Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 24-minute talk, Ven Jampa Gendun opens with the twelve links of dependent origination, tracing how each rebirth is mechanically propelled by preceding conditions with no option to step aside. He then makes a philosophically precise move: because karma is a dependent arising rather than an inherently existing thing, negative actions carry no fixed nature of their own — they are “negative” only insofar as they produce suffering, and if that result is prevented, the label ceases to apply. This Middle Way reasoning becomes the logical foundation for why purification through the four opponent powers can actually work. The session closes with a guided Śākyamūni Buddha visualization leading through confession, white-light purification, and full identification with the Buddha’s body, speech, and mind. Suited to practitioners with some Lamrim background.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 12 WtWNN 1987 09 03.mp3
UUID: de4941ae-34b2-469e-be8c-b242331960db
Teacher: Ven Jampa Gendun
Collection: What the world needs now (Ven Jampa Gendun)
Date: 1987-09-03
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 23.8 minutes
Words: ~1,998
So due to birth, we have becoming, a tense link, which the propelling karma. It throws us into taking this actual birth. We’re forced to take this type of body to, in this case, to eliminate the suffering of the mind. Due to the suffering of mind of this heat, it’s like you experience desiring craving for cold, coolness, activating a type of program by which you can actually eliminate the pain of the mind. You can only eliminate that pain of the mind through taking a certain type of embodiment.
Embodiment which has the capacity to be cooled, which has the conditions to be cooled. If it took a rebirth in a hot hell, there would be no way for it to eliminate that pain. Therefore, there’s no way that mind, that particular mind, is going to activate a karma to be reborn in a hot hell. On the contrary, it’s going to activate karmas in order to eliminate that pain, which in this case, to be born in a cold hell. It takes rebirth.
It’s thrown into that rebirth. It has no choice. It’s thrown there, propelled there. And dependence upon that, there is birth. Dependence upon birth, the twelfth link, old age, birth, suffering, diseases, old age, and finally death.
This is the twelve links of dependent origination. This is continually cycling through these twelve links continually. One link dependent upon the other link dependent upon the other, dependent upon the other without any remission whatsoever. This is cyclic existence. This continual circling through this process.
It’s definite that we have these various karmas within our mind. It’s definite that some type of karma is going to ripen at the moment of our death. Most likely it’s going to be a negative karma. Most likely we are going to have a bad rebirth. The only thing which can protect us is our refuge.
Actually, eliminating while we have the opportunity, the chance, all these negative karmas, which are implanted on the mind stream. While we have the chance, we can apply the four opponent powers. We can actually burn these seeds up, so that they have no power whatsoever. One thing about It is the uncommon view the middle way school, but more specifically the consequence of middle way school. All the various Buddhist schools say, and so does science for that matter, that the effect is dependent upon the cause.
The effect is dependent, the result is dependent upon the cause. No problem. As consequence school, this says, the effect is also the cause is also dependent upon the effect. You know, they’re interrelated, they’re interdependent. The cause is also a dependent arising.
We can only know We can only understand what the cause is when the effect has arisen. You know, if you pick up a seed, you cannot know whether this is a viable seed or not. You cannot know whether this seed actually has the potential to produce a plant or not. How can you know when you actually plant that seed and a sprout arises? Then you say, Dependent upon that sprout arising, you say that was a viable seed.
You can label that seed which caused that plant as a viable seed. That seed had potential power. In this way, we begin to understand that the cause is also dependent upon the effect. We experience happinesses. Those actions which bring that happiness, we call virtue.
Things are not virtue in themselves. Those actions which bring us suffering are non virtues, are negative actions. They are not a negative actions in themselves. They from their own side, if they never bring a negative result, if we never experience suffering from them, then we cannot say that they are negative actions. They’re dependent upon their fruit in order to determine what they are, their nature.
They have no inherent nature from their own side. What does that mean for us? We say we have these various negative karmas within us, but if we go to a deeper level, we can say, if they are not negative karmas independently existing, inherently existing, if they never bring a negative result, then they aren’t negative karmas, are they? Nothing is bad or good. It’s only interdependently.
If we can eliminate the possibility of their arising as negative results, as bad rebirths, then they aren’t negative karmas, are they? They aren’t, isn’t it? Negative karma is defined as that which brings suffering. If they never bring suffering, aren’t negative karmas. They aren’t. Therefore, we have a possibility to purify them because they aren’t inherently existent.
They have no They aren’t, from their own side, negative, only because they produce a certain type of fruit. If the fruit never arises, then they themselves are not negative. There’s no way we can say they have an inherent quality. The four aspect, the four factors of karma, the basis, intention, involvement in the actual conduct of the action, and the completion, By reversing through the process of regret, going for refuge, this factor of intention can be eliminated from the negative action. The negative action is dependent arising, isn’t it?
Negative action is dependent upon its effect, and it’s dependent upon these four factors. If we remove the causes, if we remove the basis of imputation, then the negative action no longer exists. Therefore, this allows for the possibility of purification because the negative actions are not inherently existent. They’re dependent arising. By applying the four opponent powers, we can remove the basis for imputation of the negative actions and purify them.
