Verse 8 of 37 Bodhisattva practises

The Subduer said that all the unbearable suffering of bad rebirths, Is the fruit of wrong doing, Therefore, even at the cost of your life, never do wrong, This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

Geshe Tenzin Zopa said:

Practice no: 8 is to reflect on the suffering of the lower realms
with negative actions as the cause. In this verse, one is introduced
to the small capability being’s renunciation of this life as his goal
is obtaining a better future life (free from the lower realms).
It begins with the meditation on the suffering of three lower
realms - the hell, hungry ghost and animal realms. The purpose
of this is so that even though we are not in the three lower realms
right now, our actions of body, speech and mind have created the
complete causes to experience those suffering results and that if
we wish to avoid such lower rebirths, we need to abandon non-
virtuous actions, purify all the non virtuous actions and to avoid
non virtuous actions in the coming days.

How do avoid entering lower rebirths? By practicing the ten
virtuous actions, which is the principal practice of the small
capability being and by applying the Four Opponent Powers
practice, purify all the negative karma accumulated.

What are the 10 virtuous actions? The first set relate to actions
of the body – starting with not killing and that includes insects,
worms and germs. If one engages in the action of killing and then
omit to purify the karma, the consequence is to experience the
suffering of a lower realm rebirth. The second virtuous action
is not stealing. The third is avoiding sexual misconduct. Sexual
misconduct here includes having sexual relations with persons
other than your partner. During my consultation sessions, many
situations of sexual misconduct are raised. This rule is not about
prohibiting sexual conduct, it is prohibiting sexual misconduct.
In a marriage, for example, if one does not preserve this vow
to avoid sexual misconduct, many relationship problems will
arise or one will always feel dissatisfied and finally be born in
the lower realms.

The next set of virtuous actions relate to speech: Not lying, not
engaging in harsh speech, not engaging in divisive speech and
avoiding idle gossip. As long as one’s words hurts others, it is using
harsh speech. Sarcasm is also harsh speech. We call ourselves
Mahayanic practitioners but if we cannot even uphold these 10
virtuous actions, we not only fail to be Mahayanic practitioners,
we even fail in the small capability being’s practice.

We tend to think that idle gossip is not a serious matter. However,
if we are not careful, gossip will soon become a habit. And the
fruit of that is to experience the sufferings of the lower realms.
Right now, the sufferings of this human existence makes us
scream and cry out for painkillers. Should we be born in the
lower realms of far more intense suffering, what will we do
then? Panadol won’t help then.

Next comes to the virtuous actions related to mind. Avoiding
covetousness - It is through attachment and desire that one
wishes in a grasping way, to possess what others have. Next
comes avoiding ill-will - having the mind to harm others due to
anger or dislike. Covetousness is due to attachment and ill will is
due to anger. The 10th virtuous action is not holding wrong view.
There are many categories of wrong views here. One example is
having no faith in karmic cause and effect; disbelieving in relation
to refuge or in relation to the Four Noble Truths. All these are
to be avoided.

By engaging in the 10 virtuous actions, one can avoid a lower
realm rebirth (animal, hungry ghost and hell realms). The 3
higher realms are human, demi-god and god realms. Within
these three higher realms, the one with the greatest opportunity
to practice Buddhadharma, to attain full enlightenment is the
human realm. Therefore, as a minimum, we should motivate
ourselves by practicing the ten virtuous actions for us to obtain
the prefect human rebirth next life, to meet the perfect guru
and meet the complete teachings of the Buddha.

Meditation on the lower realms requires one to know in detail
what they are. In the teachings of the “Precious Garland” eight
different types of cold hells and hot hells are described, each with
its own cause and manner of suffering. In the preta (hungry ghost)
realm, there are various types of suffering of extreme hunger and
thirst without any hope of food nor drink. In the animal realm,
they live a life of fear and ignorance, devouring each other. Big
animals eating smaller animals and so on. We might think that
many animals have a peaceful life as they do not seem to have to
worry about much. But in fact, animals have tremendous suffering
like unimaginable fear, born from ignorance as they have obtained
the contaminated physical form.

