Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Teacher Valham guides practitioners through a karma purification meditation centered on recognizing negative actions and generating genuine regret. He begins by explaining why regret is the essential first step to purification: acknowledging what is harmful as harmful, rather than justifying or suppressing it. The meditation then builds step by step, starting with refuge in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, recitation of Buddha’s mantra, and visualization of white light purifying karmic imprints flushed from the body as black tar. Valham then walks through detailed visualization of Śākyamūni Buddha—his form, robes, posture, radiant light—and the dissolution of self into Buddha’s omniscient mind, extending healing light to all beings. He addresses common obstacles: difficulty visualizing (solved by patient daily practice and using images as supports) and the instinct to avoid thinking about suffering (countered by explaining that understanding suffering’s causes and cure is precisely what makes the path liberating). He concludes with the Four Noble Truths framework and an invocation of dependent origination—showing how ignorance at the root generates the entire chain of suffering, and how wisdom eliminating that root liberates all.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 04 Karma.mp3
UUID: 22506c2c-d25f-444c-bc88-64fd40cd86ec
Teacher: Valham
Collection: Guided LR Meditation (Valham)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Words: ~2,371
You know, maybe sometimes it is when we think like this, it is the very first time we recognize certain actions to be negative. Before, we didn’t consider it negative. Like killing many of the killings that we have engaged in, we didn’t even particularly think it was negative. We always justify our actions with some reason or another. But, you know, those reasons aren’t usually very pure or very correct.
So it’s very appropriate, actually, you see, to regret our actions. That’s the first step to being able to purify. First, we have to recognize what is negative as negative, and then generate the feeling of regret. Regret simply means that you don’t want to do it again. You know?
Not generating, you know, a suppressed feel feeling of guilt, But just simply recognizing, not wishing to do again. Trying not to do again. Then we look for guidance to finally, in our life, begin to rely on what is true. Or, you know, in other words, relying on Dharma, something that is thoroughly wholesome and true and wise. Then also relying on the universal physician.
The one that explains the Dharma, the great Buddha. And generate a closeness, a sense of affection for the Sangha, who’s trying to actualize the Dharma and think of universal living beings. From sometime in our during our lifetimes, we have actually harmed all the living beings in one way or another, you know, directly or indirectly. So think of universal living beings, your mother, father, with great compassion, recognizing their suffering and not wanting to inflict any more suffering on living beings. Imagine that Buddha in front of you is extremely pleased with this type of intention and looks at you as his only son or daughter with great affection.
If you can generate the genuine wish to purify whatever you recognize as negative, then let’s recite Buddha’s mantra together for a short time. Those who know it, if you don’t know it, then slowly you can pick it up. If you wish to recite it, you do. If you don’t want, it’s okay. Just listen.
At the same time, you think very powerful white radiant light emanates from Buddha’s heart, goes to the crown of your head, and totally removes. You see the heavy, the karmic imprints are being flushed out by the pure, pure, radiant white light. And imagine yourself becoming purified, Or at least generate the genuine attitude of wishing to purify. You know? Imagine your negativities leaving your body from the lower doors in a form of black tar.
It vanishes into the earth and completely disappears, leaving your mind feeling very crystal clear and pure. Now again, turn to Buddha in front of you. Or imagine Buddha again in front of you. And try to generate in your mind a fresh determination. Not to uncontrollably act out negative thoughts, words and actions as much as you can.
Not wishing to harm yourself and others. Maybe make a definite promise that for the rest of today, I will not harm any single little being intentionally. Imagine that Buddha is extremely pleased, very joyfully descends to the crown of your head, seated above your head, facing the same direction as you. And, you know, whatever blurred image of Buddha you have is fine. Just think and feel Buddha is on the crown of your head.
And the body melts into the moon. The moon melts into the sun. The sun melts into the nape of Buddha. And all of Buddha’s body, from the bottom and the top, melts into a round sphere of golden wisdom light, the all knowing wisdom of the omniscient mind. Very slowly and gently, this light descends through the crown of your head, instantly illuminating your body and mind.
