Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 92-minute teaching, Ven Sangye Khadro presents the foundational framework of the Mahāyāna path using four key lines that guide all practice. She establishes why we practice: the universal dissatisfaction of saṃsāra despite endless pursuit of enjoyment. She covers the law of karma—non-virtuous deeds create suffering, virtuous deeds lead toward liberation—before focusing on the heart of the teaching: developing loving-kindness and compassion. She provides detailed meditation instructions starting with loving-kindness toward one’s mother, then extending progressively to friends, strangers, enemies, and all beings. She explains how compassion arises, describes enlightenment thought and exchange meditation, and concludes with concentration practice, detailing the five common obstacles and their eight antidotes. For practitioners deepening their understanding of the Bodhisattva path.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 6 Compassionate way of life.mp3
UUID: c42cfd08-f3cb-47d5-bf43-1fb9df9e06d0
Teacher: Ven Sanghy Khandro aka Kathleen McDonald
Collection: Compassionate way of life (Ven Sanghy Khandro aka Kathleen McDonald)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 91.9 minutes
Words: ~7,100
The result which we achieved is still sufferings, and we have enjoyed so much, so many things but we still never satisfy instead of decreasing the attachment. The more you enjoy, the more you have attachments. It is just like putting fire, putting a wood on the burning fire. And so it is absolutely wrong to think that saṃsāra is happiness and worthy of attachment. Everything is impermanent.
Everything is changing. Everything is nature of suffering. There’s nothing that is satisfied. There’s nothing to complete. There’s nothing to finish.
Again and again, birth and death and old age and sickness, etcetera, that the just like a wheel is turning when it reaches the one point, again, turns around. So like that, the the it is saṃsāra is also like a wheel turning all the time. So similarly in this way that we are also doing so therefore we must make a strong will to practice a pure Dharma. Dharma that can blow out the fire of suffering, and Dharma that will become a real antidote to subdue our defilements. And so we pray to the guru and Triple Jewel so that one will be able to carry such practice until we have real inner feelings to be able to meditate.
Then to think of the law of karma or the cause and effect that the cause to be born in this saṃsāra is the actions that we have taken in the past. And then the non-virtuous deeds that we have indulged in out of desire, hatred, and ignorance. By indulging in such, place that temporarily that we have terrible things, undesirable things and eventually cause us to be born in the lower realms. So the non virtuous deeds is actually very terrible, the worst enemy that one could put into unceasing sufferings so that from every possible way, every methods that one will use and try to avoid and not only the non virtuous will cause us more suffering, but even it will cause again more suffering, for example, by indulging in the non virtuous deeds in this life that will not only ripen in the results, but again in the future lives that one will have the habit of repeating again. For example, there are people who enjoys hunting and killing killing animals, which means that in the past, they have killed so many that still they have the propensity, they have the liking of doing it so in this way that they continuously create more non virtuous deeds.
And so non virtuous deeds, it’s a result. So in every every way that we should try to abandon the non virtuous deeds. And then the virtuous deeds means the opposite of these, which are abstaining from killing, etcetera. Etcetera. And by doing this way, that not only we will have all the the good things and which will even help us to to reach nirvana and to reach even the ultimate enlightenment by abstaining from the non virtuous deeds.
So to perform the virtuous deeds is the thing that is really helpful, friend who can help you in the need. It is just like a real friend who can help you when you are in trouble. So similarly, here also, once you treat the virtuous deeds as one’s greatest friends and perform it even if it’s a very tiny one. And then also to think about these indifferent actions which are working, etcetera, which do not since they do not produce any sufferings, are greater but we are always doing it and it is a waste of time and a waste of since they do not produce any positive results that we must try to change these in different actions to the virtuous deeds. And so in this way, to think about non virtuous deeds and to think about the virtuous deeds and to transform the indifferent actions.
So in this way that by even by briefly going through the subject and even wishing to practice Dharma has enormous merits. So if one by hearing, by studying these texts that if one really practice whatever amount that one could spend according to one’s ability that it is a great benefit. So here we will have the morning break and then we resume again in the afternoon. So now in continuation of the second session of today of teaching and meditation, again we began with the recitation of the Lineage Prayers by remembering their kindness, deep devotion through deep devotion that we pray to the lineage gurus so that one can practice one’s mind will be lead to the Dharma practice and Dharma practice will be successful and that all the illusions and the confusion will be cleared up and all the illusory vision will turn into the transcendental wisdom so that one will be able to succeed in attending the ultimate enlightenment for the sake of all living beings.
