Kadampa Teachings (Audio and Unedited Transcripts)

By Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Root Institute, Bodhgaya, India; 26 December 2003 - 02 January 2004 (Archive #1470)

Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave these teachings at Root Institute, Bodhgaya, in December 2003. There were seven days of teachings; days 1 through 4 are included here. You can listen to the remaining days here.

During these four days Rinpoche covered various lamrim topics and gave an oral transmission of Atisha's Jewel Garland and began to give commentary on it. 

Day Four: Bodhicitta motivation

So this time one has received this precious human body, qualified of eight freedoms and ten richness, so by adding each freedom and each richness, so then now become unbelievable, eighteen, so adding all this, become unbelievable how precious it is, inexpressible. So using such this precious human body qualified of eight freedoms, ten richnesses, not just a precious human body, because by just having this human body it enables to understand words and meaning of Dharma, like I gave example of cause of happiness, able to understand the cause of happiness even within a few seconds, what the Buddha explained, the definition of virtue. Whereas those animals, even for billions of eons they cannot understand, so therefore by that, this human body is so precious, unbelievable precious, that how it’s so quick, easy to understand Dharma and practice and have realizations.

But now here we’re talking about not just that, qualified with eight freedoms and ten richness, something much more, something so much more than that. With all these incredible opportunity, that we have so much opportunity to practice Dharma however one wish, that whichever happiness you wish to achieve, that happiness of future lives, the liberation from samsara, full enlightenment, that even within one second, that one can create the cause and achieve. One can obtain those things because one can create the cause even within one second. So like this, the most precious thing, even all the wealth in the human realm, even all the wealth deva realm, sura, asura realm, all the wealth put together, so for example, one deva, Indra, or one deva, ornament, one ring, even all the human wealth put together can’t compare to the value of one of the deva’s, one earring, it’s so, the value of that is so precious. So that all the human wealth, all the wealth of deva realm put together is nothing, the value is nothing compared, if you compare it to your human body, value of your human body, all those other wealth put together is nothing, nothing.

So therefore, so something that one should feel incredible, unbelievable joy, bliss, unbelievable bliss, joy, like having, when people, as I mentioned the other day, the person who win the football play or the person who got lottery, many millions of dollars, billions of dollars, who win, how so excited, unbelievable, so here, it’s something that, by discovering this, how your human body is so precious, having eight freedoms, ten richnesses, it’s something that should feel greater, incredible excitement or the bliss, unbelievable joy than having received sky filled with wish-granting jewel. Much more happier than received how many wish-granting jewels that you own like limitless sky.

So now, that one can achieve three great meanings, that it’s highly meaningful, can achieve three great meanings and it’s very difficult to find again and this doesn’t, because death is definite and when the death will happen is uncertainty, it can happen any day, it can happen any hour, any moment. So therefore, before the death happens, must make sure right after death to have a good rebirth, to happen body of the happy transmigratory being next life, again to be able to practice Dharma, to actualize the path to enlightenment.

That alone is not sufficient, just receive deva, human body next life, that alone is not sufficient, that as long as one is in samsara, not free from this continuity of this samsara, the continuity of these contaminated aggregates, caused by karma and delusion. So, or as His Holiness says, the continuity of the rebirth of these contaminated aggregates caused by karma and, the blame is under the control of karma and delusion, so until we are free from this, we are continuously tormented by suffering of pain and the suffering of change, even when we have samsaric pleasure, we are tormented by suffering of change, feeling, which is only suffering, then our hallucinated mind labeled it pleasure and appeared as pleasure. Our hallucinated mind labeled pleasure and believe in that and appeared as pleasure, then we cling on that, again that becomes cause to circle again in samsara, to be reborn again. So, tormented by suffering of change and then foundation of those two, pervasive compounding suffering. So even such as formless realm, the four realm, the four levels and the fourth one, at the formless realm, do not have, do not experience the suffering of pain and suffering of changes, but constantly tormented by pervasive compounding suffering, the [Tibetan]. So therefore, so we never had one second break from suffering of samsara, the pervasive compounding suffering, we never had one second break from time without beginning, we have been experiencing suffering of samsara time without beginning, never had one second holiday, one second break or holiday, real pure happiness.

So therefore, as His Holiness mentioned that being the pervasive suffering, these aggregates being under the control of karma and delusion and this, yeah, because of that, then this body and mind is nature of suffering, pervaded by suffering, why this experience so many problems, the mind, the worry, fear, depression, loneliness, so many problems, emotional problems and body, all the sickness, all these hundreds, 404, all these hundreds of sicknesses, however, so forth, the suffering rebirth, old age, sicknesses and death, so forth, all these sufferings, why we have to experience, because under the control of karma and delusions. And that is because, why these aggregates is under the control of karma and delusions, it’s because of the imprint, negative imprint, that which is left on the mental continuum by the delusion, and its action, karma. So these negative imprints on the mental continuum, so compounds all the problems of this life. Even there’s no anger rising now, even we are not angry now, but any time when the condition comes, the anger will rise. Any time when the condition comes, attachment will rise.

