The Four Noble Truth (Part 4 of 4) - Dharma Talk By Lama Phuntsho

This marks the end of this series of teaching, published in conjunction with our Wesak celebration. Thank you for reading them. Hope you had a spiritually fulfilling Wesak.

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The Four Noble Truth (Part 4) (The Final Part)

In the Four Noble Truth, the third and fourth noble truth, that is the cessation and the path, reference is made to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.


In every Text, we know that Buddha Sakyamuni is never a Buddha in the beginning but only an ordinary being. Through his practice of loving compassion, then wisdom realizing emptiness, he ultimately achieved enlightenment. That is why, the true cessation and the true path normally make reference to the precious Buddha, the precious Dharma and the precious Sangha. The one who really follow trough the path to enlightenment and ultimately achieved enlightenment is Buddha Sakyamuni. The precious teachings which is base on the direct experience of Buddha Sakyamuni includes the true cessation and the true path which together form the true Dharma. In the path to realization, or path to enlightenment, we have to apply the true Dharma to ultimately achieve true cessation. That is why the truth of cessation to the path itself becomes the precious teaching.


Who are the ones engaging in the true path to enlightenment? They are beings who are in the stages of learning and no more learning. No more learning are the ones who have achieved Buddhahood and those in the learning stage are the ones who have achieved the path of seeing which are called Arya. They have achieved the path of seeing until the tenth bodhisattva ground. They are the true bodhisattvas or the true Sangha. That is why in the third and forth noble truth reference is made to the precious Buddha, precious Dharma and precious Sangha.


Delusion is normally the cause of our daily negative actions, which we have to overcome or eliminated. If delusion is not overcome, Karma and affliction will be accumulated by such negative actions of the body, speech and mind. One engages in negative actions because it is motivated by afflicted emotion and it is such negative actions that give one all the kinds of sufferings and unfortunate rebirth.


Sometimes we debate on whether or not it is necessary for someone, given a kind of form like a physical body to engage in negative actions? The answer obviously is no. The Buddha has a physical body too and so are the Arhats but they do not engage in negative actions and do not experience the suffering. It is physical body, that is under the power of afflicted emotion having to undergo the suffering.
Karma as we all know, is motivated by the actions of the body, speech and mind. Out of the three, the mind is normally the one dominating the afflicted emotion to cause such negative actions. What is the motivation and intention causing the body and speech to engage in negative actions? The body and speech are under the power of those intention and if we want to overcome, we have to find out what is the motivation that cause our body and speech to engage into negative actions. In this regards, when we analyse on it further, we will eventually find out that ultimately it is over grasping towards ‘self’ as supreme or we got the beginningless ignorance or delusion. These are the afflictions that really grasp and though in reality, it doesn’t exist on it’s own, but because of the grasping for ‘self’ and believing that it is ‘me’ or ‘I’ it really creates that action to lead the speech and mind to engage in negative actions. So if we have to overcome our afflicted emotion and negative actions we have to counter it by using apposite to such action. This is also applies to external element.


For example if the room temperature is too hot, adjust the thermometer of the air conditioner lower to balance the temperature, or if you find the room too dark, turn on more lights. Such is what I mean by using the opposite to counter and balance the condition for external element.


In our mental level, to counter and balance our negativities, it is almost using the same principle. The afflicted emotion is in our thoughts, and to balance it, we have to look for the apposite approach. In normal circumstances like the object of desire or object of hatred, one would generate hatred and will see the object with anger, hostility and aggressive. As a spiritual practitioner we do not want to generate that, because generating hatred, anger or hostility to that object will not give as peace. It will only distract our own emotion, especially our body, our speech and our thoughts and giving us all kinds of sufferings which is not what we want. So what we really need to counter and balance in a situation like that is to change our thoughts and emotion to compassion towards the same object of desire or hatred. Instead of generating hatred and anger we generate compassion and love towards that object. By doing so it does not only help the object of desire or hatred but also help oneself. It will help to bring peace to our mind, calmness, happiness, joyfulness and prosperity. All these are what we need and these are what we really want.