So with this in mind that you repeat recite the lineage prayer. So, again, you know, always with the creation of the right motivation for the sake of all sentient beings that one must attain ultimate enlightenment. And in order to get enlightenment that you are receiving this teaching with the right behavior, with the right intention, etc. And then the actual practice, of course, has preliminary part, main part, completion part. Preliminary part is in order to set from worldly path to a spiritual path to take refuge and to in order to make it the higher path to create enlightenment thought.
And then for the main part, there are four main parts. The first is that if you have attachment to this life, one is not a religious person and that directly tells the right way and the wrong way and indirectly explains the need to meditate on the precious human birth in order to need to arise to in order to arise need to practice Dharma to meditate on the precious human birth which has four ways from which is very rare from four ways, the cause point of view, from number point of view, from example point of view, from nature’s point of view. And then the second part, not only to rise need to practice, but to speed up the spiritual practice, to meditate on impermanence and death. And that also has three parts: the certainty of death and the uncertainty uncertainty that when one is going to die. And at the time of death, nothing can help.
So this part completed. And then the second line which says that if you have attachment to the world of existence then one do not have the proper renunciation. And that so in order to directly explain the suffering of saṃsāra and indirectly explains the law of karma or the cause and effect. And so first, in order to seek the liberation that one needs to give up attachment to saṃsāra. So in order to give up attachment, one needs to know the suffering of saṃsāra, the suffering of suffering, the suffering of change, and suffering of condition nature of all things, which is the suffering of saṃsāra has lower realms, the hell realm, hungry ghost realm, animals realm, and hell realm.
There’s a cold hell, hot hell, neighboring and semi-hells, hungry ghost realm, the outer obscuration, inner obscuration, special obscuration. And then the animals’ realms, they are that are in the oceans and those that are belonging to the human beings. And then the suffering of change, which the devas and human beings that wherever one is that everything is actually changing. And then the suffering of conditional nature of all things is that nothing is satisfies that everything actually, our existing itself is suffering. And then the second, the indirectly tells the law of karma that explains the cause of saṃsāra and that has non virtuous deeds, virtuous deeds and indifferent deeds.
And to think nature of the non virtuous deeds, their result and to advise to discard. Nature of the non virtuous deeds and their result and advice to discard these non virtuous deeds. And then think about the nature of virtuous deeds and their results and to think about to perform advice to perform virtuous deeds and then also to think about their indifferent deeds, their nature, their result and to transform them. So after that is we have completed. Now the third thing, the third main part is that if you have attachment to your own purpose, then you do not have purpose then you enlightenment thought and that’s If you have, if you give up attachment to the saṃsāra then you will get nirvana.
Of course, once you get nirvana you will get the peace, real peace. But it is not proper to oneself one alone to be free from the suffering while all the other sentient beings who are actually our mother are in the suffering and oneself to be free and while all our own very dear parents and friends are in the midst of suffering. So one must take the suffering of other sentient beings to yourself and one must give the one’s own merits and virtuous deeds to the others. And by this merit, through the blessings of this merit, through the power of this merit, then may all sentient beings attain happiness and liberation. So this is the commentary, the brief commentary on the third line, which directly explains the result of the exchange meditation, but indirectly explains the cause to practice this, the cause to do such meditation, which is to meditate on loving kindness and compassion.
So now after seeing, as I explained in the beginning, that saṃsāra is full of suffering. So in order to escape from suffering, as everybody wish to be free from suffering, and that by practicing virtuous, by performing the virtuous deeds that even if one gets nirvana for oneself, such as Shravakas, Pratyekabuddhas, but it does not fulfill our own main purpose. It is not the highest goal that one should seek and not only that, that it is one could not help other sentient beings. And it is a hindrance in obtaining the ultimate enlightenment. So therefore, is not proper to seek nirvana for just one’s own purpose.
And in order to benefit for the benefit of all sentient beings that one must attain ultimate enlightenment, the full enlightenment. And this full enlightenment does not arise without proper cause and condition or nor it does not arise from the wrong cause. For example, if you plant a seed, In the wintertime, where there is no heat and moisture in the dry land, if you want to plant the seed in the wintertime, then the rice will not the one who wish to plant a rice, planting a seed of barley, the rice will not grow. The one who wish to plant a rice, he have to plant rice at the right time, right temperature, temperature, at the right place, in the right seed, in the right condition. When all these conditions are together in the right place, then the crop will grow.
