Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Using a precise five-branch framework — basis, intention, identification, execution, completion — Khensur Rinpoche works through the first seven of the ten non-virtuous actions in this 100-minute commentary. He opens with a verse from Vasubandhu’s Treasury of Knowledge, establishes why the Buddha classified all phenomena as positive, negative, or neutral, then examines the three physical non-virtues (killing, stealing, sexual misconduct) and four verbal ones (lying, divisive speech, harsh speech, idle chatter). For each, he illustrates how desire, hatred, and obscuration operate as motivating forces and ranks the most severe cases — from stealing consecrated offerings to falsely claiming spiritual attainment. A Q&A closes the session, including a striking account of an ancient Indian nihilist philosopher who invented his system specifically to justify incest. Suited to students working through foundational ethics.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 08 Eye of A 1988 11 22.mp3
UUID: 8466d3cc-f2dd-4259-9cc6-e28ab1b10ed7
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Opening the Eye of Awareness 1988-1989 (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1988-11-22
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 100.0 minutes
Words: ~4,266
So initially, please adjust your motivation such that you’re going to listen to this profound teaching within the context of the great vehicle whereby to put it into practice in order to attain Buddhahood for the sake of bringing happiness and peace to all sentient beings. So the master Vasubandhu in his text Treasury of Knowledge sets forth the verse. Collected from those, the major ones are set forth as the ten paths of action, either virtuous or non virtuous. So the meaning of this is that the various types of actions that we engage in can be subsumed under actions which are either good actions or skillful actions or bad actions, that is negative actions. When we talk about skillful actions or positive actions, we’re talking about the division into the ten virtuous actions or the ten skillful types of actions.
And when we talk about the negative types of actions, they are divided into the ten unskillful types of actions or the ten non virtuous actions. So the word in Tibetan, chos, is translated into Sanskrit as Dharma. And this is the general word that the Buddha used. It was a word that was in common coinage in his time and it has a diverse number of meanings. It is synonymous with such terms as existence, objects of knowledge, objects of a valid cognition.
So when we talk about dharma, we’re talking about all the various objects which are recognized or identified or realized by a prime cognition, a valid mind. All the various objects such as flowers, books, houses, money, these are all being identified, realized, recognized by a valid mind, a prime cognition. These are all dharmas. So all the various dharmas, that is we can say phenomena, can be divided into three types, either positive, negative, or neutral. There are no phenomena or dharmas which lie outside of these three classifications.
So the way in which we classify the various dharmas into these three types is that those type of actions of the various beings of the world which are positive, we call positive dharmas. Positive dharmas, we call positive. Those are the various types of actions, the various beings of the world which negative actions we call negative dharmas. There’s other such as flowers, houses, tables, etc, are neutral phenomena. So the actions of negative and positive are negative and positive dharma and the various phenomena which lie outside of actions, the various objects such as flowers, tables, houses, etc, are neutral.
So in making distinctions between the various phenomena into negative, positive, and neutral, When we talk about the various types of actions as to whether they’re negative or positive actions, positive actions are by their entity or their nature have been specified by the Buddha. Whether the actions of body, speech and mind and the results of these various types of actions having been specified as positive have a ripening effect of happiness. So this is when we say positive action, it is that which has been specified as positive and has only a ripening result of happiness. And likewise, when we talk about a negative Dharma, it is first by way of entity, has been specified by Buddha as negative, and has a ripening result of suffering. And when we talk about neutral dharmas, we’re talking about phenomena which have not been specified by the Buddha as being either positive or negative.
And in the case of actions, their actions, the ripening results of which are not specified as either happiness or unhappiness. So initially we’re going to discuss the various types of negative dharmas and we’re talking about those types of unskillful actions which have as their result unhappiness. Therefore they are said to be unskillful actions since they result in unhappiness. We can classify them into ten types. Just of these ten types, are engaged in by means of the three doors.
Just as a house can have various number of doors, it is said that a person has three doors by which he engages, enters into actions. We enter into physical actions through the door of the body. Therefore, all the various physical activities are classified as bodily, as physical actions entered into by way of the body. So the first of these unskillful actions by way of body is killing. So there are three unskillful actions entered into by means of the body.
The three negative actions of body are killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct. So, in order for an action to be a complete path of action, there has to be five branches present. And the first of these five branches is the basis. And this in the case of killing is that there has to be a basis, that is another being to be killed. So this can be any type of sentient being, whether it’s a person, a horse, an animal, a goat, sheep, etcetera.
So then the second branch is the intention or the motivation to kill. After the intention, there must be a proper identification of the sentient being to be killed. If we intending to kill a person, we must identify the object as a person and the object identified as a person must be a person. If it’s a sheep, it must be actually a sheep. If going to kill someone if we’re going to kill John, it must be it must not be mistaken as to who it actually is.
