Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Lama Lhundup teaches the law of karma — the first of the graduated path teachings — in this 46-minute talk on how actions determine happiness and suffering. He presents the four key principles: karma is definite, meaning positive actions produce happiness and negative actions produce suffering; uncreated karma bears no fruit; karma is exponentially augmentative, growing in power like a seed becoming a tree; and karmic imprints never dissipate, ripening whenever conditions align. He illustrates with stories, including a monk who thought himself a great practitioner of Yamāntaka but was reborn as a hungry ghost after stealing from the monastic community. Lama Lhundup then systematically covers the ten non-virtuous actions to abandon — killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, divisive speech, harsh speech, idle chatter, covetousness, harmful intention, and wrong view — explaining each with concrete examples and consequences. The talk anchors understanding karma as the foundation for all Dharma practice, even preceding higher tantric practices. Pitched at practitioners beginning the graduated path.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 04 GP.mp3
UUID: 056cbe56-7196-4472-b657-0571a335c391
Teacher: Lama Lhundup
Collection: The Graduated Path (Lama Lhundup)
Date: 1987 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 46.3 minutes
Words: ~2,816
So if we think about the law of cause and effect in general, then we can look at it from the point of view that is karma or actions. Actions are I use the word karma. Karma is definite. Karma the effects of karma not created are not experienced. Karma is augmentative, or let us say increasing, and karma is never is not dissipated or wasted.
So when we say that karma is definite, we are saying that in dependence upon positive action, only happiness arises unhappiness or suffering never arises. In dependence upon a negative action, only suffering arises. Happiness never arises. This is the definite or definite. This is infallibility of karma.
So then the second is that a karma not created The fruit of uncreated karma is not experienced. That is to say, we will never have an experience We will never have any experience of either happiness or suffering in which there has not been a previously created cause of either negative action or positive action. The third is karma is highly augmentative. That means that both negative and positive actions, even though we’ve created an insignificant karma, negative or positive, that daily increases or daily becomes greater and greater. For example, this is for both positive and negative karma.
We created a positive karma and then if we don’t become angry, for example, then this karma will this positive karma will daily keep increasing in its potency. So in the same way that by planting a small apple seed, this apple seed will eventually grow into a big tree, an apple tree, with a great deal of hundreds of apple fruit. Likewise, even a small seed of negative or positive actions can grow and have a great effect. So the fourth is karmas are not dissipated or wasted. Means karmic seeds are not like, for example, food.
You know, if we have some food and after a few days it spoils, it goes bad, it rots. Karmic seeds are not like that. No matter how long a time lapses between the action created, it will definitely ripen when it meets the correct conditions. So with respect to this first point, that karma is definite, if we understand that karma is definite, then because we want happiness, then we understand an understanding that happiness arises from positive karma. Therefore, since we want happiness, we will cultivate the causes of happiness that is, we will engage in positive actions, positive karma.
Likewise, because we understand that suffering arises from the cause of negative actions and that we don’t desire suffering, therefore we will act to abandon the cause of suffering that is negative karma. So, you know, we should always be looking at our experiences that, you know, in our body and mind, whatever various feelings arise. For example, if we have some happy feeling arising, then we should think that this happiness that I’m experiencing, it arose in dependence upon a positive karma or a positive action that I created before. Now, this is the effect of this, and we can rejoice in having created this positive karma in the past. And likewise, if we have some sickness or we have some unhappiness in our mind, then we should when we are aware of this, we should remember that we should understand that this suffering that I’m now experiencing came about through negative karma which I created before, and now this is the fruit of that negative karma.
And since I don’t want to suffer, then I’m not going to engage in such negative actions again. So this, you know, this excellent opportunity that we now have, for example, listening to the Dharma, is the fruit of positive karma that we created in the past. So the law of cause and effect is the is the perfect perfect view of the world. Perfect view of the world. The correct is the correct view of the world.
Because it the correct it should be the perfect view of the world, that is the same for worldly people. Ordinary people such as ourselves, it should be our main practice. If we don’t live within the bounds of the law of cause and effect, then So if we don’t think about our future rebirth and thereupon really try to practice, engage in, live within the law of cause and effect, then there’s really no benefit and rather meaningless to think about the higher, the very higher practices of Dharma. There is no benefit or meaning in such practice. So there are cases of yogis who practices of meditational deities, but they didn’t observe the law of cause and effect, and they actually took rebirth as hungry ghosts and and hell.
