Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Starting from a classic sūtra verse — “Do not perform any evil deed; practice only virtues; subdue your mind” — Geshe Pema Tsering gives a clear introduction to Buddhist ethics in this 76-minute open-house talk. He walks through the ten non-virtuous actions (three physical: killing, stealing, sexual misconduct; four verbal: lying, divisive speech, gossip, harsh speech; three mental: covetousness, harmful intent, wrong views), explaining why mental actions are the root — verbal and physical misconduct always follow from states like attachment and hatred. He traces how covetousness spirals into anger and harmful conduct, contrasts saṃsāra’s unstable pleasures with genuine liberation, and closes by stressing personal responsibility: prayer alone cannot produce happiness; each person must create the causes themselves. A short Q&A clarifies how the ten virtues are simply the abandonment of each corresponding non-virtue. Suited to newcomers with no prior Buddhist background.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2008 04 20 Jampa Gendun – Geshe Pema Tsering Open House.mp3
UUID: 108238b9-9d1d-4f27-9697-da7b8d9117ef
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: z Unallocated multiple years (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2008-04-20
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 76.5 minutes
Words: ~2,437
So we have all these various representations. We need to remind us that these these paintings These these these, I guess, these kind of strange looking patches. These are Tibetan texts. So it’s like a bookcase. Tibetan texts This is called a stupa or a Tibetan church.
It’s a speech, and a a an actual form, the image of the Buddha represents the body of the Buddha. The speech is represented by the text, and the mind is represented by the stupa. So this is the way, Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. So so the Geshe was asked to give a very brief and introductory talk to all of you. And if that is the case, Geshe-la is quoting a very popular verse from the sutras which says, Do not perform any evil deed. Practice only virtues and pacify your mind, subdue your mind. This is the teaching of the Buddha.
And then so then why is it that we are told not to engage in any negativity, in any negative action, in any harmful action, and engage instead on on wholesome actions? And the reason it comes down to the fact that we all want happiness and we do not wish for any suffering. Happiness of It comes as a result of engaging wholesome action and and suffering comes as a result of engaging in negative harmful actions. So then then we all need happiness. And in order to accomplish, to obtain every excellent thing, we need excellent causes.
And accomplishment of virtuous activities, wholesome activities, and the abandonment and the arresting of unwholesome, hurtful activities, harmful activities, is accomplished by the mind. And then then if we leave if we were to leave our minds to its own devices and and do whatever is that comes to mind, then we wouldn’t be able to accomplish those wholesome activities, and we’re we’re most likely engaging in wholesome activities. And so we need to guard our minds. We need to watch over our minds. We need to see what is going on in our minds.
And that’s and that’s why And so then in this way, have to watch over our minds and subdue our minds in this way, pacify our minds in this way. And this is then what the teaching of the Buddha is. This is what the Buddha taught us so that we can accomplish happiness. And when we’re talking about the negativities or these unwholesome or harmful actions, generally speaking, we’re talking about the ten non virtues. And the abandonment of these ten non virtues amount to the ten virtues.
So we have we have three physical non-virtues. We have four non virtues of speech and, again, three mental non virtues of thought. So then as for the the the three physical non virtues, the three non virtues of body, we have killing, sexual misconduct, and stealing or taking what is not given. So if we perform those any of these actions because they are non-virtues or harmful actions, then as a result of these actions, we experience suffering. Yes.
Yes. And then as for the the verbal non virtues, the non virtues of speech, we have four. We have lying, divisive speech, gossiping or or meaningless talk, and harsh speech. And then as for the three non virtues of mind, of thought, we have we have covetousness, harmful intent. These ten, they are called and you heard the gesture saying that they’re called las, and las is translated from Sanskrit as karma. They are the ten karmas, the ten non virtuous karmas.
And and in English, you translate that as actions. Ten non-virtuous actions. And of these different karmas, of these different actions of physical, verbal, and mental actions, the main ones, the principal ones, are the mental actions because verbal and the physical actions will always follow after the mental actions. And Geshe-la was saying, so if if attachment or hatred were to arise in one’s mind, then out of that attachment and hatred, we will engage in in in such non-virtues as killing or sexual misconduct and so forth. So, Geshe lah, again, emphasizes that the actions or these these physical karmas or these verbal karmas, they all come under the power of mental karma, of mental actions.
They are, so to speak, the slaves servants of the mind. Geshe-la is taking, for example, covetousness, which is one of the three non virtues of thought. So covetousness arises out of of attachment, attachment for something, for an object and and or or or something else. And Geshe-la says, this attachment arises, we think to ourselves, I must obtain this. I must have this.
And and and out of this, we we engage in in other actions. Then out of that covetousness, we and out of that striving to obtain whatever it is that we are coveting, if we do not if we are unable to obtain, then we will get angry. And we will and eventually, harmful intent, which is the second of of the non virtues of thought or the mental non-virtues will arise, and we will bear a grudge. That person hurt me. That person did bad things to me or whatever, and and we will try to to hurt that person instead of us.
And then and then out of out of out of that state of mind, in order to try to obtain whatever it is that we are coveting, we might engage in in such activities as stealing or taking what what is not given and and lying and and so forth. So we engage in all sorts of activities because of that. This one. Yes. Then on the other on the other hand, if you if we are able to give up those ten non virtuous activities, then that amounts to the ten virtuous actions.
The ten virtuous actions come down to actions giving up the ten non virtuous actions. So then very very briefly, our practice, what what it comes down to is giving up the ten non virtues and practicing the ten virtues. And then if we are able to to practice in this way, to abandon, to give up the ten non virtuous actions and and practice the ten virtuous actions instead, then in this this life, we will be able to experience benefit and happiness as a result of that. And again, in future lives, we will experience the happy results of high rebirths as either humans or gods or goddesses and also liberation and enlightenment as a result of that. And Geshe-la is illustrating and asking us to think about it.