So all those delusions, all these emotional thoughts rises, because there’s negative imprint not purified in the past, practicing ?those paths, and not meditating, not applying lam-rim meditation, even though we haven’t actualized the path, removed the imprint, but if we are applying lam-rim meditation all the time, then we can control, can stop rising delusion and karma, rising delusion and motivating karma. But also even that is not done all the time, so negative imprint is there on the mental continuum, so any time these delusions rise, motivate karma, and then this mental suffering or physical suffering arise any time, can happen any time. So, these negative imprints left on the mental continuum compounds all this life sufferings and also this becomes the basis of future life sufferings, future life problems, the old age, sickness, the rebirth, death, old age, sickness, all other, all the sufferings, problems of future life, so this negative imprint compounds all those future life sufferings. So, compounds all the future life problems, this negative imprint compounds future life samsara, the rebirth produce, so it compounds all the future life samsara, all the sufferings of future lives, the samsara. It compounds future life samsara and sufferings of that. So, this negative imprint pervaded not only the desire realm, form realm, formless realm, everyone, it’s covered, that is another meaning of pervasion, the pervasive suffering. This desire realm, form, formless, all the mental continuity or contaminated, these negative imprints, so because of that, then that produces suffering, so there’s suffering of desire realm, form realm, formless realm, all these are in the nature of suffering. [pause]

So, like this, all the three realms pervaded by suffering. So therefore, must be free from the, must be liberated from samsara this time, while one has all the opportunities to be free from this.

So that alone is not sufficient, that must achieve full enlightenment, that which is cessation of all the mistakes of mind and completion of all the realizations. So, why all the sufferings, all the obstacles, all the undesirable things came from the self-cherishing thought, that is by cherishing I, so all the sufferings came from the I. And all the happiness, all the collections of goodness came from bodhicitta, cherishing others and so that means all the collections of goodness, all the happiness, everything came from, all the happiness, three-time happiness, all the collections of goodness came from, one has received by the kindness of every single sentient being.

So therefore, as it is mentioned in Bodhicaryavatara, as long as you don’t drop the burning fire, fire that burns your hand, as long as you don’t drop the fire, the burning cannot be stopped. So like that, as long as one doesn’t abandon the self, the I, one cannot abandon suffering, one cannot be free from the suffering. Therefore, to pacify the sufferings of oneself, to pacify the sufferings of others, give up oneself for others. Cherish others as oneself.

So here it shows the solution, how to pacify, how to make yourself free from the sufferings, how to make others free from sufferings, by you, by oneself. Then, what to do? The answer, give up oneself for others and cherish others as oneself. So that’s the method, that’s the practice, that’s the answer, solution.

So here, so therefore, let go I, then, so therefore, there’s no purpose, no reason, it’s meaningless to cherish I. So it’s harmful to oneself, it’s harmful to all the sentient beings, so let go that. So therefore, dare not even one second to have the self-cherishing thought in one’s own heart, keeping this in one’s own heart, most unbearable to have this in one’s own heart, so can’t stand, can’t wait, even one second without getting rid of this. And generate bodhicitta in the place of that, by cherishing other sentient beings, from where all the happiness, temporary, ultimate, all the collections of goodness comes, one receives. So, one receives all this so by the kindness of every single sentient being, every single, all the past, present, future happiness, all the collections of goodness, every single comfort, even in the dreams, comfort when one feel hot, even cool air passing through, even a small comfort, we receive by the kindness of every single sentient being.

So therefore, what they want, therefore, in one’s own life, there’s nobody to cherish other than sentient beings, except only the sentient beings. There’s nobody to work for, in my life there’s nobody to work for except only the sentient beings. And what they want is happiness, what they do not want is suffering. So therefore, I must free them from all the suffering and causes and bring them, and cause them happiness, especially bring them in the peerless happiness, full enlightenment. There’s no other way to do that, there’s no other way to accomplish this, except, only way to do this is first myself achieve the state of omniscient mind. Complete, to be perfect in all the understandings, to have perfect compassion to the sentient beings, and to have perfect, complete power, to save the sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering, to cause them to have happiness.

So, and then, by practicing only Lesser Vehicle path, Hinayana path, cannot achieve enlightenment, it doesn’t have the methods, that teaching doesn’t reveal the method to achieve enlightenment. And so practicing the Paramitayana path, so that takes three countless great eons to, that needs to collect merit for three countless great eons, it takes a long time to achieve enlightenment, so sentient beings have to suffer for, numberless sentient beings that whom I have the karma, who depends to me, they have to suffer for a long time, such incredible long time. So therefore, it is so unbearable that even one second their suffering in samsara is like suffering for eons. So therefore, I must liberate them, then, before thinking that, I myself from my side, even, for the benefit of sentient beings, from my side even I have to suffer in the hell realm equaling the number of the drops of the ocean, atoms of earth, even that much length of time even I have to suffer in the hell realm to benefit for other sentient beings, to achieve enlightenment, I can do it. But from the side of the sentient beings, even one second being in samsara, is so unbearable, it’s like suffering for eons. So therefore, I must liberate them from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to enlightenment as quick as possible; so therefore I must achieve enlightenment as quick as possible, so what makes that possible to happen is only by taking Highest Tantra initiation and by practicing the path which offers that most, quickest means to achieve enlightenment. So therefore, I’m going to take, for those who are taking initiation, taking the preparation of the Gyalwa Gyatso initiation like that.

So maybe, a short break. Maybe we should have a short break, a few seconds. No, I’m joking. Maybe a short break, okay. Short break.