8. THE LAWS OF KARMIC EVOLUTION
THE THIRD DALAI LAMA
One may wonder: Granted, abiding in refuge in the Three Jewels can protect me from the misery of lower rebirth, but how can I produce the causes which bring about a higher rebirth?
For this we must consider the four aspects of karmic law: positive and negative deeds plant seeds that will bear respective fruit, i.e., goodness produces future happiness and evil produces future misery; one seed produces many fruits, each of which has many seeds of a like nature; a deed not done produces no result; and every deed one does in body, speech, or mind leaves a karmic seed in one’s continuum that is never exhausted [unless worked out or neutralized by spiritual exercises]. When one has contemplated these four aspects of karmic law, the importance of living in accordance with the teachings of abandoning negativity and cultivating the good becomes obvious.
To prove the laws of karma solely by means of the force of logic is an extremely difficult and lengthy process, and only a person well versed in logical reasoning could even follow the process. So instead, I will quote a verse from the King of Absorptions Sutra,
Moon and stars may fall to earth,
Mountains and valleys may crumble
And even the sky may disappear;
But you, O Buddha, speak nothing false.
Bearing these words in mind we can consider the following teaching from Buddha himself,
From evil comes suffering;
Therefore day and night
One should think and rethink
About how to escape misery forever.
And also,
The roots of all goodness lie
In the soil of appreciation for goodness.
Constantly meditate upon how to ripen
The fruits that can grow therefrom.
The main precept of refuge is to develop mindfulness of karmic law. For this one must first gain an understanding of the principles of karma and its evolution and then try to practice accordingly.
It is said that when one generates clairvoyance one is able to perceive coarser levels of the workings of karma and that a fully enlightened being sees the subtlest karmic cause of every event. For the ordinary person, however, knowledge of the karmic laws of cause and effect is something acquired only in reliance upon the scriptures. There are a number of logical treatises establishing the theory of karma through the use of reason, but these can only be understood through extensive study.
The Third Dalai Lama gives the quote, “But you, O Buddha, speak nothing false.” Before ordinary persons will be able to feel inclined to rely upon the scriptures, they must first gain respect for the Enlightened One. They must be able to open themselves to the teachings. This respect can be generated in some beings by meditating upon the qualities and characteristics of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. But a superior method is to first study the teachings on the two levels of reality—ultimate and conventional—with emphasis upon the subject of emptiness.
The doctrine of emptiness is both vast and profound, and an understanding of it gives one great confidence in the general teachings. In this context Lama Tsongkhapa wrote, “Insight into the teachings on relativity enhances appreciation for all Buddha’s works.”
The two fundamental spiritual aims are higher rebirth and ultimate goodness. The latter of these means either of two states: the liberation of nirvana or the omniscience of enlightenment. Ultimate goodness is a more sublime goal than higher rebirth, and the teachings on it are all based on logic and reason. The teachings on the laws of karma, the understanding and practice of which results in higher rebirth, can only be presented to the ordinary person on the basis of scriptural evidence. When we study the higher teachings on ultimate goodness and gain an understanding of them by analyzing them carefully with logical reason, contemplating them deeply, and seeing how they coincide with our own experiences in life, we gain a confidence in them that is based on our own reflections. This opens our heart to the teachings of the Enlightened Ones. We come to feel that since Buddha gave such profound, logical instructions on the nature of the self and the deeper levels of truth, then surely his other doctrines will be correct. The study of scriptures dealing with emptiness, the ultimate nature of things, is beneficial not only because it cuts off the ugly head of ego-grasping but also because it enhances our openness toward all the teachings, including those such as the doctrine of karma, that we will only be able to personally verify as true when we gain higher meditative attainments.
Fundamental to all schools of Buddhism is the doctrine of the Four Noble Truths: the truths that imperfect existence is enmeshed in suffering; that this suffering has a cause; that there is a state wherein there is a cessation of suffering; and that there is a spiritual path leading to the state beyond all suffering. These must also be understood in their sequential order: from the cause of suffering arises the reality of suffering; from the cause of practicing the path arises the reality wherein there is a cessation of suffering. Thus the first two Truths describe samsara and how we wander in it; the latter two refer to ultimate peace and how we attain it.
The initial levels of teachings—those on how to avoid degenerating into the lower states of being and on how to attain the states of a human or god—are thus mostly connected with the first two Truths. Their theme is how to abandon samsaric suffering and gain samsaric happiness. The teachings for gaining liberation and omniscience, the respective goals of practitioners of medium and great perspectives, are mostly related to the second two Truths.