They will never result in a bad migration or bad suffering. We can see that we have this evolution of suffering, how it comes about through ignorance. Within the second noble truth, that is, true sources, are karmic sources and sources which are the afflictive emotions, such as desire or hatred. But basically it’s ignorance, isn’t it? Of these two, the main source of suffering is the afflictive emotions.
Due to afflictive emotions we engage in actions, contaminant actions. If we can eliminate, purify these actions, at least of these twelve links, we’ve at least reduced the power of the second link. We haven’t attacked the main, the root of cyclic existence, but we’ve lessened the second link, and therefore we’re going to lessen this evolution of suffering, and we’re going to suffer less. This is hopefully something of what Lama Zopa asked me to talk about, to give you a feeling that there is this evolution of our problems, of our suffering, that is based upon actions, that is our karma, and that we have within us now all these various karmic potentials, are going to eventually ripen, eventually bring us suffering. But in fact, we have an opportunity to purify them, to remove their potency through applying the four powers, the four counteracting agents.
In this case, he specifically asked that we meditate using the purification and visualization of Śākyamūni Buddha. So, we’ll do that. Perfect. We’ll do that for a while. Okay?
Be mindful of the breath for a minute or two, just to settle the mind. We’ve talked about the ten non virtuous actions. Three of body, four of speech, and three of mind. Killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, divisive speech, harsh speech, idle chatter, covetousness, harmful intention, and wrong view. Consider only these, merely these ten non virtuous actions.
In the course of a day, how many times do you engage in them? How many Just go through your day. How many how many times have you engaged in any of these ten non virtuous actions? In the course of today, for example. Have you lied today or killed?
Had a harmful, harsh speech? Coveted something? Wrong view. Of all these ten non virtues, the worst result is to be born in hell. That’s the ripening effect.
But also, even as it when we’re born as a human, we’re born in very unpleasant situations. For example, if we kill, we have short life. We’re always in fear of our life. If we commit sexual misconduct, then our spouse will never be faithful. If we lie, people will never listen to us, even when we’re telling the truth.
If we steal, we’ll be poor. Imagine that you’re actually experiencing the fruit of some of these negative actions that you’ve committed. You’re experiencing poverty, harsh speech, and people are hurting you, insult you, criticize you all the time. Harmful intention, people are hostile, aggressive towards you. Or maybe you’re just taking your birth in hell, or as an animal, a hungry ghost.
Try to imagine the results of some of these negative karmas that you’ve already committed, even today. Fear of such a result. Within your mind right now, at this very moment, you have karma to be born in hell, to undergo unremitting, intense physical and mental pain. What would it be like to be experiencing unremitting, intense physical pain and mental pain? Does that move you in any way?
To be placed in the middle of a fire, become one with the fire, and no one to help you, no one to come to your aid. Just pain. In this pain. That you have the cause within your mind now at this moment to experience that. So it’s necessary to generate regret and go for refuge.
As well as you can. A throne supported by eight lions. On top of the throne is a lotus. On top of the lotus is a sun and moon disc. And on top of the moon disc is seated Śākyamūni Buddha.
It’s made of light. It’s very blissful. Just infinite specks of light, not solid light. With a sense of regret for these negative actions. And a sense of confidence, conviction.
You make heartfelt supplication requests to the Buddha to help purify these negative actions. He smiles and he accepts your request. From his heart, white light radiates down to the top of your head. Your whole body is filled with radiant white light from the very top of your head down to your toes, pure white light. This white light is destroying all the negative karma that you’ve created, purifying it, dissolving it into the void, into emptiness.
You feel light and happy. This white radiant light comes down and filling your body. We recite the Buddha mantra. The Buddha comes to the top of your head and changes into white light. White light comes in through the crown of your head into your body.
And you yourself are changed to the image of the Buddha. You yourself are Buddha, with all his qualities of body, with all his qualities of speech and mind, that we aren’t our limited, ordinary, self insufficient self with all our negative qualities, but we are actually Buddhas, complete in all ways. Try to feel that you’re actually a Buddha. Identify with that omniscient mind, with a speech which can help others, in which a body made of light, which can radiate out emanations and be a benefit to others. You are Buddha.
Body radiate out white light, beams of light, touching all the sentient beings in the world, infinite sentient beings equaling space. And all this suffering is eliminated. They have all the realizations of the graduated path from guru devotion up to the ultimate nature of reality, and they are transformed into Buddhahood. They all become Buddhas. Beings are Buddhas.
All suffering has been eliminated. Your work is complete. The struggle is over. Now there’s just a sense of joy in your heart. You’ve accomplished your ultimate purpose, your ultimate aim of life.
Just the feeling of joy. The merit that we’ve created from our meditation. By this virtue, may I quickly realize Guru Buddha for myself and lead each sentient being into that enlightened state. May the precious bodhicitta, where it is unborn, arise. May that born have no decline, but develop more and more.