So the full enlightenment is also the main cause is the compassion and the root of it is the enlightenment thought and the condition is through the skillful means that one could accomplish this. And so, therefore, to in order to first So it is very worthy to aim for the highest goal. And it is not right when we have such a good opportunity not to aim for the highest and to aim for something lower. It is the wrong thing. And then one might think, although it is a very great aim, but it is something that is very great and too great to achieve and it has many obstacles and very difficult to overcome the obstacles that one may not one may kind of discourage.
But actually the fact is that Mahāyāna path is easier to practice than the other the self nirvana. It is easier and it is better. In many ways, it has great advantages. Advantages. For example, the Mahāyāna path is to deal with the sentient beings and the sentient beings all help us achieving the enlightenment.
Achieving enlightenment. For example, when you see the sentient beings who are not happy, who are in suffering, that you wish to them to be happy. So helps us it gives us a chance to practice the loving kindness. When you see the sentient beings who are in suffering, it gives us a chance to practice the compassion. When you see the beings who are poor, it gives us to practice the generosity.
When you see the sentient beings who are hurting you, who are harming you, it gives us the chance to practice the patience. So the Buddhas are the guides of our practice. Similarly, the sentient beings also help us to achieve enlightenment. So we must practice the loving kindness. Just like one’s mother gives love to one’s child, mother gives love to a child, we should also give loving kindness from the depth of our heart.
And the loving kindness means that one focusing on a specific sentient being that one wish that particular sentient being to be happy and to be with the cause of happiness. And if you want to do this, of course, there is a great benefit. As it is said in the sutras, it is far more meritorious to meditate on loving kindness for sentient beings for meditate on loving kindness for sentient beings for a single moment than to make offerings. Countless Buddha fields filled with offering objects. It is more meritorious to practice loving kindness to sentient beings than to make offerings to all the buddha realms because all the Buddhas, they have a tremendous love, love and compassion to the sentient beings.
Just like a mother who has only one child, generally all mothers have a great love for their child. Particularly those mothers who have only one child has a very special kind of loving kindness. So such things is within the Buddha with all sentient beings and besides, every sentient being possesses the Buddha nature. So therefore, it is a very great merit to practice on the loving kindness. And to do this, to practice this for us an ordinary person, it is difficult difficult for us to do it straight away.
So we must go step by step. And the first is to meditate on the one’s own relatives, one’s own neighbors, neighbors who are close to you and then through the indifferent sentient beings and then through the more difficult ones like one’s enemies and eventually with all sentient beings. So the first how we should meditate is that one should keep loving kindness to one’s own mother. As an example, the example is given in to one’s own mother. That one’s own root mother, which means the present mother, or whether she’s alive or she’s passed away, that one should visualize her appearance in front of you and then also remember all the kindness and the care that she has given to you and think that how kind that she has.
She has given you the body, given you the life. Not only in this time, but for countless lifetimes that she has become one’s mother, that there is no counting. There is no way to count that how many times that she has given been as one’s mother. That all all the milk that we drink from one’s mother accumulated together, it is far more than the four oceans. And not only as a mother, but also being as a father, becoming father and other relatives that who have given us so much wealth, so much love, so much care that nobody can measure it.
So in this way, the first to sort of recognize one’s mother, to know that it is the mother is very important. And then to remember her kindness. The second thing is to remember her kindness. That every time that she has become our mother has given us by carrying our body inside her for many months, been going through many difficulties. Finally, at the time of birth that is almost going through the edges of death, which means that there’s a great danger of the mother or to her own life but even such suffering that she bears in order to save, in order to give us the other life.
And after the birth, we are very small, cannot do anything just like a worm, cannot do anything, but through her kindness that she has looked after and given us food, clean our bodies all the time, hold it, give us food and clothing, protected from all the fears and danger. And after growing up that even one’s most precious things are no hesitation to give to one’s child and not only that she has shown us us the right path, advised us the right things to do and advised not to do the wrong things and taught us the language, helped us to educate and to become in other words, to become a proper human being is through the kindness of one’s own mother. And so that today we are human beings that can think, understand and learn and even have a chance to practice Dharma is through the kindness of one’s mother. And the kindness that mother has given has no measure. It is measureless.
