Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 45-minute talk, Geshe Sonam Rinchen completes his teaching on the second of the Six Perfect Qualities by examining ethics as the foundation for spiritual development. After briefly recapping generosity, he establishes why ethics matters: without it, even generous practitioners can be reborn as animals, unable to generate further spiritual practice. He then explores three kinds of ethics: restraint from the ten unwholesome actions (physical, verbal, and mental), engagement in constructive conduct, and service to others’ welfare. A central section details the four counteracting measures for purifying past misdeeds—taking refuge, genuine regret, resolute commitment not to repeat, and engaging in positive conduct—illustrating how even serious negative actions can be completely purified. He shares the Kadampa method of tallying daily positive and negative thoughts with white and black stones, and offers practical examples of wholesome action in daily life: helping travellers, consoling the grieving, advising the confused. The teaching emphasises that ethical practice is accessible and applicable anywhere, without requiring special conditions or ascetic extremes.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 03 6PQ.mp3
UUID: 543e905a-9938-41f2-a9a7-29c2ba0c8934
Teacher: Geshe Sonam Rinchen
Collection: The Six Perfect Qualities (Geshe Sonam Rinchen)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 45.8 minutes
Words: ~4,310
We were talking about generosity. And when we were talking about the practices that you can do in imagination, that was particularly meant for when we are doing a meditation session. When we’re trying to do a meditation session, session, is how we can train ourselves to think more generously, to develop a more generous attitude. And then when we are not in meditation session, we should see how we can implement the three kinds of generosity. Even just reciting a mantra once, like, reciting that to an animal, even even that is giving the Dharma, the generosity of the dharma.
Even from something small like that right to much more elaborate forms of generosity, We should try to do whatever is within our capacity, whatever we can do to train ourselves. It’s not a question of giving away everything one has. You know, that’s not going to be good because you’re going to probably regret having given away too much. So we have to begin by doing what we can, but at the same time try to extend our perspective. So we begin by doing what comes easily, what is possible for us to do.
And then we gradually enhance our practice, but at the same time you should think in a big way. We ourselves won’t be here for very long because we’re going to die. Since we’re going to die, since we’re not going to always be around to have our possessions, it’s pointless to be so attached to them, and it’s really constructive if we can give away some of our things before we actually have to, before we have to let go of them, if we can let go of them voluntarily. So this is just a small synopsis of the practice of generosity and we come next to the practice of ethics. So just as the earth is the basis for both humans and animals and for trees and buildings and so on, it forms the foundation for both living things, animate things, and for the inanimate.
Similarly, the practice of ethics forms the basis for all further spiritual developments so that concentration and the development of wisdom, the development of all higher qualities is based on the practice of ethics. The practice of ethics forms the foundation. If, for example, we practice generosity and practice a lot of generosity, but fail to practice ethics, we’ll take birth as something like a naga. Or like an animal, maybe you can think of a dog that has a particular good situation, a palace dog, something like that, that has everything it could possibly need or want. So you won’t be able to achieve a human rebirth, but you’ll have a very, very good animal rebirth.
In other words, you have lots of resources, everything that you could possibly require in that animal rebirth. So the problem then is although that animal enjoys everything that it could possibly need, because it didn’t practice ethics, it was born as an animal rebirth. Because the practice of ethics yields a human rebirth and so on, but if you fail to practice ethics, then you can’t achieve such a rebirth. So we say that even such an animal rebirth is an unfortunate rebirth. And the thing is that why it’s so unfortunate is that an animal, no matter how comfortable it is, it won’t be able to generate thoughts of practicing generosity again.
So it won’t think, it won’t be able to think of practicing generosity towards others. So an animal can’t practice ethics and an animal can’t practice generosity. And because it can’t practice generosity in any sort of really effective way. So since it can’t practice generosity, it can’t accumulate the causes for enjoying resources in future and so it can accumulate neither of the two causes we need if we’re to have a worthwhile human rebirth and utilize the fruits of our practice of generosity in a good rebirth. In other words in a human rebirth.
That’s the aim. And in order to attain such a rebirth one needs to practice ethics. So what do we call the practice of ethics? It means the attitude of practicing restraint from everything that harms other living creatures. So that’s the practice of ethics.
There are three kinds of ethics: ethics of restraint from harmful action, ethics which collect all kinds of constructive action, and ethics which are the work for the welfare of others. So when we talk about the activity of restraining from harmful action. This applies primarily to vows that we’ve taken. So some people have taken bodhisattva vows, some people have taken ordination vows. So if one has taken those kinds of vows, then keeping those vows is called restraining from action which harms.