It must be actually John. So there must be a proper identification of the object. Then the fifth branch is the actual execution of the action. This is that we actually engage in the killing whether it’s by a weapon or poison or using mantra, etc. And it can be these branches can be either completed by oneself or by ordering another person to do it.
And then the fifth branch is the branch of completion. This is that the life energy, the life force of the object ceases upon, that is to say, that the being dies and then the act is a complete action. So there are these five branches which constitute a complete path of action. That is the there is another being in the case of killing, there is another being which is to be killed. There is a negative motivation or intention which initiates the action.
There is a proper recognition of the object being killed. There is actual execution of the action and then there is complete completion of the action, that is the being actually dies. Rinpoche was wondering if you understand it in the case of killing, having completed these five branches of a complete path of action, whether you think this is a negative action or a positive action. So, I mean, such a type of action is not particular to spiritual practices. It’s just in the world that we it’s well known in the world that or it’s popularly conceived by even worldly people that such a type of action as killing is in some way wrong and people engaged in it, nice people.
So, since it’s properly conceived of in the world that such a type of action is negative, then what to say of those who are engaged in spiritual or seeking to engage in spiritual actions. The Buddha said that such types of actions were negative and therefore he prohibited such types of actions. That prohibition is what we mean by Dharma. The prohibition from engaging in such types of negative actions bringing about harm to others is dharma. The active engagement in such types of actions such as killing are what we mean when we say a negative dharma.
Negative dharma. So the motivating force behind engaging in such an action as killing is in general one of the three poisons. In general, there are many afflictive emotions but we can subsume them all under desire, hatred, and obscuration. Desire, hatred, and obscuration and these are known as the three poisons. In the case of, you know, if we give examples of how these different three poisons could motivate us to act, to engage in killing, if, you know, you thought that this animal had delicious meat, so in order to eat that meat, you kill this animal out of desire for that delicious meat.
This would be an action of killing motivated by desire. So then the poison of hatred acting as a motivating force for killing would be when we don’t like an enemy and due to anger toward him we kill that person. This would be a motivation of hatred for killing. So then a motivation out of obscuration for killing would be in the case of in some traditions, non-Buddhist traditions where they make use of animal sacrifices to various gods and such, that there are cases where a member of a particular sect might say to one of his disciples that in order to attain a human body in the future that you to sacrifice so many animals or in order to have wealth in the future that you should sacrifice an animal to this particular god. And this is a case where the priest who’s giving these instructions is actually obscured or misunderstands the nature of his actions and misunderstanding this obscuration would be a motivating force for killing.
So these are the three motivating forces behind killing. The main three motivating forces behind killing. The three afflictive emotions of hatred, desire, and obscuration. And all these actions can only lead, are only negative and only can have a consequence of suffering, of unhappiness. Therefore the Buddha spoke of these as negative dharmas and therefore since they were negative dharmas, he prohibited them.
And if we’re going to try to engage in spiritual path then we have to use as our standard, not the worldly measure or worldly standards, but the spiritual standards such as those set forth by the Buddha in determining what types of actions are skillful and what types of actions are negative or unskillful. You know, just as a loving parent would instruct their child as to what would be of benefit to them and what would be of harm to them. Likewise, the Buddha instructed what types of actions would bring us happiness and what types of actions would bring us suffering. So there are different degrees of the negative consequences of various actions and those which bring about the most severe consequences, negative consequences, as far as killing, such as killing a foe destroyer, that is an arhat. An arahat is someone who has completely abandoned all the afflictive emotions.
Killing one’s spiritual teacher, killing one’s parents, or killing a monk or renunciate. These are the most severe types of negative actions of killing. So then the second physical negative action The second of the negative physical non virtuous actions is stealing. And the basis of stealing is an article which is not one’s own but belongs to another or dedicated to, for example, the Three Jewels. So it’s an article which is not one owned but is owned by another or is dedicated in some way to the Three Jewels and this would not include articles which are held in common such as articles of a family that are generally owned.
It has to be owned by another. So then the thought is the intention an article not having been given, the thought or the intention arises to take that article for oneself, for oneself. So then the third branch is identification. That is to say, that you properly identify the object, there’s no mistake. If you were going to steal, you wanted to take some article which belonged to John but you accidentally took something which belonged to George.
This would be, in general, would be stealing but it would not have the full force of actually having properly recognized or identified the object. Even though it’s still a negative action of stealing, it does not have the same degree of negativity as having properly identified the object. And then the execution is acquiring an object by, for example, Stealth or sneaking up and taking it or by robbery, and actually forcing a person to give you something for example. So this is the actual execution whether by stealth, by force, by robbery, thieving and then having acquired that object for oneself. Then this would be the completion, having actually acquired it.