And then the third thing is to practice the loving kindness. The loving kindness means we see the innocent thing being to be happy and to be with the cause of happiness. And so in this way that you remember one’s mother and that you wish this particular mother, one’s own root mother, to be happy and to be with the cause of happiness that I must create enlightenment thought to make her happy and to make her with the cause of happiness and make a very strong will to make her happy and to make her with the cause of happiness and to pray that she may be happy and she may be with the cause cause of happiness, etcetera. So the practice is linked with the creation of enlightenment thought, linked with the making will or creating the right motivation and linked with the prayers. So and also recite this as you meditate.
Also, you recite these words and so that until you have a real real loving kindness that arise that you should practice. And then also you should practice the other peoples who are not and gradually, first to one’s mother and then love one’s father and one’s relatives and friends and neighbors and so forth that all the people that you have normally contact, the people who are close to you, people who are near you that can rise easily to rise the loving kindness with the with those people, for such people that one should practice the loving kindness. Then after this, once you can do this, then you should know your enemies, just ordinary persons that you don’t know normally and think that due to the change of life that we do not recognize but actually, all these people are also ones of mother and done so much like our present mother has done. So but due to the change life, today we do not recognize each other and we see us indifferent. And so I must keep loving kindness so you practice may all those sentient beings to be happy and to be with the cause of happiness.
And then after that you practice the loving kindness through more difficult like one’s own enemy or the obstacles that are difficult. Normally, have a hatred thought. Normally, the persons that you hate are more difficult objects. The persons normally just by thinking that you hate and discomfort such a person that you visualize in front of you and think that this is also actually one’s mother, not only one time but for many lifetimes. But so far, I could not pay her pay him or her the kindness that this person has given.
So today, we see as the enemy. Actually, he is coming here to get the kindness that he has given to us And we understand as we mistaking as one’s enemy, one’s obstacle. And due to the change of life that we do not recognize other and we hate each other and without any freedom that we are hurting each other which creates suffering to all. Not only this enemy have become our mother and given us so much love but even now, today, that when we our mind which is so wild, our mind which has so much pride and so much indulge with the defilements that the enemies, in the form of enemies that help us to practice Dharma, help us to crush our pride. So even in the form of enemy that he is very kind to us.
And so we must give the loving kindness to the enemy. And so by practicing this way, even then if it does not, loving kindness does not arise and instead if still continues to rise the hatred. Then remember the bad consequences of indulging the hatred. And and and think unless and until we defeat our own enemy, the inside enemy hatred, no matter, one could never defeat the outside enemies. And if we could defeat our inner enemy, the hatred, all the outer enemies will all be able to control.
For example, that it is difficult to find a skin that covers the whole area but just by covering the one’s sole of feet that where that by going everywhere that all the area is covered with this piece of skin. So similarly, that by harming one’s enemy makes only suffering for oneself and others. So by destroying one’s own enemy, the inner enemy, the hatred, the way that all the enemies will disappear. So therefore we must give the loving kindness, practice the loving kindness with the one’s own enemy. And then eventually, with all sentient beings, as space has no limit, the sentient beings has no limit and limitless sentient beings, all of them have become actually our parents.
Every time they have become our parents, they have given us so much love and so much care as our present mothers have done. But due to the change in life that we do not recognize each other and we see some as enemies, some as friends, some as indifferent. And so this time, when we have the opportunity, we must give her give them the kindness that and the care they have given us. And so give all sentient beings the loving kindness and particularly those who are and even if this way, if it is sort of difficult to imagine with every sentient being, then do it in group like hell realms first. All the sentient beings who are in hell realm, that you give loving kindness to all the sentient beings who are in hell realm to be happy and to be with the cause of happiness.
And then, so as hungry ghosts and so forth and so on. So that in this way, until you have a real inner urge, inner feeling, until you have a real inner feeling that you should practice the loving kindness. And then once you could do this practice, then the second thing is to practice the compassion. The compassion, the nature of compassion means focusing on a specific sentient being who is suffering and one wish that sentient being to be free from such suffering and to be free from the cause of suffering. And this compassion means generally, the compassion means this, but so and the compassion is very important as in order to get enlightenment there is one thing that is absolutely essential and that is compassion.
