Sun Radiance: Thought Transformation, 27 March 1990, part 2

The next commitment is to give up poisonous food. On the one hand, eating good food, that is to say food is unmixed with poison, provides our body with nutrients that helps it to grow, gives it strength, and provides for a long life. On the other hand, the food which is mixed with poison is not only not beneficial for the body, it causes sickness, and actually harms our life, and can cause death. So this this is analogous to in the case of eating a good food which provides nutrients and strength, and provides for a long life. Analogous to the practices of listening, contemplating, meditating.

For example, through the process of developing the awakening heart that all of the great qualities will arise, that we will have happiness now and in future that all of these benefits, it is as if eating very wholesome food. And the other half of the analogy is just as in the case of food which is mixed with poison brings harm to the body, prevents a long life, and in fact can bring about our death. When our practice is mixed with the poisons of the eight worldly dharmas or the the eight preoccupations of ego oriented existence is mixed with self centeredness, with self-clinging, then this harms our training in mind practice. Harms our practice of mind training. For example, it will prevent the development, the development of the awakening heart, its maintenance, and its development higher and higher.

It it acts as an obstruction by this poisoned food, this poisoned practice. So our practice should be not mixed with these poisonous substances, the self centeredness and self clinging. And these eight principles, or these eight preoccupations of the ego, are the principles of loss and gain, pleasure and pain, praise and blame, fame and infamy. And that the reason that these poison our practice is that their sole function is in seeking happiness of only this life, and therefore they poison our practice. So it would be good if if you have brought or if in the future you could bring this translation of the root text of the seven point mind training.

Previously, the words were there was extended commentary on all the various words. So the the we didn’t refer to the text very often. But now going through these commitments and going through the guidelines will be will be referring to it quite often. So if you had it in front of you, it would be useful. So if you don’t have it then in in the future, it would be good to bring as we go along.

You could be looking at the at the lines as stated in translated in the text itself and be understanding what this is what this means this is what this means and it would help your understanding in this way. It would be beneficial. Then the next commitment is don’t rely on consistency. Don’t rely on consistency. And this involves that when one has been harmed by others not forgetting that harm but in fact holding a grudge and waiting for an opportunity to return that harm.

The way in which we’re training in mind training is developing compassion and love. And if we hold this type of grudge waiting for an opportunity to return harm, we will never develop these qualities of compassion and love that they will never develop. So, if we have to rid ourselves of these grudges, we have to destroy them. So this is holding grudges this way as an obstacle to the development of compassion and love. Then the next commitment is don’t be excited by cutting remarks. And this is that we should not hurl hurtful words at others as we would a weapon types of words which would harm others that are cutting types of words which would cause which would harm other the other person’s mind which would bring them almost an illness of their mind that we should refrain from such types of speech. Then the next commitment is don’t wait in ambush. Don’t wait in ambush.

And this would be the in response to another person’s harm one holds a grudge but does not make it obvious in any way that waiting for the opportunity one bides one’s time until the right time comes. And then you spring it on him and saying that you did this to me in the past and you did this and this and this and and seeing that this is the time when you can hurt them in some way with speech, and that one should refrain from such holding a grudge and waiting for an ambush. So, the reason that we should refrain refrain from such types of actions are that we it will prevent the development of love. That in our practice with trying to develop the exchange of self for others that we will it would our practice will degenerate. That it will actually destroy our practice, and therefore is a great fall.

The next commitment is don’t make things painful. And this would be to refrain from harming others motivated under the influence of negative motivation in the sense of that when one is under the influence of negative motivation such as attachment and hatred to speak of others faults citing that you did this in the past, were a thief, you stole, that you did all these various types of negative actions, etcetera, etcetera previously in such a way as to harm them, to try to cause cause them pain under the influence of a negative motivation, under the influence of a negative emotion and motivation. The the next commitment is in in this text, it says in this translation, says, don’t put the horse’s load on a pony. Don’t put the horse’s load on a pony. But the the literal translation is don’t put the load of an ox on a zo.

No. Don’t put the the load of a zo on an ox. Don’t put the low load of a zo onto an ox. And what so an example of what this means is that if if it were the case that two people killed a third person but one of them was quite clever and he said that no I’m innocent, didn’t have anything to do with it, it’s this person that did the killing. Then he would be placing the blame on his companion, and this would be putting the load of the zo onto the ox.

So this is analogy to in Tibet there was one animal called a zo. A zo is extremely strong animal and if you were, and they carry a great deal of weight. And if you were to take that weight that a zo could carry and put it on an ox, which was much weaker, then it would it would would be a tremendous burden for that ox to carry. So the meaning of this is that in the case where there is some common work to be done to be shared equally between a number of people but one person quite cleverly shifts the burden of the work to another and and it saying that this person will do the work, then this is the meaning of what we are not to do. So this this is So this isn’t this way of acting isn’t fair.

It’s not in accordance with the law of cause and effect. The next commitment is don’t aim to win. Don’t aim to win. And and and the this the meaning of this commitment is that there may if there were a situation where you yourself and another person did some type of work very well. And another person saw that, you know, that you did a work in common with another person and you did really a great job.

And another person was praised you, so you’ve you’ve done a great job here. You’ve really done some great work. And in order to impress that person, one of the two very cleverly, before the other one can say anything said, oh I did that. Then this this is what we are to refrain from. Taking the credit solely upon oneself for work done in common.