As it travels down to your heart level, it merges with your own mind. So that your mind and Śākyamūni Buddha’s mind, omniscient, compassionate mind, becomes an inseparably one. Focus on that oneness and let your body dissolve. Totally identify yourself. with being oneness with Śākyamūni Buddha’s, your guru’s omniscient mind in a form of light.
And you think this light emanates out from you and goes to touch and embrace the person next to you, bringing peace to their mind. It goes out, emanates out to touch and embrace your mother and father, and affectionately embraces all the universal human beings who instantly experience much happiness, joy, peace. Imagine that you embrace the entire world with your pure, radiant light. And dedicate and think, by these merits, you may develop the clean, clear wisdom that distinguishes between virtue and non virtue, that instinctively knows the difference between wholesome action and a destructive, harmful action. May we abandon all negativities and put joyful effort in even small virtuous actions in order to fulfill the hopes and wishes of both ourselves and others.
So now as a preliminary, before we start meditating, let’s visualize Buddha. If you if you find it very, very difficult, generally, it is very difficult to visualize, it comes slowly and gradually. Let’s one familiarize, you know, with Buddha more and more. It comes through daily practice. So if people here are very new to this, haven’t done visualization before, then sometimes it’s very difficult.
Then you can just watch also the image of Buddha in front of you. And imagine that from that image, the light rays emanates. And as you do your breathing meditation, you think you inhale, you know, all the great qualities of the supreme beings in the universe. Like universal compassion, kindness, and wisdom. You take it into yourself and let it fill your body and mind.
And then you exhale. Whatever feels heavy or as a hindrance, an obstacle in your mind, whether it is a negative mind or negative feeling, put it on your out breath and think, let go. You send it out in the form of darkness. And again, you inhale light, you know, sublime qualities. Increase your feeling of light and goodness inside.
Expel your feelings of darkness and the negativities. And now for you who are familiar with Buddha, usually, the easiest way to recollect Buddha is just to recollect a blurred image of Buddha first in space in front of you. Just maybe the outlines of Buddha’s body or something that that comes clearer to your mind. And then from there, you try to focus on the details. Just like if you hold the camera in your hand and and you focus in on some part of Buddha’s body, like maybe eyes, the long narrow eyes, gently gazing with a with a sense of being neither in samadhi nor engaging in the world.
Just somehow joyfully detached, but being very much aware of the needs of living beings. Then you expand your vision a bit to take in the whole of Buddha’s face. The slightly smiling cherry red mouth, ears, ear lobes, the blue black hair, the top knot, the rounded shoulders, and the bare chest, golden in color, kind of transparent. And the saffron robes draping around Buddha’s body, staying an inch away due to the power of Buddha’s realizations. Then as you continue down, it’s the right hand on the right knee, left hand holding the begging bowl, and his two feet in the full lotus posture, seated on a magnificent lotus flower, fragrant, soft, within an aura of much radiant light.
Each of the light rays carrying Buddhas going out, coming back to work for sentient beings. So you think, inhale the light emanating from Buddha. Exhale whatever darkness, negativities are inside until you feel clear and calm. You know, most people, they don’t want to meditate or think about suffering because it’s just depressing. And certainly, if there would be no solution at all to suffering, if there would be no cure for suffering, then it will be useless to think about it.
Just making one’s mind upset and, you know, depressed. But the reason why Buddha emphasized so much thinking about suffering and showed the nature of suffering, Explain it in pictures like the wheel of life. And, you know, explain it in the Four Noble Truths. That is because there is actually a way out of suffering. And not just a temporary cure for the symptoms, but a complete cessation of suffering.
So that it never arises again. And how that is possible is by wiping out or eliminating the very fundamental cause of suffering. Usually, we just treat the visible symptoms, both in medicine, in mental care, and whatever other care, help we have. We never completely identified the cause, the original cause of suffering, the ignorance, the ignorance of ego grasping. But Buddha identified clearly, precisely, you know, the cause of suffering.