Without compassion, that one could not succeed. When you have the compassion, then all the other things, other qualities naturally have. For example, when you invite the king, one need not invite each of his entourage. But when you invite the king, naturally all his entourage naturally comes with him. Similarly, when you have the compassion, all other qualities required for attaining enlightenment will rise.
So the root of the Mahāyāna path is compassion. And there are three different types of compassions. The first is called compassion to sentient beings that one wish focusing on sentient being who is suffering and you wish this particular sentient being to be free from the suffering. And the second is called compassion through object of the dharma, focusing on a sentient being who is suffering and that you wish that particular sentient being to be free from suffering and to be free from the cause of suffering, which is the ignorance. Due to ignorance, that is suffering.
If there is no ignorance, then that one is not suffering. So therefore, you wish not only to be free from the suffering but to be free from the cause of suffering which is ignorance. And the third kind is called the object less compassion which means that in reality the true, in ultimate truth sense, ultimate truth wise that there is no sentient being. Sentient beings are not existing. It’s all illusion.
But not realizing this, that think they cling as real and due to this, the main cause, the root of the saṃsāra is the self clinging due to the tight, very tight self clinging that they are suffering. So one wish sentient beings to be not only to be free from the suffering but the root of the suffering to the root of the suffering which is the self clinging. So this compassion also in the same way as you practice the loving kindness the first with your relatives starting with the one’s mother or father or whoever is actually closest, whoever is easiest person to individuals, that particular person that visualize and practice the compassion, wish to be free from the suffering and cause of suffering. By visualizing that particular person in front of you and it is one’s then one wish this kind mother to be free from the suffering and to be free from the cause of suffering. But at the moment when we we look the mother sentient beings, that they are experiencing great suffering.
Not only that, although their aim is to be free from the suffering, but they are still due to the ignorance, due to the caught up in this self clinging that they are creating more causes of suffering. And so in this way, that you practice the compassion through the creation of the enlightenment thought, through the making strong will, and also through the through the prayers. And when once that could develop when one could develop the compassion, then through your other relatives and friends, never and some all the people that you normally contact, people that you know, and then to the indifferent people that you don’t know, and then to your enemies or the obstacles, more difficult ones in the same way as you practice the loving kindness by remembering their remembering their kindness, etc. So it’s just the same way. And finally, with all sentient beings.
And so in this way that when one could develop the loving kindness and compassion, then the enlightenment, the real enlightenment will arise. Once you have developed the very well established the loving kindness and the compassion, then all the real enlightenment thought will rise. And so the enlightenment has two parts. The relative enlightenment thought and the absolute enlightenment thought. The relative enlightenment thought also has the two parts, the wishing enlightenment thought and entering enlightenment thought.
So first, see enlightenment thought means that effective way to help these sentient beings is to attain enlightenment. So make a very strong will to attain wish to attain enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. This is called the wishing enlightenment thought. And then the second is called the entering enlightenment thought. And for this, Just mere factors of the loving kindness and the compassion.
Loving kindness and compassion are very important in the beginning but that alone is not enough. In order to get enlightenment that one needs to dig out the root of saṃsāra and that through the the practice of the two enlightenment thought that one could control one could control the self-clinging through the relative bodhicitta, the relative enlightenment thought that will press down the self-clinging and through the absolute enlightenment thought will dig out the root of the self clinging. So the first is to practice the relative enlightenment thought and that also after having the wishing enlightenment thought, then to practice is the entering enlightenment thought. Up until now that we have not been able to free from suffering and have to go through all different sufferings is because that we have given up. We do not care for the other sentient, mother sentient beings and we’ve been all the time clinging to the oneself.
So due to this that we are suffering. So this time that one must give up one’s own self-clinging and one must work for the mother sentient beings. As Śāntideva said that whatever happiness there is in this world arises from the desire of happiness for others. Whatever suffering there is in the world arises from the desire of happiness for oneself. This, of course, is easy to understand the ordinary person all the time working for one’s own purpose never fulfills their wishes.
Whereas the fully enlightened Buddhas working entirely giving up for other sentient beings that they achieve the greatest result. So this time also that we must first to kind of to to fight with the self clinging to fight with the self clinging by by looking it as enemy. The self clinging is one’s enemy. And by looking it as one’s enemy, to fight with this is to practice the equal meditation, which means at the moment there is a vast difference between oneself and others, no matter how much you love or how much you care for other people. But actually, when we think carefully, the oneself is very important.
