Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 44-minute teaching, Lama Lhundup presents a radical reorientation of Buddhist practice around the principle of cherishing others over ourselves. He begins by framing this life of leisure and fortune as meaningful only if directed toward benefiting all sentient beings without partiality, and argues that self-focused seeking has never produced lasting happiness—a pattern that extends across lifetimes. He then systematically unpacks the law of cause and effect as the foundation of all genuine Dharma practice, explaining that without conviction in karma, even visions of deities offer no real benefit. The bulk of the teaching covers the ten non-virtuous actions in concrete detail: killing (extending from direct harm to ordering death, which doubles karmic weight); stealing and tax evasion; sexual misconduct; and lying, with special emphasis on the gravity of deceiving one’s teacher. Throughout, he stresses that practice rooted only in desire for this life’s happiness, or lacking altruistic motivation, remains merely lip-service to the Dharma. Aimed at practitioners beginning serious study of ethical foundations.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 13 C o P.mp3
UUID: 7d8974ea-c8fe-4e4d-b748-32e008151435
Teacher: Lama Lhundup
Collection: Changing our perspectives (Lama Lhundup)
Date: 1987 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 44.4 minutes
Words: ~2,617
We are now attaining a body of leisures and fortune. In order to make this body of leisures and fortune meaningful. We should seek to perfectly benefit all sentient beings without any sort of partiality and without making any difference among sentient beings. This would be of ultimate benefit that we can make of this life of leisure and fortune. In order to do this we have to know the Dharma in order to practice it perfectly.
In order to know the Dharma to understand the Dharma we must listen to the teachings on the Dharma. Therefore we should try to develop the motivation that I am going to listen to this teaching on the Dharma in order to understand it that I might be able to practice the Dharma purely and perfectly and thereby make this body of leisures and fortune meaningful and thereby in order to do that I develop the aspiration whereby I seek to place all sentient beings in Buddhahood and in this motivation, one develops a great joy in listening to the teachings. So briefly, in practicing the Dharma, we should make the important distinction between the two, this life and future lives, we should hold future lives as being more important and between our own purposes and the purpose of others we should hold others for being more important. If we mainly direct all our attention toward the happiness of this life then we aren’t going to practice the Dharma purely. Up to this time we’ve always had this thought concerning ourselves only with the happiness in this life up to now.
And we ask ourselves, have we actually received that? Have we attained the happiness that we wanted? And the answer is no. Not only in this life, but from beginning of this time of time, up to the present, we have been seeking our own individual happiness and we have to ask ourselves, have we found that happiness that we’ve been making so much great effort in order to obtain, and we haven’t really found it. Deeply, we have gone gone through many hardships for our own seeking, trying to bring about our own welfare, own happiness and it hasn’t worked.
We haven’t found the happiness that we have been seeking. So we should try to reverse this tendency and try to develop the intention that from today on I am going to develop from the depth of my heart a desire to cherish others. Like the Buddha’s in developing, using them as an example of a kind heart, developing a beneficial attitude, an altruistic attitude, seeking from the depths of our hearts to benefit others. Even if we want to benefit others, can we do it? At the present time, we are completely under the control of the three poisons, all the very afflictive emotions.
Because of our self-cherishing, afflictive emotions, our attachment, hatred, we really can’t bring about the benefit of others that we we consider we wish to. Therefore, we have to concern ourselves with with getting rid of these afflictive emotions. There are many people who talk about altruism, talking about wishing to benefit others, but majority of people this is merely from the mouth. Has no meaning. We have to, you know, from within our own experience, from the depth of our heart, begin to see what is the profit, what is the benefit to be gained by benefiting others?
If there’s no profit, then we just In general, when we see there is some profit to be gained by doing something, then we go ahead and do it. When we gain some profit for ourselves to be made, then we just if once if if you see some profit for yourself and doing some action, then then you go ahead and do it. If you don’t see any profit for yourself, then you aren’t going to do it. So this is the the general way of thinking of most people. So this is not So Though it’s difficult, this idea of self profit, we should begin to get rid of this self profit, that this should not be a basis for our actions.