When we encounter any object of hatred or desire or delusion, the first thing in our mind is to find the apposite thought. If it is attachment, we have to apply non attachment, if it is hatred, we have to apply the apposite which is patience, if it is greed we have to apply generosity. Just apply the apposite to that thought, than you will be able to overcome the afflictions.


Afflictions cannot be overcome by running away from it, or by taking some medication or by reading or by doing something. When we do our prayers or doing meditation, we use our mind to concentrate on some virtuous object, like an enlightened being to find some wisdom from there and use it to counter our own delusion and afflicted emotion. We pray and meditate to find that wisdom and try to make a virtuous path to get out of the afflicted emotion.


The affliction emotion is every where in our body which we call the beginningless ignorance that permits all other delusion. It permits our other five senses power. Like I have earlier explained about, the picture of the pig, the rooster and the snake, which appeared in the wheel of life, the pig represents ignorance and because of it’s ignorance, wisdom is not developed to overcome it’s afflicted emotions.


Like anger for example, how can we overcome? In order to generate anger it must have an object that exist of it’s own, though it is like a misconception or wrong view but not. In order to generate anger or hatred to the object it must have the concept of existence. In a total level it seems to be the object of hatred but in the alternate view, it doesn’t exist. We are trying to accept or believing that it is existing by it’s own. That is why it is total ignorance.


Due to ignorance we believe in it’s existence and try to grasp it. If we want to overcome it, though we have other delusions of the eyes, ears, smell or hearing, the main thing we have to overcome is our ignorance, the beginningless ignorance. Once it is overcome it is like the aggregates of form. If you are able to overcome you can overcome all the other forms. That is why when you try to meditate, try to first of all stick to the main root and the rest of the branches can be easily overcome. But if you cut only the branches, it will grow again. Like hatred or anger, if you try to do something it will give rise to other things, but if you cut off the root of ignorance, it will not grow. That is the way how we normally practice.


In the case of generating compassion, it may need the object that exist not on it’s own. That object really is in the form of suffering and needed help. For that you really want to generate love and compassion.

(End of the Teaching)

[this talk was given by Lama Phuntsho on 1 November 2009

and it has transcribed by Bro HP Lim]

The Four Noble Truth (Part 3 of 4) - Dharma Talk By Lama Phuntsho

In conjunction with our Wesak celebration, we are posting this series of teaching on the Four Noble Truth. This is penultimate part.

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The Four Noble Truth (Part 3)

I have talked about the truth of suffering and the truth of the origination of suffering. Today I will talk on the realization of wisdom.


Most of the prayers and meditation we do is to enhance our love and compassion and to realize wisdom. Even Shantideva said in his guide to bodhisattva way of life that all the sub-division, that is the first five of the six perfections are explained, so that is able to understand about wisdom. Therefore, if one were to overcome the sufferings, one must achieve wisdom. In the practice of the six perfections, the first five perfections of generosity, morality, patience, enthusiastic, perseverance and concentration are explained and practice so that one can understand and gain wisdom.


It is because of wisdom that one is able to understand the wisdom realising emptiness and wisdom realising phenomena. If one were to overcome suffering, one has to achieve wisdom. Wisdom realising emptiness is the universal antidote to overcome all kinds of sufferings. Having not yet achieved the level of wisdom realising emptiness, what we practice now is to use patience to overcome hatred or practicing compassion or practicing filty, ugliness towards attachment. Such practices are confined to counter hatred or desire and not the universal antidote to all sufferings. Patience may not be the tool to practice to overcome the object of desire. Compassion which is to overcome hatred and anger may give rise to desire. Wisdom is the key to counter ignorance and delusion which are the cause of all sufferings. Some great masters even make a joke out of the 84,000 volumes of Buddha’s teachings, saying that it is because there are 84,000 kinds of delusion or 84,000 fools and required 84,000 kinds of antidotes to overcome. It sounds big and is difficult to overcome 84,000 kinds of delusion, but if one were to achieve wisdom then wisdom is the only weapon to overcome the 84,000 different kind of delusions. Meditation and prayers are to help us to achieve wisdom. There are people who think that meditation is to relax but as a buddhist, any meditation we do is to control our own thoughts, the negative thoughts or wandering mind or mental cloudiness. It is to control and still our mind at one point.