Most important is the oneself. Number one is we are at the moment, we are thinking that the number one is oneself. Others we are always as a second. So first, with this kind of thought we have to change and make it equal. As oneself wish to have happiness, all sentient beings wish to have happiness.
As oneself is working to gain happiness, all sentient beings are also happy doing the same thing. So this time, up until now, working for oneself, never be able to fulfill. So this time that I must help other sentient beings at least first to bring at its equal level. And so try in every ways to try to bring it in equal level. And then the second thing is to do the practice of exchange meditation.
Unless and until we destroyed our greatest enemy, which is the self-clinging, not only will we not get enlightenment, but even in this life’s goals one do not achieve because as long as you have the self-clinging, then you all the time have to fight even with your friends, even with your relatives and so forth for this reason or this reason, even just for empty words. I mean, the words, whatever words that we say, it’s actually nothing. Words mean nothing. But it creates it gives us a pain and makes you angry because we have so strong clinging to ourselves. If somebody says nasty thing to you, immediately one gets angry and one gets very cross.
This is because that we have such a strong self clinging. So unless and until we destroy our greatest enemy, which is the self-clinging, one will never be able to fulfill our wishes. So therefore, we must the way to do this relatively is to do exchange meditation. And that means that, Again, you do it with your one’s one’s own mother, first as well, one’s own mother. Mother who is in great suffering and creating more suffering that you visualize in front of you.
And then all her suffering and all her cause of suffering will just come in like a great dark cloud or black things come out from her from her heart and that absorbs to you. And from one’s and that absorbs to you and due to this, it crushes one’s self clinging. And one’s own happiness and and the cause of happiness, the virtuous deeds, all goes out from one’s own heart just like sunshine goes out and absorbs to the one’s mother who is suffering and by touching this light that she becomes happy and she becomes with the cause of happiness. And in this you do, with this exchange your meditation that you do with the recitation and also with the going out and in, taking in. And when one could do this sort of easier way, then you do it with the other relatives, friends and and so forth in the same way, eventually to one’s enemies and finally with all sentient beings.
So in this way that this is the way to fight with the self clinging in relative way. And then also to practice the other bodhisattva activities such as like the perfection, the perfection of generosity, perfection of moral conduct, patience, endeavor, concentration and wisdom. But the first five perfections do not become perfection unless it is linked with the sixth perfection, which is wisdom. If it is not linked with the sixth one, without wisdom, it is not perfection. With the wisdom, with the understanding that all are shunyata, everything is void, everything is the ultimate truth is away from all extremes.
With this kind of understanding that if one performs the perfections, then it really becomes the perfections as well as the four collecting things, which means actually to help six perfections and mainly to ripen oneself and four collecting things are to ripen others which means actually to give gifts and to say kindly, sweetly and to help others to participate in the path. And in order to participate others to oneself to show example. So these four things are called four collecting things, etcetera. The general practices of the bodhisattva that one should gradually should practice according to the Bodhicaryāvatāra and other Mahāyāna texts. So in this way, it completes the third passage which says that if you have an attachment to your own purpose, then one does not have enlightenment thought.
So these three lines actually include all paths as these four lines include all teachings which means that teachings are divided into the three persons: the small person, the middle person, and the great person. The small person means that one who wished to be born in the higher realms and to be to get free from the lower realm is the first line. And second line is the the one who wished permanently to be free from suffering, to get the nirvana for oneself is the second line. And the third line is to work for all sentient beings to attain enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings is the third. So that in this way that it completes the three paths.
Now the fourth line which says if grasping arises, then it does not view. And for explain this explanation for this the great the brief commentary given by the commentary of the Jetsün says that wherever one is that if one is with the clinging, with the grasping, that one is not one do not get the the liberation. And that we explain, for example, if you cling, if you grasp all things as existing, then you do not have liberation. If you grasp all things are non existing, you do not have the higher rebirth. Since both cannot grasp, one do not know to do not know grasp both so one should remain away from neither.
This existing and the non existing and to remain in non dual. And then he says, all dharmas are actually one’s mind. There is no other outside creator or the elements that create the life. It is all a mind. So one should remain in the mind.