Traditionally in Lam Rim literature the teachings of the three perspectives are given in accordance with the nature of the spiritual quality to be experienced by the trainee at his or her specific level of attainment. A problem here is that as the practices of initial perspective are mostly related to the first two Truths, which describe samsara and its evolution, their principal subjects revolve around the doctrine of karma. Now, as I said earlier, unless one has clairvoyance or omniscience one has to rely upon the scriptures in order to formulate an understanding of the laws of karma. Thus, in order to follow the traditional approach we require strong faith, a requirement that somewhat contradicts Buddha’s advice always to proceed on the basis of reason.
My own feeling is that as a preliminary to Lam Rim practice, one should study scriptures such as Nagarjuna’s Fundamental Treatise on Wisdom and Chandrakirti’s Guide to the Middle View. These works are the essential substances of the teachings on penetrative wisdom into emptiness, which are usually given at higher stages of Lam Rim training [as in the case of the Essence of Refined Gold]. Through studying the wisdom teachings on emptiness, one gains an understanding of how all living beings have an innate grasping at an “I” that simply does not exist in the same mode as it appears. Thus this “I” that appears to us is false, like a rope that we think is a snake. All objects of knowledge—tables, chairs, and so forth—are empty of the inherent “I” status that we give to them. The wisdom teachings then describe how this false concept of “I” interferes with our perception of everything and gives rise to the entire host of delusions and negative activities.
When we study the scriptures on these subjects we are encouraged to question and reason to the fullest extent. Nothing is to be taken on faith alone. By persisting in our study, we experience how an understanding of the emptiness of the false “I” pacifies the mind of distortion and lessens delusions, thus enhancing mental peace. This gives one confidence in the last two Noble Truths—the cessation of suffering and the path to cessation—and this confidence in turn renders one’s mind more receptive to the first two Noble Truths and the doctrine of karma around which they revolve. On the basis of this confidence one will be able to accept the Four Noble Truths and engage in the practice of Dharma.
This roundabout way of establishing the validity of karmic law is not perfectly sound, but it is sufficiently convincing to open our mind to the Four Truths to the degree that we will be able to pursue further practice and attain deeper and more conclusive experiences.
THE THIRD DALAI LAMA
As is here implied, one should in general abandon all negative activity and in particular should contemplate the four unpleasant aspects of the ten non-virtues of the body, speech, and mind: killing, stealing, and wrong sexual activity [such as having intercourse near a temple or near the guru’s house, having intercourse on a new or full moon, taking more than five orgasms in one night, etc.]; lying, speaking harshly, slandering others, or indulging in meaningless babble; and holding thoughts of attachment, ill-will, or wrong views.
To show the four unpleasant aspects of karma by the example of the results of killing: (i) the main effect is lower rebirth; (ii) the effect similar to the cause is that in a future rebirth you will be killed or will see many dear ones killed; (iii) the effect similar to the action is that you will have the tendency to kill again in future lives and thus will multiply the negative karma; and (iv) the effect on the environment is that even if you gain a good rebirth your environment will be violent.
The effect is also graded into minor, medium, and heavy degrees, depending upon the object. For example, killing a human results in rebirth in hell, killing an animal results in rebirth as a ghost, and killing an insect results in animal rebirth.
Keep in mind these words from Chapter of the Truthful One,
O King, do not kill,
For all that lives cherishes life.
If you wish to live long yourself, respect life
And do not even think of killing.
The cause of suffering is said to be negative karma and delusion. In this case, karma refers to the actions that leave an imprint of an according nature upon the mindstream. A negative action is defined simply as any action that has suffering as its result, and conversely a positive action as any action having happiness as its result. Both positive and negative actions leave karmic instincts on the mind, instincts that lie dormant within us until one day the appropriate conditions manifest to activate them. If the ripening instinct is positive, one experiences happiness; if negative, one experiences suffering.
Karma has four main characteristics. The first is its increasing effect: goodness heralds further goodness and evil heralds further evil. Secondly, karma is definite: in the long run, goodness always produces joy and negativity always produces suffering. Thirdly, one never experiences a joy or sorrow that does not have an according karmic cause. And lastly, the karmic seeds that are placed on the mind at the time of an action will never lose their potency even in a hundred million lifetimes, but will lie dormant within the mind until one day the conditions that activate them appear.