Take for example the simple meditation on breathing. By focusing on our own breathe it is helping us to focus on self. This will help to sharpen our weapon, because we are focusing our mind at one point and that is our breathe. Such meditation will help us to achieve insight and to stay calm. By staying calm it is like relaxing but actually it is not. It is actually helping us to concentrate and sharpen our mind.
This breathing meditation is simple. It is just focusing on your breathe, to exhale and inhale slowly and concentrate on the movement and count from one to ten or fifteen and then count back wards until one while concentrating on the breathe movement. When you have many thinks disturbing your mind you may sit down and try to do this meditation.


Every aspect of our practice is very important and wisdom is needed. In the practice of the first perfection of generosity, the lack of wisdom can turn it into ignorance. One may have a good heart and really want to help someone but due to lack of wisdom the good intention of helping the someone may turn out to be not a help but instead creating other problems. For example, if someone comes to you for help to give him some money to buy his basic needs to survive and you, out of generosity gave him RM 100,000.00. He may die of a heart attack or he may go crazy, or using the money to do negative actions. Such giving is not helping that person. Though your intention is good, but by giving more than needed for his basic needs, it only shows the lack of wisdom in you.


When we use our wisdom we will only give enough for his basic needs to survive, the amount the person can hold. That is why we have to balance our wisdom. Why is that person born in that form is because of his lack of merit and the lack of merit makes him unable to hold that amount. People that can hold large amount are people with high merits. To hold such energy, one has to accumulate merits. The practice of generosity has to be done with wisdom accordingly. If someone needs food, we give them food only and not giving a large sum of money, otherwise we are harming that person instead of helping him. This is how wisdom is used.


Another aspect of lack of wisdom is when you are doing good things with a good heart and when people talk negative things about your good deeds behind your back, you wonder why after, you having done so much of good deeds, people are still talking negative things behind your back. If you had the wisdom, you would not expect anything in return for your good deeds and couldn’t be bothered with what people may talk behind you. As long as your heart knows that you are doing the right thing, you don’t bother what other people may say. Different people say different things. When we do something infront of so many pairs of eyes, there is bound to be different talk. We can never make everyone happy.


Like if I make prostration to the east, some people in the west will not be happy because my face and my bowing is to the east and my back is to the west. Those in the west, who do not understand will not be happy, because I am showing them my back. We can never make everyone happy. As long as we know that we are doing the right thing with the right intention and motivation and without expecting anything in return, we are using our wisdom. When we do meditation and prayers we are sharpening our wisdom and the more we do, our wisdom will also become more sharpened. Even Buddha and Shantideva said that all other practices are also helping to enchance our wisdom, so try to meditate and pray more to enhance your wisdom.

(End of part 3)

[this talk was given by Lama Phuntsho on 25 Oct 2009

and it has transcribed courtesy of Bro HP Lim]

The Four Noble Truth (Part 2 of 4) - Dharma Talk By Lama Phuntsho

In conjunction with our Wesak celebration, we are posting this series of teaching on the Four Noble Truth. Hope you'll find it useful.

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The Four Noble Truth (Part 2)

Yesterday, I have explained a bit on the Four Noble Truth and out of the Four Noble Truth, the first truth which is the truth of suffering was explained. Today I will continue and talk on the second truth which is the truth of origination of suffering. Yesterday we talk about the three different kinds of sufferings such as suffering of suffering, suffering of change and suffering of pervasive condition of suffering. These are the three types of sufferings that we experience in our daily lives.


As we enter into a higher practice, especially Mahayana practice, we will understand that all sufferings are from the mind. Je Tsongkapa had composed a very beautiful Aphorism. On that which says “All the black and white actions or positive and negative actions are depending on your mind.” It means if your mind is positive, your actions will be positive and if your mind is negative, your action will also be negative. Therefore positive or negative actions depend on your mind condition. The Aphorism is beautifully written in Tibet like a Vowel which is a simple vocal sound, produced by continuous passage of the breath.


