karma. The result of virtuous action is the experience of pleasure and comfort. The result of negative action is the experience of pain or discomfort, just as a particular crop ripens from particular seeds.
When we do something good or evil, even if it’s a very small action, it can slowly increase, so that its ripening effect becomes multiplied hundreds or thousands of times. Once something is done, whether it is good or evil, small or big, it will not go to waste until its effect has ripened, unless an antidote eliminates it. Whatever actions we perform, whether positive or negative, will have effects that ripen on us alone. Likewise, we will never experience the karmic effects of actions we did not do. Thinking carefully about this, adopt virtuous activity and reject nonvirtuous activity. Nonvirtuous actions can be condensed into the following ten negative karmic actions.
1 Taking the life of another sentient being, who is either of greater or lesser importance, whether motivated by desire, anger, or stupidity;
2 Taking what is not given through force, stealth, or deceit; and
3 Engaging in sexual misconduct, wherein you enjoy someone belonging to a certain family, to a certain owner, or under the guardianship of the dharma.
4 Lying to one’s parents or to someone of greater or lesser importance;
5 Talking divisively, whether directly, indirectly, or in a concealed way;
6 Using harsh words, directly, indirectly, or implicitly; and
7 Indulging in idle gossip, including gossip that is mundane, completely wrong, or actually true.
8 Coveting something for oneself, others, or both;
9 Harboring ill-will out of hatred, jealousy, or resentment; and
10 Holding wrong views about karma, about the truth, or about the Three Jewels.
Each of these ten has its specific karmic ripening that corresponds to the cause. Effects that accord with the opposite of these ten are called the ten virtuous actions.
When performing nonvirtuous activity, if we are primarily motivated by hatred, repeat the actions many times, or commit them towards a person of high importance, then the result is rebirth as a hell being. If we are driven by desire, repeat the actions to a moderate extent, or commit them towards a middling object, the result is rebirth as a hungry ghost. If we act out of stupidity or to a lesser degree, the result is rebirth as an animal.
Thus, considering that these actions become the cause of future suffering, apply methods that purify your past negative actions and commit to not repeating them again.
The ten virtuous actions, such as refraining from killing, lying, and so forth, are the opposite of the ten nonvirtuous ones. In addition, one should save lives; be generous; maintain decent conduct; be truthful; reconcile enmity; speak gently, kindly, and meaningfully; reduce craving; and be content. Out of kindness, generate more benevolence. With great conviction in the consequences of actions, develop the threefold trust. This will bring forth results that are the opposite of the ones mentioned above.
If one performs the ten virtues in a greater way, one will be born as a deva, a god. Enacting virtue in a middling way leads to rebirth as a human being. If one performs virtuous actions mixed with impure intentions, one will take birth as an asura, a demigod. Therefore, we should resolve ourselves to the fact that these ten virtuous actions are the cause of all happiness and well-being in this and future lives. Thus, we should think, “I will do only virtue!”
5. Going for refuge
Since the sufferings of the three lower realms are so unbearable, you have no choice but to seek out a refuge that can prevent you from taking further rebirth in those terrible places. In order to grant protection from the sufferings of samsara and the lower realms, one must be free from that suffering oneself. Therefore, mundane sentient beings, even the greatest of them, such as Brahma and Indra, cannot grant protection. As it is mentioned in the Nirvana Sutra:
Those who take refuge in the Three Jewels
Attain a state beyond fear.
Thus, one must rely on the Three Jewels.
The objects of refuge have three aspects. First, representations of enlightened body, speech, and mind and of the sangha are present in front of you. These objects are merely supports for your visualization.
The objects of realization are second. These include the Buddha, who is the embodiment of the three kayas; the sacred Dharma of statements and realization; and the noble Sangha. One regards the Buddha as the teacher, the Dharma as the path, and the Sangha as the companions on the path.
The Buddha is the only ultimate refuge, which is the third aspect. As the Uttaratantra shastra mentions:
The true meaning of taking refuge is exclusively the Buddha.
In this particular context, you regard Noble Lady Tara as embodying every single object of refuge. In essence, she is the mother of all the victorious ones, the female Bhagavan, Prajñaparamita in person. Her form is the Sangha, her speech is the sacred Dharma, and her mind is the nature of the Buddha, the awakened state.
Thus, imagine that Noble Lady Tara, indivisible from your own root guru, is seated in the sky before you upon a lotus flower and moon disc. Surrounded by an ocean of the objects of refuge, the Three Jewels, her right hand is in the gesture of bestowing protection. Sitting below her hand, you and all other sentient beings are under her constant protection from samsara, the lower realms, and all fears.
Imagining this, with one-pointed devotion repeat the words for taking refuge:
NAMO,
In the guru, in Noble Tara as yidam, and in the Three Jewels and the ocean of conquerors,
I and all sentient beings take refuge with one-pointed devotion until enlightenment.
Repeat those lines a hundred or a thousand times, however much you can. Then imagine that the objects of refuge melt into light and dissolve into you, blessing your stream of being. Then simply settle in the state of equanimity, free from mental constructs. At the end, dedicate the merit. Having gone for refuge like that, you must then train in the refuge precepts: the three general precepts, the three specific precepts, and the three subsidiary precepts. This is the general training for all Buddhists. By upholding these precepts, you will attain eight extraordinary benefits.
By this, we have covered the practices for the inferior type of person. These are the common stages of the path.
THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR INDIVIDUALS OF MIDDLING CAPACITY