Our basis of action should be whenever there is profit for others and not when there is profit for ourselves. So In order to practice, in order to So, you know, if and and and seeking to bring profit only to ourselves with only one person Only one person gained. So we have to give up we have to give up this mind. We’re not. Yeah.
And that so, you know, if we can help can one person, two people, hundred people, a thousand people, ten million people. So if we have this courage, this determination to practice in this way, doesn’t matter whether we’re Christians or Muslims. It doesn’t matter what religious tradition benefit. But if we don’t have this basis for our practice, then even if we’re Buddhists, it’s not going to be of any benefit. So so Śāntideva says that, you know, that no one wants no one desires suffering but but in trying to do away with suffering they actually are creating the causes of suffering.
Actually, they’re they’re creating only the causes of suffering and their efforts to do away with the suffering. Though they desire happiness, they treat happiness as if it were their enemy. And they they they it’s as if they hold their happiness as enemy and they destroy all their happiness. So if we think about that, then that’s really the case, isn’t it? This is the case for, you know, most people in the world.
So in the beginning of our practice we have to know well the presentation of the law of cause and effect. The main practice of Dharma is the practice of the law of the cause and effect. If we don’t have a conviction in the law of cause and effect, even if we can have clairvoyance, we can fly in the sky, this is no big wonder. So whether or not we have actual practice of Dharma is becoming a firm practice of the law of cause and effect. Only the Buddha has the direct perception of the complete law of cause and effect.
They don’t have this realization. So, you know, if the if the Buddha says this is a negative action, then it’s then it’s a negative action. If this is a positive action, then it’s a positive action. The Buddha, you know, never speaks falsely, but everything he says is true. Because the Buddha has no need to speak speaking falsely.
He he there’s no benefit he there’s no benefit for him from speaking falsely. So in the presentation, speaking about the negative and positive actions, we discuss in terms of the ten non virtuous actions. Ten Non Virtuous Actions. We should study these every day too. We know what should not be done and what types of actions we should be doing. If we don’t have conviction of the law of cause and effect, then we meditate on a deity trying to have a vision of a deity is of no benefit.
Even if we talk to our people, it’s a it doesn’t make any big it’s no big deal. So there was a case of an individual who had no conviction in the law of cause and effect but he meditated on the meditation of the deity at Yamāntaka and he actually in his meditation he didn’t have any renunciation, he didn’t have any mind of enlightenment as a motivating force but he actually was able to have a vision of Yamāntaka but due to his karmic causes, he took rebirth. When he died, he took rebirth as a hungry ghost in the form of Yamāntaka. Developing this conviction in the law of cause and effect is extremely important. If we compare it, you are a great scholar, great scholar expert, this is the great accomplishment or if one developed tremendous powerful concentration in comparison this would be great importance.
So it’s extremely important that we come to understand the investigate the ten non virtues of action. There are three of body, four are speech, three are mind, for example, no killing, no stealing, giving up sexual misconduct, no sexual misconduct, etcetera that we should understand as well. You So the first is non killing. Anytime that we kill, if we are motivated by either attachment, hatred, ignorance then even if we kill an insect or an animal then this is the non virtue of killing. Also even those times we don’t mean to kill, if we aren’t mindful, if we aren’t heedful, we don’t look, for example we’re doing some gardening and we don’t care whether there’s animals or insects there and we go ahead and garden and we kill some type of animal or insect, this is also a non virtue of killing or if we drink water and look in the water and maybe there is some kind of living insects in the water and we drink the water without inspecting the water this is also killing.