In Mahayana practice meditation is concentrated on the mind. If the mind is positive the realising of the path will be smooth. If the mind is negative the realising of the path will be difficult. From beginningless time we have done lots of negative actions and all such actions have accumulated negative karmas. We all know that Karma is like a seed waiting to be germinated and grow under certain condition. Without certain condition, the seed won’t grow. So those who are practicing at the higher level will understand the condition. Which is affliction, desire, anger and hatred. The moment any negative thought arises, these negative karma will also immediately arise. For this reason, the great masters never allow any negative emotion to arise. Though they too have lets of negative karmas in them, they will distance away, by way of controlling their minds.


If we have accumulated negative karmas, as long as we learn to control our mind, the negative karmas will not grow. Even if it grows, if we understand the Law of Karma, and cause and effect and practice patience and tolerance we will be able to overcome that. The negative Karma may ripen but easily faced. If we do not understand, it will be difficult to face.


As an example, let us take two persons, one is with negative thoughts and negative actions and the other one is without negative thought or action and with good karma who understands cause and effect, patience and tolerance and Dharma.


If someone were to use a knife to inflict a big wound in the hand of the person without negative thoughts or actions and with good karma who understand and practice Dharma, the pain he has to suffer is confined to only at the wound. Because he has a good heart and a good mind, there will be no distraction over the mind. He won’t get angry because of his patience and at the same time he accepts that and won’t speak or think negative and has no fear. He just accepts it as a reality. Even he is suffering in pain, there is no distraction over the three doors, body, speech and mind.


If the same wound is inflicted on the hand of the other person with negative thoughts and actions and no understanding of the Dharma, there will be lots of distractions in the mind. Maybe he is scared of dying, and thinking of negative actions like taking revenge or doing something negative. He will say all kinds of negative things and the body is filled with anger. As such the suffering of pain is not only confined to the wound but every part of the body is suffering.


When we can control our mind, it will help us to overcome any situation. If we could subdue our ignorance and try to create a good heart, we can easily face any negative thoughts and overcome any negative karma that may arise. If we do not have the spiritual value in us or a good heart, even if someone stare at us will make us angry. If someone were to utter some unpleasant words which will not cause us any harm, we will feel disturbed because of our own negative thoughts. A person with good heart will not even think about that. Great masters do have lots of negative karmas, but they use very strong antidote to prevent it from arising. They never let delusion or ignorance to arise because these are the ones ripening the negative karma. Some great beings want to overcome it by facing it and take the sufferings.


I have asked Rinpoche to take good care of his health, because I am scared that he will fall sick, but he said it is good to face it. With good spiritual understanding, the more you face it the better it is, because you can exhaust it. With good spiritual value and understanding of the Dharma, it is easy to face any negative karma. It is good to suffer when you are in the human form.


For those without Dharma knowledge when they suffer from any sickness, they can complain, maybe they will see a doctor to have it healed or even go to a lama for some prayers or do something to overcome the suffering. Along the way they will get angry as to why it has to be them suffering. Then they will generate more negativities and face more negative karmas in their next rebirth.


Those with good understanding and practice, try to balance the mind suffering. For example, if one were to suffer from something one must focus towards others who suffer even more. Make such compassion to minimize your own suffering.

His Holiness Dalai Lama was supposed to be in Bodhgaya in the year 2001 to perform the Kalachakra. The event was cancelled because he had a serious stomach pain caused maybe by an ulcer and couldn’t give the teaching. The pain was so severe that he was sweating. As he was driving trough the poorest street in India, he saw many people were suffering on the street including young children. Among them an old man was suffering without anyone to care for him. When he reached his room he couldn’t sleep because of the severe pain. His mind was constantly thinking of the old man he saw suffering on the street without anyone to care for him. Comparing himself to the old man, he found himself to be more fortunate. At least there are people taking care of him while the old man had to suffer alone. When he constantly think of that, his pain reduced.