So there is an account in Tibet of There is an account in Tibet of one monk who thought he was a great yogi. He thought he was a great yogi because he had a vision of one of the deities called Yamāntaka, therefore because he thought he was such a great yogi, he didn’t need to observe the law of cause and effect. And since he thought he was such a great yogi, he didn’t need to observe the law of cause and effect. And he he stole some property from the Sangha, a small property from the Sangha. And the ripening effect of having stole that small property from the Sangha was that he was born as a hungry ghost in the form of this meditational deity, Yamāntaka.
This person who had taken rebirth in the form of Yamāntaka as a hungry ghost, he had one Dharma friend who had good mind, who was kind hearted, kind hearted. And each day he would make these ritual cakes, tormas, ritual cakes. And he would offer these ritual cakes to his former friend who was born as a hungry ghost. One day, he didn’t offer a ritual cake, and because of his great hunger, the hungry ghost came to his room and beat him. So he came one day, this kind hearted monk, he didn’t make his offering of this ritual cake, and and because of that, the hungry ghost, who was very hungry, came to the monk’s room, and explained that he was his former Dharma friend from a previous life, and he had taken rebirth as a hungry ghost in the form of Yamāntaka.
And so this monk asked the hungry ghost, you know, why you were a great yogi of practicing Yamāntaka. Why is it that you were born as a hungry ghost? And the hungry ghost said, I thought I was a great yogi, and therefore, you know, one day I stole some property, small bit of property from the Sangha, and it’s because of that that I took rebirth as a hungry ghost. He said the the monk asked him, what what what do you do? So the the ghost, he he went away for a little while and came back, and he said, where did you go?
Why did you why did where did you go? He said Just a little bit quiet. He became a little bit quiet.
And he said, why did you become a little bit quiet? And he said, oh, I was causing some hindrances to one monk who’s trying to practice Dharma. Aren’t you expert? Aren’t you a great practitioner? Why are you causing obstacles, hindrances to this monk who’s trying to practice Dharma?
Because I have the mind of a hungry ghost, I have no control over my mind. I have the mind of a hungry ghost. I have no control over my mind. So there are many accounts such as this. Listen, just for example, through motivated by anger, if you were to call somebody, you’re a hungry ghost, you say, call him a hungry ghost, call him a name, a hungry ghost.
Just those mere words can one can take rebirth as a hungry ghost. The main cause of taking a birth as a hungry ghost is miserliness. So we can create this action of miserliness in one moment. We can be miserly about our own things, about other people’s things, the fruit of this miserliness is being reborn as a hungry ghost. So since since karma is definite, if we if in the future we want wealth, then the cause of wealth is generosity.
Likewise, if we want to, in the future, want to be born in a happy migration, then the only cause for being born in a happy migration is the practice of ethics. But on the other hand, if we practice generosity but we don’t practice ethics, we’re going to still be born in a bad migration. So in the for example, in the case of of hell beings, there It’s hell beings in in the neighboring hells, one area of hell called neighboring hells. There are hell beings in such regions. So in these neighboring hells there are beings who experience during the day, they have all the happiness of a God, but when night comes, then they experience the suffering of hell.
They go night and day suffering happiness and suffering in this way. We must again and again think about habituate familiarize ourselves with the thought that the way in which karma is definite. We have to again and again think about it or it won’t be of any benefit. So the even the the complete happiness of Buddhahood is is dependent upon the the practice of the law of cause and effect. Within the context of the law of the cause and effect, we practice those actions which are to be cultivated and those actions which are to be abandoned.
And what is to be cultivated? That is the ten virtuous actions. And what is to be abandoned? It’s the opposite of those, the ten non virtuous actions. In dependence upon creating negative actions, we will be reborn in bad migrations, and dependent upon creating positive actions, we’re going to be born in happy migrations.
So therefore, in our practice that we should abandon killing killing animals, killing people. And likewise, we should not order others to kill. So likewise, we should abandon stealing. That is taking anything of value which has an owner which has not been given. Taking anything of value which has an owner which has not been given.
So it’s not only taking that which is not given, but even the things that we are using, we should not think that now it’s ours. So also we have to abandon sexual misconduct. Such types of sexual misconduct as having sexual relationships with a woman who has some type of guardian, sexual relationship in front of images of the Three Jewels and having sexual relationships on a wrong day. So, for example, in front of an image of a Buddha, we shouldn’t have sexual relationships or having sexual relationships on a wrong day. Also, having sexual relationships, having incest, that is having with your parent or a close relative.