Then this would be the actual fifth branch. These stealing can be motivated by any of the three main afflictions we talked about desire, hatred, and obscuration. So motivation by desire would be thinking that not having this kind of desirable object that this other person has, this person has a good possession and developing an envy or wish that you would need this, that you would really like to have this and then acting upon this in some method to actually acquire it for yourself. So this would be an example of stealing out of motivated by desire. Stealing motivated by hatred might occur when two people were fighting, and in order to get back at another person, the stronger might forcibly take something which belonged to the weaker person out of anger, out of anger depriving him of his possessions and stealing it from him.
This would be a stealing motivated by hatred. So another type of stealing in general is simply cheating. When you, for example, when you borrowed something I’m gonna change the example if you borrowed some barley or wheat from someone. You went next door to borrow a cup of flour and you borrowed it and you said, Oh, and you come back, I’ll return your flour, and that’s only just a little. And you know that you’re not returning equal to what you borrowed and you’re, in a way, cheating.
This would be a case of act action of stealing. So an example of stealing motivated by obscuration would be that, you know, you borrow something from someone and you keep it for a long time. And you don’t give it back and then finally you think to yourself, oh, they probably forgotten I borrowed this. And now it’s all mine. And this would be a stealing motivated by obscuration.
So then the of the the greatest negative action of stealing would be taking articles which things which belong to the Three Jewels. And an example of this would be taking the offerings made to the spiritual community of the Sangha, their property. So this would be the greatest negative action of stealing. So this is the negative action of stealing and even by worldly standards such an action is considered negative that people who engage in it are hunted down. They try to find them, they’re arrested and put in prison.
And this is also included within the spiritual practice of Buddhism. The Buddha said that such such types of actions were negative and therefore he prohibited them and this prohibition is a positive Dharma and thereby he imposed certain restraints, that is even amongst all the vows of the various types of sets of vows, the vows of individual individual liberation, the vows of the bodhisattva, and the vows of secret secret mantra, they all include vows of restraint against killing and stealing. Then the third negative physical action is that of sexual misconduct. And here we’re talking the type of sexual misconduct we’re talking about isn’t unique to those who have taken vows of celibacy for example. These vows are common to both lay persons.
This negative action of sexual misconduct is common to both lay people and those who have taken a vow of celibacy. So the basis basis of or that is the first branch of sexual misconduct is an unsuitable partner. That is, so if in the case of a man, if he has a relationship with his wife, then there’s no problem. Or in the case of a woman with her husband, it’s only when the spouse is not one’s own but is the spouse of another person. Then this becomes an unsuitable partner.
So another example of unsuitable partner would be one’s immediate relatives up to a seventh cousin. So another unsuitable partner would be a fully ordained nun? So then there’s the unsuitability as far as location, and though when we’re having a relation with one’s own spouse, but in an improper place, like in front of an image of the Buddha, etcetera. Also, they partner with one’s spouse if they’re holding one day vows, observing one day vows. Also during pregnancy.
So this the thought can be the motivation of any of the three of the three, hatred, desire, and obscuration. So some of the the more negative the the most severe types of sexual misconduct would be having sexual misconduct with your mother, their relatives, with nuns, with foe destroyers, So the Buddha said that such types of actions constituted sexual misconducts and were negative dharmas and therefore he set down a prohibition against them. So these are the three negative actions by way of body. So of the three doors, that is the door of the body, and then the second door is the door of speech. The verbal there are four types of verbal negative actions.
So the first of the verbal negative actions is lying. Vasubandhu said that this is deceiving another person as to something that is, which is, in fact, is, and deceiving them as if saying that it is not or something exists and saying that it does not exist. And when this deception is understood by them, then this constitutes the negative action of lying. So the basis of lying is another person. Actually, it’s a little broader than person. So this other object has to be a person.
It has to be a being which has the ability to understand what you’re saying. If you lied to a table or a wall, it would not constitute proper basis. And the second is, motivation, the thought which is the intention or the motivation to deceive or to trick, to say what, to be fraudulent in saying something which is not really the case. So the execution. The execution can be either physical or verbal.
And for example, that is verbal, be speaking words in order to deceive and physically would be if someone said, Did you steal that? You shake your head no. When actually you did, this would be physical lying. And the completion would be when the other person understands the deceptive verbal or physical deception. So some of the most severe types of lying would be lying about one’s attainments, that you’re saying that you had clairvoyance when in fact you didn’t, that you had magical powers, that you had attained high high paths, that you were a foe destroyer, things of this nature, having seen that you have some excellent qualities when in fact you don’t.