Sometimes, my friends ask why they are facing this and that problems. I always refer to His Holiness situation and asked them to compare their problems to that of His Holiness. I asked them to visualize and compare their problems with His Holiness taking into consideration that His Holiness had lost a country, lost more than two million people and having to live in refuges camp yet having to shoulder the responsibilities of taking care of his people and culture. In spite of His Holiness having to face all these problems, there is no sign of sadness, anger or revenge shown on His face. He is ever smiling and practice compassion. By comparing our sufferings to that of His Holiness, it will help to reduce our own sufferings and we will appreciate our suffering.


Most important is we have to watch over our own thoughts. Even in our daily prayer and practice, and if you can watch over the five doors, and that is not to see negative, not to hear negative, not to smell negative, not to taste negative and not to feel negative. These are the things you have to watch through your main consciousness. Like the three doors of body, speech and mind, don’t act negative, don’t speak negative and don’t think negative. Watch through your mind constantly and that is the true practice. Why we do daily prayer is to watch our own mind and not to let it to have any negative thoughts. When we meditate or do our prayer every morning, we pray to do our best to watch over our mind and not to get into any negative thought. In the evening, before going to sleep, we sit down to meditate. If we had done good things we rejoice and make dedication and if we had done negative things, we confess and purify.

(End of part 2)

[this talk was given by Lama Phuntsho on 19 Oct 2009

and it has transcribed courtesy of Bro HP Lim]

The Four Noble Truth (Part 1 of 4) - Dharma Talk By Lama Phuntsho

The Four Noble Truth (Day One)

Today I will talk on the Four Noble Truth. When Buddha Sakyamuni gained enlightenment, for 49 days he did not give any teaching. The first teaching he gave ofter that is the Four Noble Truth. From that teaching, it represents Buddha’s teachings from the very foundation to the highest tantric level. The Four Noble Truth is taught in three ways. The first one is to explain the basic or fundamental of the Four Noble Truth, then the path and the fruit Buddha taught on the truth of Suffering, the truth on the Origin of Suffering, the truth of the Cessation of Suffering and the truth of the Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering. These are the basic Four Noble Truth explaining the various kinds of Sufferings, the various kinds of Origination of Suffering, the various kinds of Cessation of Suffering and the various Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering.

In the same version, the truth of suffering must be recognised, the truth of origination of suffering must be eliminated, the truth of the cessation of suffering must be achieved. To achieve that one must follow the path leading to the cessation of suffering. One can overcome that by practicing.

The Four Noble Truth is also taught in another way. The truth of suffering must be recognised, but there is nothing to recognise, the truth of origination of suffering must be eliminated but there is nothing to eliminate, the truth of cessation of suffering must be achieved but there is nothing to achieve, the truth of the path has to be practiced but there is nothing to practice. This is emptiness which is the ultimate achievement. It will be difficult to understand if I were to explain it in brief.

The second way shows how it functions and the third way is the fruit. Today we only go into the Truth of Suffering. In the truth of suffering, there are many types of sufferings, but today we will only talk about the three major types of sufferings which we normally experience in our daily lives. The suffering of sufferings which we all experience are headache, stomach pain etc. the second type of suffering is the suffering of change. Due to our greed and attachment, we think we will feel happy if we could get the something we wanted but things changed and we couldn’t get what we wanted, so we suffer and that is the suffering of change. When I feel cold in the house, I want to get out of the house to get some sunshine, thinking that the sunshine will relieve me of the cold. If it is only for a moment under the sun my coldness may be relieved but over a long period of time I may get burnt and then experience suffering. Such thinking is contaminated and never been a true source of happiness. When the degree of cold is higher than the heat we feel cold and suffer from cold but that doesn’t mean there is no heat, just that the heat is lower. When the degree of heat is higher we will also suffer. That is why we say there is no two souces of happiness in this contaminate world. It is subject to change in it’s form. Because of our ignorance, we think that we will be happy if we grasp at something we like but at the end it only gives us more sufferings. It is our hatred, desire, attachment, and ignorance the major delusion that trick us to think that it will make us happy, but it changes into sufferings instead. The nature of attachment and desire is never be satisfied. If we try to add more to it, it only can grow. So the nature of desire is never be satisfied and hatred is the same. The more we express our hatred the more it grows. Like fire, it we use more gas or more wood it will grow bigger and bigger. That is why we have to control that and we have to practice contentment and patience in order to control it. That is the suffering of change.