Therefore the first thing the practitioner of initial perspective has to learn at this point is which actions are positive and which negative, which are to be cultivated and which abandoned.
THE THIRD DALAI LAMA
As said here, one should rely upon an attitude resolved not to entertain thoughts of any evil action, such as killing and the rest of the ten negative deeds. All forms of evil should be abandoned, and one should strive with all one’s might to actualize goodness. To quote Jey Rinpoche,
There is no certainty that after death lower
rebirth does not await you,
But there is certainty that the Three Jewels have
power to protect you from it.
Therefore, base yourself upon refuge
And let not the refuge precepts degenerate.
Also, consider the working bf black and white
actions.
Practicing correctly is your own responsibility.
The negative courses of action to be abandoned are tenfold. Three of these refer to physical actions: killing, stealing, and misuse of sexuality. Four are of speech: lying, speaking cruelly, slander, and meaningless talk. The last three are mental actions: attachment, harmful thoughts, and wrong views. By avoiding these ten and dwelling in their opposites we practice the ten virtues.
What are the effects of the ten negative courses of action? In the example of killing, violence shortens this life and creates karmic causes for oneself to be killed in a future life. Becoming familiar with killing means that one’s mind becomes more prone to engaging in killing in the future. If we kill in this lifetime, we are reborn with a pleasure for killing. We can see this reflected in the behavior of young children. Some infants seem to totally enjoy killing. Whenever they see an insect, they run up and step on it, laughing with joy. Sometimes they capture animals and torture them to death. Such actions demonstrate a familiarity with killing gained in previous lives. On the other hand, children who show compassion and who cannot bear to see anything harmed reflect the way positive karmic seeds can influence our lives from birth.
As Buddhists we should try to avoid the ten negative karmas throughout this life, or at least to steadily reduce them.
It is difficult to totally avoid the ten negative ways. For example, what if we get bedbugs? If I were to say not to kill them, I doubt that many would take the advice. And I myself would find it unpleasant to live in a bed infested with bugs. Therefore I always recommend prevention of the difficulty as the best solution. Hygiene, cleanliness, simplicity, and conscientiousness can prevent most insect and rodent problems from arising.
Killing and eating meat are interrelated, so do we have to give up eating animal products? I myself once tried to give it up, but health problems arose and two years later my doctors advised me to again use meat in my diet. If there are people who can give up eating meat, we can only rejoice in their noble efforts. In any case, at least we should try to lessen our intake of meat and not eat it anywhere where it is in scarce supply and our consumption of it would cause added slaughter.
Although as a result of the climate and environment of our country we Tibetans have been a race of meat-eaters, the Mahayana teachings on compassion have had a mitigating effect. All Tibetans are aware of the expression, “All sentient beings, my mothers in previous lives.” The nomads, who did most of the animal husbandry—who came on pilgrimage to Lhasa wearing long fur overcoats rolled down to their waists even in the middle of winter, a bundle of blessing strings hanging down upon their naked chests—were completely familiar with “All beings, previously my mother.” Although they looked rather like a band of robbers and thieves, they were spiritual people with faith in the Mahayana. But they were nomads with no source of subsistence except for animal flesh. They would always kill their animals as humanely as possible while whispering prayers into their ears. In Lhasa a popular meritorious practice was to buy and release an animal destined for slaughter. If ever an animal were to become sick and die, the people could be seen sprinkling holy water on it and making prayers. Throughout the country it was illegal to kill any wild animals with the exception of the wolf, who is the enemy of the nomad, and the rodent, the enemy of the farmer.
The second negative karma is stealing. The negative influence that stealing introduces into society is obvious. Walk up to somebody on the street at random and call them a thief. I doubt that they will be flattered. If there is one thief in a city of 100,000 people, there is one thief too many. As Buddhists we should never consider stealing and we should discourage and prevent others from engaging in it. If we should catch anybody stealing, we should advise against it, and, if that person does not accept our advice, we should maintain a sense of compassionate responsibility and threaten them. An orderly society requires people with a sense of personal responsibility for peace and harmony. By permitting people to steal we only contribute to their collection of negative karma and to the degeneration of the society in which we and our children must live.
Instead of stealing, we should give to the poor and to needy causes. This would be far more beneficial for our minds and for the karmic patterns we weave.