And also restraint from the ten kinds of unwholesome actions if one is a layman and doesn’t have any of these other vows, for example. Restrained from these ten kinds of unwholesome actions also counts as the practice of ethics which restrain from harming others. If you’re somebody with ordination vows, whether you’re, you know, a novice, a novice monk or nun or if you have layman’s vows you should constantly be examining to see whether you have infringed any of these vows whether you’ve created any transgressions So for ordained people or people who have specific vows then they constantly have to check up whether they have transgressed any of those vows and prevent themselves from transgressing them. They have that to relate to. Most of us don’t have such specific vows, maybe we don’t hold such vows, then we should constantly check our three doors.
So in other words we should check our body, physical actions, we should check our verbal actions and our mental activities at all times to see what’s going on. Yeah. Yeah. So when we look at the physical aspect, we we need to examine whether or not we’re killing, stealing, taking what doesn’t actually belong to us or committing some kind of sexual conduct which is not constructive. So we need to examine constantly whether we are involved in anything like that.
So those are the three physical activities which are most harmful and then you know all everything fits in somewhere within there right so those are the three that we need to bother about most when it comes to physical activities and then when it comes to verbal activities and we need to look to see whether we’re lying, whether we’re using abusive or harsh or hard language, and then we need to see whether we’re causing division, whether we’re causing division dissension, and finally, we need to see whether we’re gossiping. And then finally we need to examine the three that are connected with the mind to see whether in any way we’re involved with them. And that is covetousness. So it could be desiring anything that isn’t actually yours. And harmful intentions of any kind, and really wrong views, very strongly prejudiced views, for example, against the possibility of their being cause and effect, against possibility of former and later lives.
If one has a very strong prejudice against that, that counts as a wrong view which can act as a great obstacle for one’s development. So there was a great tradition among the ancient Kadampa masters in Tibet. And what they did was they would keep count, they kept tally during the day of their positive thoughts and of their negative thoughts. And they’d have a little heap of white stones and a little heap of black stones. And for every positive thought, there’d be a little white stone.
And for every negative one they would move out a little black one. And then at the end of the day they would see how it stood. And then if it looked good at the end of the day and there were more white stones than black stones, then they congratulate themselves, feel happy about what they had achieved during the day and think that they’ll try to do even better the next day. And if there were more black ones, then they try to go through the day and remember what those black ones were for, what kind of black thing it was, whether it was something physical or something mental. So they try to recall what it was.
And then what they do is they having remembered, having recalled or identified what those negative activities were, they would feel really genuinely sorry for them and then determine in their next meditation session to purify those right away by applying four counteractive measures. If one is able to identify and accept something non constructive that one has done, if one is able to accept that one has done it, recognize it as something non constructive, and if one then applies these four counteractive measures, there isn’t anything negative which cannot be purified in this way. Some people carry around an enormous burden of guilt about some things that they’ve done in the past, and it makes them very unhappy. It’s true that if you have done something in the past, it’s constructive to regret it. If it was something destructive, if it was something unwholesome, it’s good to regret it.
But it’s not good if you carry this enormous burden of guilt and it really troubles your mind and makes you unhappy. That’s not constructive. So what one needs to do then is to allow oneself to feel that regret, that sincere regret strongly, and then apply the counteractive measures as forcefully as possible, as energetically as possible. There’s nothing, there’s no negative action that can resist that counteraction, that antidote. It’s possible to completely wipe out the negative imprints caused by that action so that one will definitely not experience the fruit of the action, if one applies these counteractive measures correctly.
And it’s possible if one isn’t quite so effective in applying the counteractive measures That takes a lot of strength and energy. So if one isn’t quite so good at applying the counteractive measures, then instead of not experiencing the fruit at all, one may experience the fruit in this life in the form of some sickness, little sickness, or maybe headache, you know, something small, small problems. So you experience the fruit in that form rather than having to actually experience what would have been the full fruit. If we are true Dharma practitioners, people who are really trying to gain spiritual insights, trying to put the teachings into practice and so on. We shouldn’t feel discouraged if we get sick, if small obstacles manifest.
So we should see it as a fortunate circumstance which has spared us the trouble of having to experience the result of negative actions in a later life. That somehow we can experience the results of negative actions now and that then we’ll be rid of them because the momentum of those negative actions has been exhausted. We should also think about people who are doing a whole lot of bad things, who seem to be just involved in doing bad things and who seem to be having quite a good time. Remember that the fruit of what they are doing now, they are going to be experiencing later. So it’s inevitable because of the way things are, because negative energy gives a negative fruit.
Negative action fruits in something something negative. Therefore, they are bound to experience that in a later life. So what a practitioner or somebody on the spiritual path has to do is constantly be aware of what’s going on, up and try to prevent oneself from doing anything which is not constructive, doing anything which is unwholesome. And then if you can’t help it and you do do something which is not so good, which is unwholesome or destructive in some way, then you must immediately take measures to purify it, to get rid of it. And when we do experience bad events, when things go wrong, we should feel happy.