These are the most severe types of lying. Also, another of the severe types of lying would be deceiving one’s spiritual teacher and parents. So this is the first of the four verbal negative actions that of lying and since it brings about harm to others, the Buddhist said that it was an improper, unskillful type of action to engage in and set it down as a it prohibited such a type of action. So the second of the four negative verbal actions is divisive speech. In this, the object or the basis is a person or there’s people.
People? And the thought is to break up, to distance two or more people who have a harmonious relationship. You know, two people, whether it’s, you know, one’s parents, one’s relatives, one’s friends, one’s country persons, causing a division amongst them. Two people who were previously harmonious, intending to bring about, to create a distance or disharmony between them. And actually engaging in this through the use of two-faced words causing a split among these two harmonious groups or people, just causing a distance or a split.
So in executing this action, would if it was a case of a husband and wife, the case of two harmonious friends or harmonious husband and wife or harmonious friends, Going to going to one of them and say and saying, oh, you know, he he did this and she did this or she did this and speaking very badly of them in order with the intention that they be split apart, that somehow by the force of your words that their bond be weakened, that they create a distance between them. When this actually occurs, when there is a result of split between these two groups, these two harmonious individuals, then this is the completion of divisive speech. No, so bringing about this, creating a distance between two people or two groups constitutes the negative action of divisive speech and others, it’s considered a negative Dharma, a negative action, and therefore the Buddha prohibited it and set forth a restraint against The third negative action of speech is harsh speech. And this is the basis would be a sentient being, a person, and the thought would be to say something unpleasant to this person, something bad, something some unpleasant words, something which unpleasant words and bad words.
So the execution would be actually engaging in saying these words, you know, telling someone that they’re no good, that they’re a thief, some kind of word which you feel is going to be painful. And then when this person understands those words and the cause of having understood their mind experiences unhappiness, then this would be, through the force of those words, then this would be the completion of harsh speech. So whether this type of harsh speech is engaged in when you’re actually in a bad frame of mind well, a bad frame. When you’re actually giving the appearance of being in a bad state of mind, in a bad you it really looks like you really want to hurt this person Or on the other hand, when you’re you’re hurting this person with your speech through jokes, joking as you know, giving the premise of his joking, but actually, you know, your words are are cutting or hurting. This is also a harsh speech.
So since this harms the minds of others, then the Buddha prohibited such a type of action. Then the fourth negative verbal action is senseless talk, idle chatter. Would be the the basis would be a sentient being, And this would be the thought would be the intention to say something senseless, something meaningless. And the execution actually engaging in this senselessness, could be motivated by any of the three main afflictive emotions. And then the completion would be when this person actually understands this senseless talk.
So in a sense this talk is is essentially we’re talking about wasting your time speaking and wasting your breath. The problem is it’s the reason it’s so negative to do is not only are you wasting your time, in talking at length in a senselessly, a meaningless way, usually your speech will degenerate into where you end up putting down other people, talking negatively about other people, tearing down everything around you because you’re running out of things to say. So and this is a very negative type of this is very negative. Therefore, in general, the sense of speech is negative verbal action. So we’ve completed the first seven of the ten negative actions.
The three negative physical actions and the four negative verbal actions. All of these have as a consequence the harming of others and they’re all motivated by afflictive emotions. Therefore all of these seven are considered negative dharmas. The Buddha saw them as being unskillful and therefore prohibited them. So, know, though the time has past, we will take a we’ll just take a few minutes, maybe five minutes, and if you have any questions, we’ll answer those.
Right. So the prohibition against incest is universal. The prohibition against incest is universal. From the Buddhist point of view, it stems from the fact that one’s parents and most importantly, that one’s mother is said to be worthy of our homage. She is referred to as like a crown ornament. She’s the source and she should be an object of our reverence and since she is the source of our greatest protection and she should be held extremely highly.
And therefore, to have relationships with her would demean your relationship, would degrade your relationship, degrade this object of reverence. It’s like as if it were a bodhisattva. And then the various relatives which are close to her, though they’re not as they’re not held as in great regard, still because they’re close to her are to be revered in the same as if to a lesser degree, but still to be revered. Therefore, you should not have sexual relationships with up to the seventh cousin. No.
So it’s a different life. It’s a different life. It’s two lives. So in ancient India, there was a philosophic system called the nihilist, And this tradition was instituted by a man who wanted to have sexual intercourse with his daughter who was very beautiful. And therefore he profounded the system that there was no such thing as law, cause and effect, or past and future rebirth in order to allow himself the liberty to have sexual intercourse with his daughter.
Yeah.