Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Ven Thubten Dondrub guides practitioners through a meditation on the ten non-virtues in this 40-minute session, grounding the teaching in cause and effect. He first establishes why avoiding these ten destructive actions matters: they are the only causes that can result in lower-realm rebirth, whereas virtuous actions alone create human rebirth. For each non-virtue—killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, divisive speech, harsh speech, idle gossip, covetousness, malice, and wrong views—he explains the fourfold structure needed for complete karma to form and then unfolds the four ripening results: the throwing karma itself, the result similar to the cause, the environmental result, and the habitual result that perpetuates suffering across lives. He concludes by inverting each negative action into its opposite virtue and guides practitioners to make a strong determination to avoid harm and cultivate virtuous conduct for themselves and others. Suited for practitioners with basic familiarity with karma teachings.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 7b. Day 2 Meditation Ten non-virtues.mp3
UUID: 6cf28323-33a9-41fb-b8d6-3e17074a4817
Teacher: Ven Thubten Dondrub
Collection: Meditations DTL (Ven Thubten Dondrub)
Date: 2006 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 39.9 minutes
Words: ~2,297
So following on from what we reflected on this morning, we can consider how if I don’t want suffering, if I really don’t want it, I have to stop creating the causes for it. That is the only way my suffering is going to stop. And if I want happiness, I have to create the causes. So to stop suffering, I have to avoid the negative actions of body, speech, and mind. If I want happiness, I’ll have to engage in the virtuous actions of body, speech, mind.
This will mean I’ll have less suffering in this life, more happiness, and I won’t create the cause to fall into the lower realms at the time of death, but in fact, be able to create the cause for a good rebirth. And in so doing, I’m renouncing attachment to this life. It’s also important to reflect that practicing the law of cause and effect, avoiding negative actions, cultivating good ones, is the practice of loving kindness and compassion. Compassion is the thought not wanting suffering, so by avoiding negative actions, we are actually cultivating real compassion for ourselves instead of self-cherishing. Loving kindness is the wish for happiness, genuine happiness.
So by cultivating virtuous actions that result in happiness, this is the way to practice real love for ourselves instead of self-cherishing. And so it’s the basis for being able to cultivate compassion and loving kindness for others. So before coming to some detail into the the ten non virtues, we also reflect that why it’s so important to avoid these ten non virtues. Is that because by engaging in any of them, especially with a strong negative motivation, they become the cause. If we create complete karma, that can become the cause to take rebirth in the lower realms, in nonhuman realms.
None of the non virtues can by engaging them, they cannot be the cause of a human rebirth. A human rebirth can only be caused by virtuous actions. So negative actions can only result in a non human suffering rebirth. So firstly we can reflect that for these negative non virtues, karmic imprint from them to ripen, to bring a lower rebirth and all the other suffering results, this comes from creating a complete negative action, with all four factors present. So these four factors are: having the negative motivation, particularly of anger or attachment or ignorance.
So there has to be that negative motivation. There has to be the unmistaken object that we direct that negative motivation to a particular object, person, thing that we consciously direct it towards. There has to be the action, the negative action itself. And then there has to be the completion of the action. So if all those are present and complete, that becomes a complete karma, a complete negative action, and that becomes a throwing karma, that if it ripens at the time of death, can throw our consciousness into a suffering rebirth.
So just reflect that if we have completed the complete negative action of killing and generate the full karmic imprint in our mind, and that isn’t purified, then the first result of that is that it throws us into one of the lower realms. Most particularly into the lowest realms of all. This means killing any sentient being can have that effect. Not just killing a human being, but killing an animal, an insect can lead to this ripening result, the fully ripened result. But even when that experience of that lower realm finishes, that’s not the ending of the result from that one action of killing.
Because in a later life, when we become a human being due to some virtuous action, we experience three other results of that one act of killing. One of these results is the result similar to the cause, which can manifest in various ways of being killed or murdered, having a short life, having a great deal of sickness and disease, having a very weak body, also experiencing many troubles in our life. In addition, we experience the environmental result that we are born as a human being in a place where we experience many problems, violent place with many wars, or a place where there is very little food or medicine, where it has very little power, the food in that place, or the medicine has very little power to sustain our life. And the final karmic result, Lama Zopa Rinpoche says, is in fact the worst result of all, is that we have the habit. We have created the habit to kill.
And since we’ve created the habit, then we do kill again, and then all the other suffering results come again. Born in a lower realm, have a short suffering life, born in a horrible environment, and we have the habit to kill again and again. In this way, saṃsāra cyclic existence perpetuates itself. Our cyclic existence perpetuates itself. If we don’t want any of these suffering results to come to us now or in the future, then we have to stop engaging in this negative action.
It will never benefit us. Again, if we engage in stealing something, even if something of quite small value, the karmic result can be being born in the lower realm, particularly in the preta realm. Then when we take a human rebirth again due to good karma, we experience the other results that we have things stolen from us or whatever possessions we have deteriorate very quickly, become damaged or spoiled very quickly. Or even if that doesn’t happen, whatever we have somehow doesn’t we’re not able to use it properly and enjoy it completely. We lose things easily.
We’re born in an environment which is very barren, where it’s very difficult for the necessities of life to be achieved, where things are easily destroyed. And again, we have that habit to steal. By engaging in sexual misconduct and creating those negative imprints when they ripen at the time of death, they can cause rebirth in the lower realm, especially in the preta realms or the animal realms. When we take a human rebirth at some other time due to good karma, we experience the other effects of that one negative action, the result similar to the cause that we find it very difficult to have good relations of any kind with other people, in particular with partners. We we become easily separated from them, have many problems with them.
