you so that all the faults, the confusions on the path will be disappeared.
And you request blessings so that all this illusory vision, that the vision that which we have, which is not real, which is not right, which is not truth, I will turn into the transcendental wisdom. And this illusory vision itself is turned into the transcendental wisdom and so that one will be able to see realize. And that you request to bless you so that even a single moment irreligious thought may not arise within your mental continuum, and you request to bless you so soon bless us so that we will quickly be able to achieve the enlightenment. So this kind of prayer that you recited with a very deep devotion by remembering the great qualities of the Buddha and by deep devotion and faith that the the Buddhas and bodhisattvas who possess the the omniscient wisdom will see that what we are requesting and that they their great compassion will hold our request and their great power will act upon oneself as well as all sentient beings so that the everyone all different types of sufferings were dispersed, and every quality will arise. And then eventually, this the refuge tree, the refuge that we have visualized in front of us is dissolved into a light and absorbs to you as well as all sentient beings so that all our negative actions, negative acts, will all disappear and that all sentient beings, are pure physically as well as mentally so that we will be able to practice path.
We will be able to realize the the ultimate truth the ultimate truth. And so in this way, that after absorbing the light to us, that you remain relax your mind and sit in meditation posture and relax your mind and that you received all the qualities of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, and then you just relax your mind and that you remain there without any interference of outer thoughts. Just relaxing mind without any interference of outer thoughts itself has a great benefit. But here, after absorption of the blessings of the Buddha, that it is much more greater. If the muddy water, the water that has so much muddy unclear water, if it is kept in a place without any movement, then all the mud settles down and the clear water is visible.
So similarly here that we should must we must relax mind without outer thoughts, without interference, without specific thinking. It’s just relaxing. Relaxing. It sort of calms down the different thoughts and that we’ll be able to it helps to see the one’s mind. So for this way, we should meditate for a moment.
And then the second preliminary is the creation of enlightenment thoughts. The creation of the enlightenment thought has two parts, relative creation of enlightenment thought and absolute creation of enlightenment thought. And here, it is the relative creation of enlightenment thought, which means that Everybody wish to be free from suffering. Everybody wish to have be happy just like ourselves from our own feelings that we can learn what other peoples are also missing. Also, for the sake of all living beings, the only way the effective way the only effective way of removing the sufferings permanently and achieving the eternal happiness is to attain ultimate enlightenment.
And so for to do this that at the moment ourselves are completely choiceless or freedomless. We are completely bound with the defilements and obscurations. So we can’t do anything, but we must set path to attain the enlightenment. So for the sake of all sentient beings, in order to save every sentient being from the suffering of saṃsāra and in order to put every sentient being into the path of liberation that we must get enlightenment. We must get enlightenment.
Make us very strong will to think that to make enlightenment, I must attain enlightenment because it is a very great aim to aim. So whatever problems that one may face, whatever difficulties that one have to go through, that one will never give up a wish to attain ultimate enlightenment. And this is called wishing bodhicitta, wishing enlightenment thought, because you wish to attain enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. And the second is called entering enlightenment thought, which means that for the sake of in order to get enlightenment, enlightenment does not rise without just mere wishing will not come, without proper cause and the condition that it will not rise. So that in order to get enlightenment that you will practice diligently, use all our energy, all our efforts, use all our three doors, which means physically, through speech, and through mentally.
And so this is called the entering enlightenment thought. So for the sake of all mother sentient beings, in order to save all mother sentient beings from the suffering of saṃsāra, that I must get ultimate enlightenment. That is the the first part. And in then the second part is that in order to get enlightenment that I will practice the profound deep profound path, the path of all the past, present, and future Buddhas that one will diligently practice. I resolve to practice whatever difficulties, whatever challenges that I have to go through that I will never change this and make very strong will to do it.