Misuse of sexuality mainly refers to adultery, which is a principal cause of family problems. In ancient days entire wars were fought as a result of adultery. It disturbs the life of a palace just as it disrupts the life of the most humble and lowly household. Then there are psychological problems caused in the minds of children of families broken and divided because of adultery, children who do not know their father, who never see his face. Having no father, the child will lack natural paternal warmth and will often feel confused and melancholy. This lack will leave an impression on the mind that will last throughout life.
A Western friend once described to me the lightness with which sexuality is sometimes treated in the West and asked me what I thought of promiscuity. I replied that I doubt if it ever has much spiritual value and that in most cases I suspect it produces more suffering than joy in the long run. As for specific advice, I told him that personally I think that couples who do not want to live together long enough to raise a family should make every effort not to produce children. Other than that, provided that all parties involved agree and nobody is harmed, people can do what they like. My main concern is the mind of any child who may be involved. Our children are our only hope for the future.
The first of the negative sources of speech is lying. Truth and integrity are valuable characteristics, even if we are not involved in religious training. The understanding of someone who has studied the five great treatises is proved superficial by a single lie. As said in the story of Gyalpo Depa Tenpo, “Truth is everlasting but falsity has no existence,” Falsity is based upon fiction, not fact, so it has no solid foundation. On the other hand, truth is based on fact and thus its supports are strong. Therefore, although falsity may benefit us for a while, there is little hope that it can bring about a stable happiness. All members of a society are mutually interdependent, so how does it benefit their lives and the lives of their children if all they do is propagate falsity and distortion? Social harmony relies upon trust, and if we suspect that our neighbors never utter a dependable word it is difficult to establish an acceptable relationship with them. One’s mental peace is replaced by doubt and paranoia. Why should we allow ourselves to contribute to these ends? To do so is to dishonor human nature and the kindness of our ancestors and the past masters. Two brothers who lie and cheat one another are like people not born from the same mother. What unpleasant realities we create for ourselves! We should abandon these ways as though they were poison. Let them be objects of human compassion.
The second negativity of speech is slander, or divisive speech. This just further widens the gap between people who are already divided and separates people who are close. We speak freely about high-sounding endeavors like the bodhisattva practices and the tantric methods, but if we are still unable to handle basic exercises such as avoiding divisive speech, there is little spiritual significance in our talk. Rather than ridicule Dharma in this way, we should just fill our mouths with excrement. That would be more appropriate. We have to learn to honor, trust, and respect each other, and to rejoice in others’ happiness rather than jealously trying to cause conflicts and disharmony. When our practice just gives us an excuse to self-righteously slander others whom we suspect are not so pure as we imagine ourselves to be, it is time to tie a rope around our tongue for a while.
To be aware of a single shortcoming within oneself is more useful than to be aware of a thousand in somebody else. Rather than speaking badly about people and in ways that will produce friction and unrest in their lives, we should practice pure perception of them and, when we speak of others, only speak of their good qualities. If you find yourself slandering anybody, just fill your mouth with excrement. That will break you of the habit quickly enough.
Avoiding these ten negative ways and practicing their opposites gives birth to a state of mental harmony that can act as the basis for all the higher practices, such as meditative concentration, the thought of enlightenment, and the various tantric yogas. However, if one does not have the power of mind to maintain such basic trainings as avoiding the ten negative ways, there is little hope that our application of higher techniques will be very effective. A method is only as effective as the mind of the person using it. Instead of running about looking for the highest and most secret tantric yoga, we should examine ourselves sincerely and discern what level of practice is most appropriate to our level of spiritual qualification.
First we should work on the foundations, which means observance of the laws of karma through practice of the ten disciplines. Otherwise, all we are doing is cheating ourselves. We speak about how many texts we have studied, how many hours we meditate each day, and how many retreats we’ve done, but we would be better to calculate how many times a day we forget the ten disciplines. A useful practice is to sit quietly each evening and to review one’s activities of the day, silently acknowledging any failures and resolving to overcome such challenges in the future. Take refuge, meditate upon the bodhimind, and counteract the negative karmic instincts by applying any of the various meditative techniques. After the mind has been brought into the sphere of purity, one can proceed with one’s evening meditations or prayers.
The third negativity of speech is the usage of harsh words, words that cause pain in people’s hearts. Even the softest words are harsh if they strike with pain. Spiteful sarcasm is another form of harsh speech. These modes of speech all cause discomfort in the minds of living beings and therefore are to be avoided. It is better to say nothing than to say something cruel. Human life is short enough as it is; there is no need to misdirect and waste what little breath we have.