And that explains the general philosophy that are common with the lower philosophy classes. And then finally, all the vision that we see which are like illusion and all things are in the dependent origination, all the things that are dependent on each other, which helps to realize the The shunyata helps to see the all things as interdependent origination, interdependent. And so in this, the state which is away from all extremes. So in this explains the highest Madhyamaka philosophy. So therefore, it means what it means is that grasping arises.
You do not have the view. So if you grasp, if you say something, if you say that it is the ultimate truth is like this or like that. If you say anything, then it is not right because the ultimate truth is away from all extremes. So even one arises the relative bodhicitta but it is still clinging with the real, clinging this as real. So you are still with the extreme.
Still one falls into one of the extremes and due to this one could not get liberation. So the main thing here as an antidote for clinging all things as real and true, then true practice is the concentration and together and to meditate. So first, the concentration is in secluded place place where ruled by a Dharma king in free from all the disturbances for practicing the concentration in such quiet and secluded place, sitting in a comfortably on a seat. Every session begins with recitation of refuge and the creation of enlightenment thought. Sitting in a cross leg with the two hands in meditation posture and whole body in very strict without blinking the eyes that one should try to concentrate one’s mind.
In the beginning that it is difficult to do it in the right in the mind, so we do it on the outer object. One can do it like blue flower or any other object. But some sutras explains that it is much more meritorious to meditate on the images of the Buddha. So that in particular image of Buddha in front of you like Śākyamūni Buddha’s image or Amitābha or anyone, any Buddha’s image. And there you try to bring your mind.
Try to bring it there without thinking of its qualities without thinking of its qualities or the colors or the shapes, but just try to bring your mind and your breath and your eyes, all three together, and try to remain there without any outer outer interference of thoughts. And so to do this, there are actually five faults and eight antidotes and nine methods. The first, there are five faults in practicing the concentration. And the five faults are: the first one is laziness that not practicing, not doing the concentration And the second one is the forgetfulness that even one tries that when one forgets the teachings, the techniques of concentration so that one could not bring it. So the forgetfulness.
And the third one is called sinking and scattering. Even you will not forget that one’s mind is sort of the dullness, sluggish and sleeping. Or otherwise, the opposite of this, one’s mind is so awakened like scattering, destructive destruction, agitation, scattering, something like this. And then the fourth fault is not applying the antidotes effectively. Even one knows that one’s mind is following on the wrong directions but not applying the antidotes.
Fifth one is over application of antidote which means that to apply antidote is important but if you apply too much then also instead of helping, disturbs your concentration. So too much over application of antidote is also wrong. So these are the five faults when one is doing the concentration. So these five faults and there are eight antidotes. The first since the first one is first, laziness has four antidotes.
The first one is the earnestness or the diligence. By remembering the suffering of saṃsāra, difficulties of obtaining the precious human birth, the impermanence and death, etc, that try to remove the laziness and try to make your mind to practice the concentration. And second antidote is the faith. And faith that this type of practice that one can succeed, that one can achieve many great results, etcetera. And the third antidote is desire for enlightenment.
Although we wish to attain the enlightenment, because once you get enlightenment, then there is a tremendous quality, the undescribable qualities that one could achieve. So when if one is told the profit, then one wanted to do the business. So similarly, similarly, that if one tells the great result, if one remembers the great result, then you have the eagerness or the enthusiastic to practice it. So, we wish to attain enlightenment by remembering the qualities. And the fourth one, fourth antidote is comfortably abiding which means that not only through concentration that one achieves great qualities, but even temporarily also that one will have a great comfort, great peace through concentration.
So by remembering these temporal and ultimate results that one will have a great interest in practice the concentration. So, through this kind of four antidote removes the first fault which is the laziness. Then, the second fault which is forgetfulness, antidote for this is to be mindful mindfulness or alertness. By mindfulness, remembering all the techniques and teaching carefully, always again and again going through in your mind so that when you do the concentration, there is no need to refer anything that one could remember everything. Try to remember to be mindful. And then, the third fault which is the sinking and scattering is actually the main obstacle in concentration.
So antidote for this is to watch all the time, watching whether one’s mind is in these two states or not like scattering, dullness, sluggish or like agitation, agitation agitation and destruction, scattering, etcetera. Whether one’s mind is following these two of either sinking or scattering, something like this is whether it is going in this direction or not, try to watch it. And then the fourth