So these are two called creation of the enlightenment thought, or wishing enlightenment thought and entering enlightenment thought. Of course, just by having the idea of enlightenment thought itself is a great benefit. Even one kind of disease that if one could make, only one type of disease to completely, if one could wipe out one particular kind of disease of the whole world, of course, one has a great merit. But this is not just one kind or the one specific problems, but it means that all sentient beings, every types of sufferings, to free from every types of sufferings and to get eternal bliss, to get the true liberation is, of course, enormous merits and benefits. So with this in mind that we do the creation of enlightenment thought.
So this taking refuge and the creation of enlightenment thought is that one should do with every practice, meditation, every session that we do. But this morning, not only that it is the preliminary, but the main main part of the teaching and the main part of the meditation also, since it is the beginning of the teaching that taking refuge and the creation of enlightenment thought is this morning’s session, main part of the teaching, the main part of the meditation is also this refuge and creation of enlightenment thought. So, in this way that we have completed the preliminary part of the teachings, explanation, as well as meditation practice. So with this, we conclude the morning session, and then we’ll do the evening afternoon session. So now in continuation of weekend course for the second teaching session as well as the meditation session session that we always began first by reciting the lineage guru prayers.
So now, again, that each time that when you receive the teaching, the first thing is always the creating the right motivation. For the sake of all sentient beings that one must attain fully enlightenment. And in order to get enlightenment that you are receiving this teaching and that whatever that one receives, one will diligently practice and also with the right behavior, with the right intentions, with a respectful form, complete in silence and speech, and deep devotion in the heart teaching as well as the master that one should receive the teaching. And teaching has a preliminary part and the main part and the conclusion part and the preliminary part to make from worldly path or from wrong path to switch from wrong path to right path, taking refuge. And then from from lower path to switch to the higher path, the creation of enlightenment thoughts.
Two are I have already explained to you. Now for the main part, which has four parts. The first one is that if you have attachment to this life, you are not a religious person. That was the main rude text, the main words given by the Lord Mañjuśrī to the great Sakyapa. And then the later the commentaries, Sachen Kunga Nyingpo was his real son as well as spiritual son, the the one the holder of all the Tathāgata’s teachings, Jetsün Dragpa Gyaltsen, Jetsün Dragpa Gyaltsen, who is the real holder of the all the Buddha’s teachings has wrote commentaries.
And so the first words that if you have attachment to this life, you are not religious person. And that he explains that to practice religion in order to practice religion, the great Indian master, Vasubandhu said, based on the moral conduct, then one should do the study, the hearing, contemplation, and meditation all in order. And this structure of based on the moral conduct and to do the study and contemplation and meditation is common to all the different schools. And so for this, the first anyone who who are doing these things for the sake of this life is not a religious person. Even though it looks like a religious religious, looks like a spiritual practice, looks like a religious, but in fact, it is not a religion.
So therefore, it is not worthy. If if the motivation is for the sake of this life, then it is not worthy. So first to explain the moral conduct. Moral conduct is very, very important as it is the root to accomplish the higher rebirth and it is the ladder to accomplish the liberation and it is the antidote to remove the sufferings. And so moral conduct is a thing that is absolutely essential in practicing.
But the one who is giving moral conduct for the sake of this life, it is not it do not possess these qualities, instead that it is the root of all the worldly dharmas, the worldly dharmas like gaining and losing and fame and infamous, etcetera. And it is those who could not keep the moral conduct that he is very rude to them and those who are keeping the moral conduct, one is competitive about this and one’s own moral conduct is a kind of hypocrisy. So that it is the such kind of moral conduct is the seed to accomplish the lower realms. So therefore, such moral conduct which looks like a moral conduct, but the motivation is wrong and the things that they are doing are wrong because since the motivation is wrong, that everything goes on wrong. So therefore, such moral conduct is like medicine turning into poison.
So such moral conduct that one must give up and try to do the moral conduct that is pure, that is not for the sake of this life. At least to be a religious, to be a spiritual practice, that it has to be at least not to have attachment to this life because this life is something that very temporal. It’s everything’s impermanent. And this life is just like like bubbles, the bubbles of the water that immediately vanishes. So therefore, it is not worthy of having attachment.