Meaningless talk is the fourth negativity of speech. Although ostensibly it is rather harmless, as the conversations wander on we eventually end up on a topic that does nothing other than feed delusion and drain us of time and energy. In itself it is not destructive, but as it harbors the seeds of vanity, it is in contradiction to spiritual endeavor.
The three negativities of mind—attachment, ill-will, and holding views contradicting reality—are the sources of all negativities of body and speech. Their relationship is like that of a horse and cart.
The first of these, attachment, is a longing desire for things that are or are not our own. It gives rise to countless negativities of body and speech. From attachment springs jealousy, anger, and all forms of afflicted emotions.
Ill-will is the most immediately destructive of the mental afflictions, resulting in violence, harm, and even killing. Holding views contradicting reality means believing that there is no relationship between one’s present activities and future experiences or that there is no enlightenment nor path to it. These types of views prevent one from leading a wholesome life and from entering the spiritual path.
THE THIRD DALAI LAMA
By guarding the ethical discipline of avoiding the ten negative actions one finds a decent rebirth, but if one wishes to go beyond that and gain the eight qualities conducive to continuing along the supreme path to omniscience—qualities such as high status, a good family, a strong mind, a harmonious body, and so forth—then one must also produce their causes, which are: to abandon harming any living being, to make offerings of light and so forth to the Triple Gem, to offer clothes, etc., to the needy, and, by means of overcoming pride, to have respect for all that lives. Take the responsibility of these practices into your own hands through the forces of mindfulness and conscientiousness.
To attain omniscient wisdom one must engage a powerful method. Through the practice of meditation upon emptiness one generates a store of wisdom, and through the other practices, such as benefiting others and meditating on compassion, etc., one generates a great store of creative energy. The protection of this creative energy is very much based upon the practice of the ten disciplines. Through the application of these ten disciplines we create harmony in this life that brings us peace and happiness and that is conducive to higher spiritual practice, and we lay karmic forces on our mind that shall contribute to providing us with causes for an auspicious rebirth having the eight qualities favorable to further spiritual progress.
Whenever we find that we have contradicted any of the ten disciplines, we should apply purifying meditations such as visualizing the Bodhisattva Vajrasattva and imagining lights purifying our mental stream while we recite the hundred-syllable Vajrasattva mantra or reading the Sutra of Purification with the Thirty-five Buddhas, etc. In this practice one recollects negativity, contemplates its nature, generates apprehension of its karmic implications, and resolves to purify one’s mind of the negative traces. On the basis of this resolve one takes refuge, develops the bodhimind, and enters the Vajrasattva meditation or whatever method is being used. One can also do exercises such as prostrations and so forth. This concentration of purifying energies destroys the potency of negative karmic imprints like the germ of a barley seed roasted in a fire. Here it is important to begin the meditation session with a contemplative meditation and then to transform this into settled meditation for a prolonged period of time. One abides in the settled meditation until it begins to lose intensity and then temporarily reverts to contemplative meditation in order to invigorate the mind, returning to fixed meditation once a contemplative atmosphere has been restored.
Generally our mind is habituated to directing all of our energies into things that benefit this life alone, things of no spiritual consequence. By performing these types of meditations, our natural attachment to the meaningless activities of this life subsides and we begin to experience an inner appreciation for spiritual values. When one’s mind spontaneously appreciates spiritual rather than mundane goals, one has become an active practitioner of initial perspective.
THE THIRD DALAI LAMA
However, if occasionally you are overpowered by strong mental distortion and commit a breach of practice, you should not be dispassionate but should confess to yourself the unwanted karmic obstacle at the proper time and place and, by means of the four opponent forces, should cleanse all stains of body, speech, and mind. These four are: contemplating the shortcomings of negativity in order to develop a sense of remorse at having committed a wrong; reliance upon the objects of refuge and the bodhimind as forces with the power to purify the mind of karmic stains; generation of a strong sense of resolve to turn away from such negative courses of action in the future; and the power of application of positive counteractive forces, such as the Vajrasattva mantra and so forth.
As Jey Rinpoche wrote,
Should you not find a suitable rebirth,
It will not be possible to progress along the path.
Cultivate the causes of a high rebirth;
Appreciate the importance of purifying
The three doors from stains of negativity.
Cherish the power of the four opponent forces.
By meditating in this way, the mind is turned away from the transient things of this life and takes an unfeigned interest in more lasting things. When this effect has been realized, one is known as the spiritual aspirant of initial perspective.