And also, as showed, pointed out, and the path how to develop it, you know, how to develop the how to eliminate the cause of suffering. Like Maitreya Buddha says in the in the short verse, that suffering is to be known. The cause of suffering is to be abandoned. Then health is to be achieved. And the medicine or the path is to practice, to be practiced.
The medicine is to be taken. That explains the Four Noble Truths. Suffering, the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the cessation, and the path. So the very first step is to really look into suffering, not to avoid it. You know, there are two ways of approaching suffering.
One is simply trying to avoid it. That might help for a while, but then it comes back again. Another way is to actually look into suffering. Let it affect your mind so that you feel upset with it, so that you start to want, to need a cure for it. So there are countless sufferings to recognize even just in the human life.
From the trauma of our uncontrolled death and rebirth, to sickness. Even the aging process is one of continuous pains, aches and pains and problems. How the body falls apart on us, doesn’t cooperate. And the pain of loneliness at old age, in the pain of despair, facing death. And the actual suffering even starts at birth?
Birth itself is painful, an experience of suffering. Then the various experiences of not getting what we want or what we desire, or separation from what we hold dear. Again and again, we’re running into painful situations and the general uncertainty That whatever happiness we enjoy, it never lasts. And so again, we fall into a state of dissatisfaction, constantly striving for more or better samsaric pleasures. This is one of our, maybe, greatest sufferings.
First of all, the uncertainty, and then the dissatisfaction. That no matter how much we have, we always want more. It’s like a disease that when we have an itch, we have to scratch all the time. When we have an eczema, dissatisfaction is like an eczema, That we have to scratch all the time, thinking we experience pleasure. And so the constant reoccurring dissatisfaction always makes us strive for more and more.
We try again and again, again and again. Why we try again and again? It’s because we want satisfaction. But somehow, if you look into your life experience, sooner or later, it turns into a state of dissatisfaction. That seem to be the nature of saṃsāra.
The the circle, the cycle. So let’s think for a bit to recognize our own suffering in order to develop a yearning to be free. Now, you know, just looking at our body, we can understand suffering. Because, you know, sitting is suffering. Standing up is suffering.
Walking is suffering. Remaining in a chair is suffering. Whatever lying down may be suffering. However we move our body, whatever we do with our body turns into suffering. And that’s the meaning of saṃsāra.
It’s like our suffering is beyond our control, induced by something else all the time, dependent always on something. So when we research, what is the cause? Why this body always have to suffer? That is because this body is, you know, saṃsāra. It is created condition is the craving and grasping.
This body, when we were born, birth birth of this body that is pervaded by suffering, It arose out of craving and grasping at the time of the previous death. It came into existence. That craving and grasping came from feeling. Feeling gave rise to craving and grasping. Feeling comes from contact.
Contact comes because dependent on the sense organs, gives rise to contact and feeling. Sense organs, and that depends on the body and mind. Previous body and mind. And the previous body and mind also depended on karma. And karma depends on consciousness.
And the consciousness of an ordinary person depends on ignorance. That’s the root cause. Because this body is a product of all that, starting with ignorance, it’s in the nature of suffering. But if we eliminate the root cause of ignorance, all the other links that dependent that suffering depends on is instantly eliminated, transformed or eliminated, ceased. So the ultimate solution, you know, like Lama Yeshe used to say, the ultimate solution to human problems is introspective knowledge wisdom.
The wisdom that correctly understands reality and can cut down ignorance at its root. Just like cutting down a tree, and all the branches, fruits, and everything else, you see, destroyed. Like that, with the wisdom, cutting the root of ignorance. All suffering, goodbye. You know, forever.
So think to yourself, we are human beings with the intelligence, ability to realize the nature of reality, to realize the nature of our reality, and liberate ourselves from suffering. Then think surely that is our responsibility. Nobody else can do that for us. Even if you think not only for ourself to be liberated and happy, but also our mother and father and universal living beings, their happiness also depend on us. So think, by the merits of meditating on the nature of suffering, may we all become inspired to seek the path to liberation in order to secure the happiness, not only ourselves, but of all living beings.