So such moral conduct is not right and one must give. And then the second, the based on the moral conduct, the practice is, first is, of course, to study or rather to hear the teachings and then also to contemplate to teachings first to learn the teaching and then to contemplate. And so such hearing the teaching and to contemplate it again and again is very, very essential as it is like the wealth to it is a kind of treasure to to accomplish the knowledge, and it is the lamp to give the light in the darkness of ignorance. And it is the guide it will be the kind of guide to guide the the sentient beings, and it is the seed of the dharmakaya, the the body of reality or the transcendental wisdom form because through the studies that we can learn, gain the knowledge, through the studies we can remove the ignorance, through the studies that we can guide the sentient beings, through the studies that we can practice so that the ultimate wisdom, the ultimate transcendental wisdom is also depends the the study you do in the beginning. So, therefore, it is the seed and the subseed of the the dharmakaya.
So, therefore, study and contemplation is of course are very, very essential, absolutely essential in order to get liberation, in order to get enlightenment. But the one who has the wrong motivation, the one who has the attachment to this life, even he do the studies, even he does the contemplation, it is only to gain a pride, to to add more pride. And those who do not know, those who have a lesser knowledge, those who have a lesser wisdom that being very rude or disrespectful, and those who have knowledge, those who have the wisdom, those who have the those who are studying that one is competition jealousy. And so through the study and through the contemplation that one what one is really aiming is more followers and more wealth and more fame, etcetera. So such a study and such a contemplation with the wrong contemplation based on the wrong motivation is very harmful.
It is like turning the medicine into the poison. So one should not indulge with such study and contemplation, but one do the study and contemplation properly with the right motivation. Then after that is the meditation. The meditation, the one who does the meditation. Meditation is very important.
It is the antidote to discard the defilements. It is the root to accomplish the path of liberation. It is the seed to accomplish the enlightenment. So therefore, the meditation is absolutely essential. But the one who is doing the The one who is doing the meditation for the sake of this life, the motivation is for with the attachment to this life, even one remains in a secluded place like mountains or caves, but still one is busy with the worldly activities and whenever there’s time he’s engaged with idle talks, the unnecessary, useless talks, and those who studying, since his motivation is wrong and since his motivation has still with the defilements that those who are studying criticized those who are studying, and jealousy those who are meditating, and one’s own meditation also is full of the distractions and so such a meditation is not right and one must do the right meditation with the right motivation.
So in this way, that the first line which says that if you have attachment to this life, you are not a religious person. That later wrote the commentaries about how how it should be dealing with the right way of practicing and the wrong way of practicing here explains directly and it indirectly explains in practicing that one should every practice that we do should be not attached with this life. This life is like a mirage. Mirage could not quench the thirst because it is only it is not a real thing. So therefore, that whatever we do, keeping moral conduct, study, contemplation, contemplation, whatever we do, it should not be attached with this life.
But if it is attached with this life, then it is wrong. Then it only becomes to accomplish the prosperity in this life and it not becomes the real Dharma. So in this way, they directly explain the right way of practicing Dharma and the wrong way of practicing so that one will know now what is the right thing to do and what is the wrong way to avoid. And it indirectly explains the first, in order to arise, need to practice thinking about the difficulties of obtaining the precious human birth. And also, it explains that not only need to practice Dharma but to do, to practice Dharma quickly as everything is impermanent and so it explains the impermanence and death.
So first is the difficulties of obtaining the precious human birth that because the the precious human birth is very rare thing and very valuable thing to obtain. And when one obtains this, if we just waste and we just waste and did not utilize this for the best course, but instead if we just have attachment, if we just waste the time having attachment to this life, then it is a great loss. So it explains the difficulties of obtaining the precious human birth. As the Śāntideva said, the one who has got the precious human birth with all the prerequisites, the one who can accomplish the great field, the great goal. If we do not accomplish at this time, then it may not be able to obtain in the future.