The environmental result is to be born in an extremely dirty place. And then there is the habit to engage in this action again, and for all the experiences, the negative suffering results to come again and again. As a result of lying, when that karmic imprint ripens at the time of death, it can throw us into one of the lower realms. When we’re reborn a human being again at some other time due to good karma, still we have to experience more suffering results from that one action of lying. The result is similar to the cause, that people don’t believe what we say even when we actually are speaking the truth.
We’re born in an environment where there is a lot of cheating and dishonesty, where it’s very difficult to find people to trust. And one has the habit to deceive others again and again. Again, with divisive speech, the karmic imprint from that can, if it ripens at the time of death, can throw us into one of the lower realms. When we take rebirth as a human being at some point again, We experience the results similar to the cause of experiencing a great deal of loneliness. Since we’ve created division between people, then we experience the result that people don’t want to be with us.
So we experience a great deal of loneliness, having few friends, again, finding it difficult to have good relations with other people. And the environmental result is that we are born in a place where just because of the physical environment itself, it’s very difficult to communicate with people. Born in a very rugged, inhospitable environment. And we have the tendency to cause disunity among people even when we don’t consciously intend it, wish it. Somehow the things we say and do bring that about.
Again, with harsh speech, when that karmic imprint ripens at the time of death, it can throw us into one of the lower realms. Then when we take rebirth as a human again due to good karma, we have to experience the bad karmic result from that one action of harsh speech. The result simulates the cause of people being abusive towards us, speaking badly about us. Even when we try to say pleasant things to others, it can happen that people completely misinterpret what we’ve said. And the environmental result is to be born in an environment a physical environment that is uncomfortable in various ways.
Even the vegetation is very sharp and can physically harm us. And we have this tendency, this habit, this instinct to be critical and hurtful of others. And even if we engage in meaningless idle gossip with a very strong attachment or anger or ignorance, even the imprint from that when it ripens at the time of death, can throw our consciousness into a lower realm. And then when we take human rebirth again due to good karma, we still have to experience these suffering results from that one action. The result similar to the cause that people don’t take our speech seriously, don’t tend to listen to what we say.
We may give advice that everyone else says the same thing, but people don’t listen to what we say. One is born into an environment where things don’t grow well, where the rains come at the wrong time, and where our activities are not successful. And we have the habit of talking uncontrollably. Again, with covetousness, the imprints from that at the time of death can throw us into a lower realm, especially the preta realms. When we are human again, we experience the results similar to the cause, that we never get what we want, never achieving our wishes, constantly frustrated in what we do, Born in an environment where resources are very poor, and what material resources there are are very easily destroyed or lost.
And we have the tendency or habit to be continuously dissatisfied, always craving for something. If we engage in strong malice or ill will, then the imprint from that, if it ripens at the time of death, throws us into a lower realm, especially in the hell realms. When we take human rebirth again, we experience the results similar to the cause of having a great deal of fear, being easily frightened and panicked by things, becoming quite paranoid, feeling that so many things are threatening me. We are born in a very violent environment that also has a lot of disease. And then we have the tendency, the habit, the instinct to hurt others.
If we engage in very stubbornly holding on to wrong views, the karmic imprint from that, if it ripens at the time of death, throws us into the lower realms. And then when we take a human rebirth again, we experience the result similar to the cause of being very stubborn, finding it very difficult to believe in things that are true. We find it difficult to understand the dharma, difficult to gain realizations of it. And we’re born in a very polluted environment where the water supply becomes very easily used up, where plant crops fail. And then we have the tendency, the instinct, to have wrong views by very often coming to the drawing the wrong conclusion from something.
Someone says something, and we get the completely wrong impression. We hear a teaching, and we completely misunderstand. So think that if I engage in any of these actions, these results, and I don’t purify the imprints, these results definitely come and they come again and again and again. So if I don’t want even the slightest of these problems, then I’ve got to stop creating these kinds of actions, and in fact, start creating the very opposite things, doing the very opposite. Protecting and nourishing life instead of harming it, caring for others’ property instead of stealing it, sharing our own, giving, practicing generosity.
Instead of sexual misconduct, practicing self control and also faithfulness to our partners. Instead of lying, engaging in honesty and integrity, instead of using our speech to cause divisions, using it to reconcile people, to bring harmony, instead of hurting with harsh speech, using our speech to be pleasant, to please the minds of others, to encourage them, Replacing meaningless gossip with meaningful, helpful speech. Cultivating contentment instead of craving. Cultivating loving kindness, patience, and compassion instead of ill will, and developing open mindedness and faith instead of wrong views. So bring this reflection to an end by making strong conclusion, determination, to be mindful of these negative actions of body, speech, and mind so that one can avoid them in every situation as much as possible for one’s own sake, for the sake of others.
Make the determination instead to use this precious human rebirth to engage more and more in their opposites, the virtuous actions of body, speech, and mind for one’s own sake, for the sake of others. Then recall the Guru Buddha at one’s crown, seeing the Buddha very pleased with our practice, and because of that happily dissolving into golden light and that blissful light coming down through our crown, pervading our whole being, blessing our mind to gain complete, stable, unmistaken realization of the law of cause and effect.