The third way is pervasive conditioning suffering which is the one that we really suffers. As long as we have the physical body we cannot run away from that, because our whole body is born out of the influence of our karma. This itself is a form of suffering. So, the suffering of suffering, the suffering of change and the pervasive conditioning suffering are the three major sufferings. Who lead us to these three sufferings is the five poisons out of which three are major poison. The five poison are ignorance, anger, hatred, desire and attachment. In the wheel of life, a picture is seen in the centre showing a pig, a snake and a rooster. Pig represents ignorance, snake represents hatred and anger and rooster represents desire and attachment. It is drawn in such a manner that the tails of the snake and rooster are coming out from the pig’s mouth, as if the snake and rooster are eater by the pig. Actually they are intertwined, going round and round, which means the ignorance of the pig can give rise to desire and hatred and from desire hatred can arise and from hatred, desire can arise.

Ignorance or sometime is called beginning-less ignorance or unknowing afflicted emotion but is actually not unknown, is the cause of suffering. In order to overcome such suffering, we need to have the wisdom. There are two ways to overcome such sufferings. We have to go back to dependent origination. The first is acceptable by all Buddhists in general which is base on dependent origination through cause and effect. Everything arises is due to cause and effect including Karma. Because of Karma the suffering of delusion arise. Karma as we all know arise out of our own action, the result or fruit of our actions. Negative actions produce negative Karma and if we cut down negative actions, negative Karmas will also reduced accordingly. To overcome sufferings, we need to learn more about dependent origination. Dependent origination base on cause and effect is accepted by all schools of Buddhism and when you practice higher into Mahayana and Vajrayana, the same dependent origination is turned to dependent designation, depending on each other like part and parcel, and become interrelated dependent origination. Dependent origination base on cause and effect will enable one to understand the meaning of emptiness and also impermanence. If one were to meditate on dependent origination on cause and effect, one will find the meaning of impermanence because if you get deeper and deeper until one reaches at a very subtle level of cause and effect it will show that cause is not creating the effect as a result of impermanence, but the very cause itself has the potential to be impermanence. When you mention cause and effect, it is as if the main cause is producing the effect and that is impermanence. When we think about impermanence base on cause and effect and really go deeper to analyse it, the very cause itself has the potential to exhaust in the very moment, not in a subtle moment. Meditation will help us to understand that we should not create negativities to suffer, so we should not get attached, because we know the very cause itself is impermanence and only an illusion helping us, to engage in negative actions.

The second way to meditate is on interdependent. Everything exists depending on something and nothing exists on it’s own. It is interrelated. For example “myself”, it is not related to cause and effect but interrelated to my aggregates of form and perception. All my five aggregates, such as aggregates of consciousness and combination of senses of the eyes, ears, nose, tonque, body and mind which are all interdependent. Such is not dependent origination on cause and effect. It is interdependent and finally it is called me.

When I crave for something, that craving is interrelated to my desire of an illusion. The object of desire is illusion. Because of my desire and attachment it leads me to crave for something which is only illusionary and will not give me the real happiness because it is contaminated. It is ignorance that cause one action to arise and leading to another action which are interrelated. One must cut down one’s ignorance, because at the end it is only inherent phenomena.

On the subject of suffering, Buddha taught in different ways, but in general it is base on dependent origination of cause and effect. The higher you practice, this same topic become dependent designation or interrelated or dependent origination. Try on your own to analyse and go further into it.

(end of Day 1)

[this talk was given by Lama Phuntsho on 17 Oct 2009

and it has transcribed courtesy of Bro HP Lim]