If in fact we look and we think I must be careful not to kill anything And we look and we see we don’t see anything and we go ahead and, you know, maybe even guarding something and you kill something, then this is not included within the numbers you’re killing. Motivated with the motivation to separate the object any a being that has life motivated by the intention to separate him from his life when this is acting as the motivation and when he has committed the action of killing. So we don’t have to, in order to commit the non virtue of killing, don’t have to actually kill with the bodily action of killing. For example, we are thinking about some kind of delicious food and maybe we think today I am going have some fish. So we think about the fish and then we go ahead and we buy the fish and prepare the all the all these all these actions which are included from the moment you decided that you wanted fish from the time you decided that you wanted fish, all the mental and various actions that that were that you went through are all negative actions, including the killing.
So each action has four parts. There is the basis, the intention, the conduct, and the completion. The basis is a sentient being. And the intention is the motivation is being motivated by attachment, hatred or ignorance. In order to bring about that in when engaging in or action preparation activity.
So also we don’t have to actually to commit the negative action of killing. We don’t have to actually kill the animal ourselves if we decide that we want some kind of delicious meal today and we give an order that we place an order that I want this fish killed I want this bird or any type of meat for example and this and in response to the ordering that making this order this an animal was killed and you have a negative action of killing Actually between ourselves killing it and ordering someone else to kill it, ordering someone else to kill it is a greater negative action. We shouldn’t think, you know, well, I’m not I’m not killing this animal. He’s killing this animal. Therefore, there’s no negative action for me.
So from the time that you place the order to have this for example, want to fish that then have the person to have to kill this fish for you because of your order from the time you place that order until it is actually killed you are collecting the negative action of killing even if you’re sitting in meditation. So our negative action is doubled by placing an order to have something killed. If we order one fish killed, then we accrue the negative action of having killed two fish. If we order a thousand fish killed, then we accrue a negative action of having killed two thousand fish. So just So if there was war going on between two countries and leader of the country, ordered through his orders millions of people were being killed even though while he may be sitting there drinking tea and enjoying himself but even while he is doing that collecting the negative karma of having these people being killed as if he killed them himself.
So the next non virtue is taking that which is not given or stealing. So the basis is an article which is owned by another. So the the intention is is that being motivated by any of the three poisons. And the the preparation active activity is making effort to bring that about. Mhmm.
Gotcha. Yeah. Then the completion is when one thinks in one’s mind, now I’ve got I’ve I’ve got what I wanted. So likewise, in in this case, it’s a negative action of stealing is is created by whether one steals it oneself or orders to have it stolen for you. So this would also include trying to evade taxes.
For example, if we also try to evade payments like when you are going on a train or on a on a road where you have to pay tolls, trying to avoid making payments just sort of included in this stuff, not taking that which is not giving. Also, you know, if we borrow something from someone and after some time we begin to think, well, now he’s probably forgot to make a loan to me and the thought arises, well, you know, he won’t ask for it back. This is Also, if we were a high official and misappropriated tax funds or any valuables? So the next is sexual misconduct. So this also has his basis, intention, preparation, and completion.
So the basis is the partner of the body. Somebody is coming. Alright. So the intention is being motivated by desire to make So these three are from non virtues from the point of your body from from point of your body. So the basis is another person. The completion is when the other person actually is deceived or misled. So at the moment, for example, when he hears and it arises the thought that which is that through the power of this feeling that he has been deceived. Not the thought that he is in the when he is actually deceived, then the action is complete.
So with respect to lying, we think there’s actually speaking yourself or engaging other people to to deceive. So there are different degrees different degrees of lying. For example, the greatest lying is lying to your spiritual master. So the the the greatest type of lying is lying about your your own quality. For example, saying that that you have realizations that you don’t have or that you have understanding of emptiness that you don’t have or that you’re a great scholar, which in fact you aren’t.
Yeah. This is the greatest type of lie. The main four non virtues are these first four that we just listed. For example, with respect to killing, killing human beings, stealing others’ possessions, sexual misconduct, and lying. These are the main four non-virtues.
Lying about one’s own attainment. These are the four main non virtues. So it’s it’s four. So even though if we can’t abandon the rest of non virtues, it would be very good to be able to try to avoid being caught up in them.