And so for many reasons, There are many reasons that it is very difficult to obtain and so when we obtain this that we must utilize this for the best possible way and to explain this in little detail that there are four ways to explain the difficulties of obtaining the precious human birth and that is, the first is from the cause point of view. From the cause point of view, to obtain the precious human birth with all the eighteen prerequisites, one has to have a very good cause. Generally, enormous amount of accumulation of virtuous deeds and particularly one who keeps all the right moral conduct, the one who avoids the non virtuous deeds and one who practice the virtuous deeds and particularly the one who keeps the good moral conduct. But when we today, we examine in the world that there are very few people who are practicing spiritual path. And so many people who are engaged in the non virtuous deeds, even those who are practicing the spiritual path, most of them are just kind of superficial level.
It’s only looks like a spiritual practice, but the real spiritual practice with the right motivation, with the right practice. Very, very few people are practicing. And particularly, the one who is keeping the moral conduct, good moral conduct is very, very few with the right motivation to keep the clean, good moral conduct is very, very few. So when there’s a few cause, of course, the result is bound to be very rare. When there’s a very rare cause, of course, the result has to be very rare.
So from the cause point of view that it is very difficult to obtain. And then the second is from the number point of view. Although it looks there, there are many, many human beings, but if we carefully examine, carefully analyze that there are so many others when we compare with the other sent beings, many very few human beings. How many people in one city can count quite easily. But to count how many insects, how many worms, even in one house, it is very difficult to count.
Even one human being’s body can contain millions of germs and worms etc. So therefore it is compared with other living beings that even an ordinary human life is few in number. And particularly, the human life which has all the, which is free from all the leisureless, unfavorable state and which has all the, the right condition is extremely rare. As it is said in the sutras that when you look at the sentient beings, those sentient beings who are going to be born in the hell realm are as many as the atoms of this, the dust of this earth. And that those who are going to be born in the hungry ghost realm are as many as like the great storm or the snowstorm.
And those who are born in the animals’ kingdom are as many as seeds used in making alcohol. So when you make alcohol, you need many grains, as many as grains used in making heated liquor. So since most of the majority of the sentient beings are engaged in with the non performing the non virtuous deeds, the cause to be born in the lower realm is the non virtuous deeds. So of course, result, the lower realm is obviously in great in number. And there are so many beings who are who could not obtain the birth in the bardo state.
The bardo state means the intermediate state between this life and the next life. There’s one state called bardo where one has to go through a very fearful period of time and in there there are enormous amount of living beings there that who could not gain the birth. For example, in the summertime if one dead body of an animal is kept for several days, then all his body is covered with worms and so the living beings who are coming from the intermediate state to be born as worms alone has that many within animal’s body. One living being’s dead body can contain so many worms that are coming from the intermediate state. So therefore, of course, it proves that there’s enormous amount number of living beings.
So compared with all these sentient beings, with these these compared with the other living beings, the human being is very few in number. And then the third point of view is the example point of view as it is given in the sutras. As it is said in the sutras, suppose if the the whole universe is just just an ocean, very big ocean, and then under this ocean are tortoise who is blind, and over the ocean there’s a golden stick which has only one hole, and this golden stick floats all over the ocean. When the east the wind comes from the east, it goes to the west. When the wind comes from the west, it goes to the east, and so as to south and north and it’s all the time floating.
And the tortoise who is blind under the ocean comes over the ocean in every hundred years’ time. And so it is very difficult to meet to have the chance to his head, the tortoise head, to go through the hole of this golden stick. This is just an example is given how difficult, how rare it is because this example and the actual situation has complete similarities. The ocean is very big and wide. The possibilities to be born in other living beings are very wide and great in number.
And the golden stick has only one small hole. So the possibilities to be born as a human being is very small and few in number. And the tortoise comes in every one hundred years’ time over the ocean. So that is the very few living beings who are creating karma to be born as human beings, creating the cause to be born as human beings are very few in number. And even those who are creating, it is a very weak the tortoise is blind.
If he has eyes, of course, he can at least see, but he is blind, so he does not see where the golden yoke is floating. So similarly, even those who are creating the cause to be born as human beings are very weak. The actions that they take are very weak. And the golden stick is all the time floating all over the ocean depending on which direction the wind comes. So even those who are creating the karma to be born as human beings have very many obstacles that can come as a hindrance, to be born as a human beings.