We should feel happy that the momentum of previous negative actions is coming to an end. That those previous negative actions that we performed in other lives or earlier in this life are fruiting and coming to an end. Since we are now trying very hard not to create more negative actions, not creating more negative and unwholesome actions, The negative momentum is coming to an end and we’ll be able to enjoy more positive situations in future because we’re creating the causes for them now and the creation of their causes now is within our own power. These four counteractive measures which are so effective, if we have a brief look at them. The first one is the power of the reliance or basis.
Why do we call this the power of the basis? Well, everything that we do, any negative action we do is either directed against the Three Jewels, against the Buddha, the teachings and the spiritual community or against other living creatures. So it belongs to one of these two camps. So anything negative which is done in relation to the Three Jewels, to purify that, one takes refuge. One takes refuge, I mean, it has to be done sincerely.
So by taking sincere refuge, in other words seeking direction, entrusting oneself to the Three Jewels, one purifies any negative action created in relation to the Three Jewels and by generating the altruistic attitude, the altruistic wish for enlightenment one purifies negative action created in relation to other living creatures. And the second one is the power of regret. So that’s the first power, the power of the basis or reliance. And then there’s the power of regret. The power of regret means that you sincerely regret, that you are sincerely sorry that you did it.
And it’s just like if you had taken poison, if you weren’t aware that you had taken some poison, you would be really sorry when you found out. Just imagine three people went off to a restaurant for a nice night out. One of them, they all had got some food poisoning, you know. They’d all eaten the same food. And one of them was already dead from food poisoning.
And one was in the hospital dying. And then the third one is really worried and really feels sorry that he went out for that evening with the other two. Yeah. The third person would be doing everything possible to make sure that he wasn’t going to get very ill. Then you also need the next counter action which is the power of the promise.
In other words, you must resolve not to do it again. So if you’d been out to that restaurant, you’d probably never ever go back there again. So you’d obviously determine never to go back in there again. So in that same way, we must be make sure make sure feel certain that we don’t ever want to do that thing again. There is one more left, the fourth one, which is the power of counteracting behavior.
Counteracting behavior in the six different kinds of activity that you can undertake. If you apply all four of these countermeasures, all of these powers or antidotes, then there’s no doubt that you can purify any negative action no matter how serious. So when it comes to this action, the behavior which acts as a counteractive measure, then there are all sorts of activities that one can undertake depending on what one is personally drawn to. So some people recite the names of Buddhas. And some people recite mantras like or Tārā’s mantra or Chenrezig’s mantra, the Buddhist mantra.
So people can recite mantras if that’s something that they feel drawn to. And somebody recite some people recite sutras. And something that we can very easily recite is the Heart Sūtra, which is short and has been translated into English. Yeah. And some people have statues or paintings made of of Buddha or of of meditational deities or so on, or they give them new clothes or have the faces repainted, things like that.
So, you know, it’s something to do with keeping the statues beautiful. You know? And then you can also recite, there is a mantra which has hundred syllables for purification. You can recite that mantra or you can recite your Guru’s name mantra. There are all sorts of positive The basic point here is that you undertake some positive action which creates positive energy, something connected with the Dharma.
If you are a follower of Buddhism, you undertake some action which is connected with the Dharma to create positive energy. And then the most effective means of all, meditating on emptiness. There is a core of people who come here regularly to do various practices like Chenrezig practice and so on when they are reciting mantras. Even if you can’t get time to do mantras every day, when you come here once a week, you just try to remember what you’ve done, the good things and then maybe also the bad things. And if you feel that you’re going to apply this as a counter action to some of those negative things, negative thoughts or negative actions or words, that can be really effective.
It’s again, it’s really good because if you’ve done good things all week, if you’ve been constructive, then when you come, you can feel really pleased with yourself and you can feel sort light. If not, if you have a little account of bad things that you’ve done, then there’s something that you can do about it. It doesn’t have to weigh on you forever. You can do something about it and when you do the mantras and if you really feel sorry about the things that you did and if you feel that you’re going to try not to do it again and so I mean in that way you can purify it and then when you leave you can feel light, can feel you’ve got rid of a burden. These practices are not very complicated or elevated practices from one point of view.
They don’t demand a sort of great asceticism or any great intellectual effort. These are the practices of a real Dharma practitioner. Why is it so important to get rid of these negative things? Because negative energy, negative actions, negative energy produce suffering, produce problems, difficulties and suffering. We don’t want any of those.
We don’t want the suffering, we don’t want problems, we don’t want any of that stuff. So the thing is it’s important to get rid of the causes and to establish the causes for pleasant experiences, for So we’ve been talking about how to get rid of negative things you’ve already done. But then, you know, we often have negative emotions just hanging around, you know. And so if you have desire, an attachment, particularly desire, more lust, then it’s very useful to think about ugliness. Yeah.