If we were to know a person, an individual who does not engage in any of those non virtuous actions and a person who is not affected by attachment, anger, pride, and so forth, we all all of us would would actually like that person, wouldn’t we? So we can see how we we can actually benefit in this very life and in future lives, also the happiness of higher rebirths as as in in humans as humans or gods or the happiness of liberation enlightenment also comes in dependence on on giving up the ten non virtuous actions. And then on the other hand, if we engage in the ten non virtuous actions, if we engage in them how can I say? If we perform perform any of those actions with very strong intensity or to a very high degree or very strong degree, then what we experience as a result of that is a rebirth in the lowest of the suffering realms of existence, which is one of the hell realms. If we practice any of those actions with an average intensity, then again we experience rebirth, generally speaking, in the realm of what is called the hungry ghosts.
And if we practice any of those non virtuous actions with a very small intensity, then, again, we experience rebirth as animals. So generally speaking, the psychological framework says that if we abandon the ten non virtues and engage in the what are the ten virtues, then we experience the results of that as a rebirth as gods, humans, or demigods. So then says that there are many, very many spiritual practices. But if we want to be brief, they all can be subsumed into this very simple practice of everything that we need to adopt. All beneficial activities that we need to adopt are included in giving up the ten non-virtues.
And all the harmful activities that we need to give up are included, again, in abandoning the ten non-virtuous. So then all for example, Geshe-la is then again illustrating our our human rebirth, this this human body that we have attained right now, we came in dependence on on engaging, on having practiced the ten virtuous actions of abandoning the of giving up the ten non-virtues. And and so all everything that we experience in this life comes as a result of having engaged in either virtuous actions, non virtuous actions, or what is called also neutral actions. So then in in Buddhism, in in in the Buddhist philosophy, in the Buddhist teachings, this is what is referred to again, you heard the the Geshe saying, karma, what we know as karma, which is in English, it’s simply translated as actions, activities. So everything that we experience experiencing now is arising as a result of having performed actions in the path of our past karma.
And Gesela briefly explains, again, Gesela mentioned there are virtuous actions and non virtuous actions, and there are also neutral actions. So neutral actions are those actions which are neither virtuous nor non virtuous. As a result of neutral actions, you neither get happiness nor suffering. You get neutral results. likewise.
So then we have, again, virtuous actions, non virtuous actions, and neutral actions. And the result of respectively, the result of each one of them is happiness, suffering, and neutral results. likewise. Likewise. And then Geshe-la points out to the fact that we do not actually know what we refer to as actual real happiness.
We think of all these experiences that we experience, all these experiences that we have within Samsāra, within the cycle of existence, we think of them as as being as being actual happiness, but they are not real happiness. And they are not real happiness. They’re not actual happiness in that they they they do not last. Those experiences do not last. They are not in the they do not have the essence or the nature of happiness itself.
So they do not last. The only lasting happiness that we can experience, we we can only experience that when we attain liberation and enlightenment. And we experience we experience something which is stable, isn’t changing, and and is in the nature of happiness. And Geshe-la says, with regards to attaining liberation, this this which gives us this lasting happiness is something which is very difficult to attain. It doesn’t come easy.
Even even the the simple practice of giving up the ten non-virtues is already difficult enough for us. So and and liberation itself, it doesn’t come it will come only with a lot of hard study, a lot of meditation, a lot of a lot of effort effort in order to attain it. So we have been talking about all these virtuous, non-virtuous and neutral actions, and and and happiness and suffering and all that. And Geshe-la was saying in within the Buddhist teachings, the Buddhist understanding, it it will not suffice to merely pray to the Buddha and ask him to give us happiness. That doesn’t work.
And then what we we what we do what we have to do in this what we understand that we need to do is if we want to experience happiness and we not want to experience any suffering, is engage in the causes, those actions which are the causes of happiness. We have to give up the ten non-virtues, and we have to avoid the causes of suffering. Again, we have to give up the ten non virtues. And this is what the Buddha how the Buddha himself taught. He said that this is this is this is the way to happiness.
This is how I practice. This is how I I attain my enlightenment. If you want that result, you have to practice. You have to act in the same way, likewise. So, again, we because we all want happiness and we do not want any suffering, in order to accomplish happiness, we we we have to we have to see for it for for ourselves.
We have to do it ourselves. We have to engage in ways to accomplish happiness for ourselves. And, again, in order to avoid suffering, we have to see it for ourselves. We have to engage in ways. We ourselves have to engage in ways to avoid it.
Geshe-la is quoting a verse. So then, again, we have to we have to act for ourselves. We have to take responsibility and act for ourselves. And Geshe-la is quoting a verse, I am my own refuge. So, again, if I want to accomplish happiness for myself, I have to do it.
If I want to accomplish if I want to avoid suffering, I have to engage in ways to avoid it. And that’s it. Question? If if you have do do you have any questions that you would like to ask? We have a few minutes.
Do you have any questions? With respect, you basically So, I guess, I’ll explain it. We have what is generally understood as the three doors of body, speech, and mind. And through these three doors, we perform what is generally divided into the ten non virtues. The three non virtues of body, the four non virtues of speech, and the three non virtues of mind.
And the abandonment of each one of those are called the ten virtues. So you have the ten non-virtues, and the abandonment of each one of them is called the ten virtues. And that’s what it’s referred to. So abandonment of killing is is called we have the the virtue, which is the abandonment of killing. The virtue, which is the abandonment or or the giving up of sexual misconduct.
The the virtue, which is the abandonment of taking what is not given, of stealing. The virtue, which is the giving up of lying and so forth. This is how we we we posit them. Yeah. They’re okay?
Any more questions?