Up to the seventh cousin. So then there’s the action of lying. There’s, you know, there’s different degrees of lying. There’s a great the greatest type of lying is lying with saying that we have a clairvoyance or that we have realization of emptiness. So even though we don’t have clairvoyance, we say that we have clairvoyance.
Even though we haven’t realized emptiness, we say that we have realized emptiness. This is the greatest lie. So then the medium types of lies, middling lies. So he’s saying that you have not seen something you have seen, or in order to to sell something. Even though you even though Business people just pay only ten rupees, but they said, no, one hundred.
You know? This I I paid one hundred rupees. I said, okay. You can check one hundred rupees a day. Yeah.
Most of the most of the traders, they they they all lie. Most traders lie. So the next would be divisive speech, that is causing disharmony between two people who who are in harmony, who have a good relationship. So with respect to divisive speech, the most negative action would be causing disharmony between parents, between mother and father, and also between a spiritual teacher and his disciple. This is with respect to divisive speech, be the greatest negative action.
So the next would be harmful speech. And this would be words which are spoken out of anger, motivated by anger, which you say in order to hurt someone. Once they’re understood by the other person, then this becomes harmful speech. So the next negative action is that of senseless chatter, idle speech or senseless chatter. These would be types of ordinary speech which had no relationship to Dharma.
So this would be type of speech which are motivated by attachment and desire. That is, we could whatever it’s even if we’re singing and it’s out of desire, this would be classified as senseless chatter. So if we don’t think about it, then most of our So we you know, most of us have we have very little time to meditate, very little time to practice, because we have to work so often. But when it comes to sitting around and gossiping, we can spend three or four hours just sitting around gossiping. So the next of the ten non virtuous actions is that of covetousness.
Covetousness is the wishing to have the possession or wealth of others. It’s just we are out of attachment, we think, I wish I had that, then this is covetousness. So the next is harmful intention, and this is when we make the determination in our mind thinking to hurt another person, to hurt another being. This is harmful intention. So it’s quite easy for us to develop the thought towards somebody that we don’t like, that maybe they should get sick or something bad should happen to them, that they should die or something.
These thoughts could easily arise in us. Such thoughts arise quite easily. For example, it would be easy for people in Tibet to hope that the Chinese have a great deal of difficulty, that bad things happen to them. Likewise, whatever country, it’s quite easy to think of our enemies hoping that bad things will happen to them. Also, if someone So, you know, anyone who someone who hurts us or someone who treats us in business or something, we would say, I hope he has an accident, something like that.
Such thoughts arise quite easily. For those who are trying to practice Dharma, then we So even for those who are trying to practice, even if someone were trying to kill us, who stole our possessions, we should abandon the thought of thinking that hoping that they’re going to have something bad happen to them. The next of the ten non virtuous actions is that of wrong view. Such types of wrong view as holding, determining that past and future lives do not exist, that the law of cause and effect is not true, that the Three Jewels do not exist, such as the Buddha does not exist. So it could would it be possible for someone who who may think, you know, I’ve been practicing Dharma, and but this person experiences some difficulties.
He experiences some sickness, and he says here, you know, look, I’ve been practicing the Dharma. Look what happens to me. This sickness that I’m experiencing, difficulties I’m experiencing are all dependent upon my practice of Dharma. Thinking that this would be a wrong view. Likewise, someone could think, you know, those people over there who don’t practice, you know, they’re thieves, they steal and everything, and yet they have lots of possessions, they have wealth and happiness.
Therefore, this idea that from negative actions suffering arises, positive actions happiness arises. Is this not true? This would thinking this way would be an example of a wrong view. So from beginningless time, our main habituation has been to the ten non virtuous actions. And therefore, having having become habituated to the ten non virtuous actions, if we aren’t careful, then we will these non virtuous actions will automatically arise.
So, due to the force of habituation from previous lives, such states of mind as attachment, anger arise without any effort whatsoever. We don’t have to work in order for them to arise. But other states of mind, such as love, compassion, faith in the Buddhas, etc, even when we try to cultivate them, even when we make effort to cultivate them, it is difficult for them to manifest in our mind. This is the force of habituation to these negative states of mind in past lives.