So to meditate on ugliness and if you’ve got a lot of anger and aggression, you need to meditate on love. And in this way we can deal with the overt or manifest negative emotions. One doesn’t deal with them at their deepest level, but at least one deals with them in such a way that they’re not going to assert themselves into active form. And if one at the same time tries to restrain from doing all these different kinds of unwholesome things, one is able to maintain pure ethics, a pure ethical standard of conduct. If one tries this for a while, one will definitely see some tangible results from practicing.
And there’ll be tangible results, results that are tangible for oneself and visible to others too. This is important when we are in our daily lives, wherever we are, wherever we are, we can implement these things. It’s really easy to implement them wherever you are. You don’t have to be in a special place to do it. That’s why Geshe-la always says pay attention to your daily life, to what you’re doing in your daily life.
So that’s the first kind of ethics. The ethics of restraining from harmful behavior. The ethics of restraining from harmful behavior and then the ethics of practicing wholesome conduct. The ethics of practicing wholesome conduct or the ethics which includes all wholesome conduct means anything positive that you do, anything constructive you do, is included within this kind of ethics. So any positive action, I mean whether it’s something to do with one’s daily life or it’s something that we do in a meditation room like this, if we sit down to recite Tārā mantras together or do Tārā puja together or if we offer flowers on the shrine to the Three Jewels, whatever we do, whether it’s something that we do outside of this place or inside this place, all of these constructive actions, positive actions, belong to this kind of ethics.
We are creating positive energy and potential through doing them. And particularly if somebody, one of your friends, one of your dharma friends or one of your other friends says something nasty to you, if you are able to bear it without trying to retaliate and see it as the result of something bad that you yourself have done in the past and that this is fruiting now, that you having this unpleasant experience because of something negative that you yourself did in the past. If you can see it in that way, if you can consider it in that way, then that again is something very positive, creates positive energy and it’s a really good and powerful practice. Yeah. So it includes every kind of constructive action whether you’re in your meditation session or out of your meditation session.
Out of your meditation session it can be all the things that we’ve just described and in your meditation session the practice of concentration, trying to acquire wisdom, trying to cultivate insight and wisdom, trying to meditate on love, cultivate love and compassion and these things within the meditation session, they all also belong to this form of ethics. So the ethics of helping others, the third kind of ethics, the ethics of helping others is every action for others welfare that one performs which is conjoined, which is associated with one’s restraint from those ten unwholesome actions which we just described earlier on. So any action which is for the benefit of others, which is directed for others welfare and is associated with the practice of restraint from these ten unwholesome actions. Rather basic example. Say somebody is traveling somewhere and it’s maybe not so applicable here as much as in India.
In India we have lots and lots of thieves so it’s quite dangerous when you’re traveling by rail. It’s talking about if somebody is traveling by rail and then you give them advice and you help them to protect their things from thieves. I mean, that’s very, very important if you’re travelling in India. So there you’re helping somebody else, you know, just, yeah. Yeah.
So anything, anything at all which is helpful for others. So if you tell somebody how they can protect their things like what they should do, how they should watch out when they are travelling so their things don’t get ripped off. And then if you take an old blind lady across the street or anything like that. Helping anybody, giving medicine, giving somebody a pill when they’ve got a headache. Helping somebody who is in difficulty, who is in trouble of some kind.
You’re you’re helping them out. Yeah. So in that kind of situation, you are helping somebody who is having a problem of some kind and then you could also be helping people who are ignorant, who are confused. For example, sometimes people really can’t make a decision. They need help with the decision.
They don’t know what course of action is going to be or the best course of action for them and they ask you for help. There if you help them to make a decision you are helping somebody who’s confused. These things may seem very simple for us, but actually this is how we can make our daily lives really effective. If we think of what kinds of actions we could be doing, what kinds of actions we could be doing, and take every opportunity as it arises to implement them. And then there’s helping those who are grieving.
So it’s important to help people who are grieving either maybe for the death of a parent or a child or because they’ve lost things, they’ve lost something which is important to them or maybe because their marriage has fallen apart. So in any circumstance like that, it’s important to be able to offer consolation, to do something if you can, to do something to console them. So these are all different kinds of activities. The point of dividing these activities into groups like that is just to help us gain an awareness of what kind of activities there are that we could be doing. It’s just to help us identify them.
These are things that we actually can do in our everyday lives. All of these things. So we can see the importance of ethics and that ethics is not something which is merely confined to restraint from certain kinds of activity, but that it has a broader meaning as well. In other words, doing things which are constructive and doing things which are directed towards others welfare. So that ethics, the practice of ethics encompasses all three areas.
Even if we have practiced generosity and create