Why is it necessary to reflect and meditate on the suffering of the
three lower realms? In order to persuade oneself to practice the
ten virtuous actions. Even for us who claim to be Bodhisattvayana
practitioners, when we forget to think of suffering. Only when
we get into trouble do we seek the Buddha’s help. When we
are in a happy and excited state of mind, do we even remember
Dharma? Do we recall the kindness of the Buddha then? Very
seldom. But when we are in trouble, then we earnestly call out
to the Buddha or Tara. This is a common habit – one only calls if
help is needed; otherwise, one tends to neglect others.

Thus, if we do not frequently recall the suffering of lower realms,
it is quite likely that we will constantly accumulate causes to fall
into lower realms. Without question, the practice of ten virtuous
actions is the main practice of the small capability being but
is also amongst the principal practices for the middle capable
being and higher capability beings.

The verse asks us to understand that negative action produces
suffering. Simple as that. For this, one needs to know how
karma works. In general, there are 4 points to consider when
referring to how karma operates – (i) Karma is definite (ii) karma
increases, (iii) one would never experience a result unless one
has committed the cause for it (iv) whatever karma that has
been accumulated will not disappear on its own, i.e. one will
definitely experience the result.

(i) Karma is definite. What action we commit will definitely
bring about a result. We might think we have not committed
any crime in this life but we cannot be sure if we have done
so in a past life. If we have and if we have not experienced
the result yet, like having a lower realm rebirth, then it is
crucial for us to immediately apply the antidote called the
Four Opponent Powers to purify it. Otherwise, a terrible
experience could soon be at our door.

What about purification? Does purification work? From
Buddha’s own advice, it is stated that applying Four Opponents
Powers can purify one’s entire negative karma i.e. any negative
karma can be purified before it is ripened. But once karma has
ripened, purification practice is still useful in terms of reducing
the pain. It can be experienced in one minute or instead of
experiencing a lower realm rebirth, one merely experiences a
headache in this life as a human. Hence, there are benefits of
doing purification despite definite karma. Failing to do so will
result in certain rebirth in the lower realms.

(ii) The second aspect is that karma increases. No matter
how small an action may be, the impending result that act
snowballs moment by moment. A big tree comes from
a small seed. That illustrates the increasing nature of all
karmic action, whether it was virtuous action or negative
action. Be careful! Assuming we have done virtuous action,
it is vital to dedicate in emptiness, like what our guru
Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche does in his dedications. If we
do not dedicate the virtues we commit, there is a danger
that our next moment of anger will destroy the merits
generated. Whilst karma has the ability to increase, it also
has the ability to degenerate if we are not mindful. So for
virtuous actions, we need to dedicate it in a manner so
that will be preserved and able to continuously increase.
Dedications facilitate this, especially if one dedicates with
the bodhicitta motivation for the benefit of all living beings
and their enlightenment.

As for negative karma, if we are quick to purify our negative
karma, it will not increase. We might think that killing an
insect such as mosquito or ant is a small thing. However,
due to the factor of karma increasing moment by moment,
if we kill an insect today and fail to purify it within 17 days,
the karmic result will be similar to killing one large animal.
And after another more time passes, it is equivalent to
killing a human being. What type of suffering results are we
going to experience if we fail to purify the karma of killing
a human being. Therefore being careful with ants is also
important!

Killing is not to be taken lightly. Even killing germs. Those
of us who take antibiotics, its main purpose is to kill the
virus or germs. That is also killing and if you omit to do
purification, after sometime it will become very heavy
karma. Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the best example.
Rinpoche has diabetes and blood pressure. No matter
how much we request him to take his medication but
he refuses because he wishes to avoid killing. For many
years, Rinpoche would do observation before he takes any
medicine and after being certain that no beings would be
harmed would he consume the medicine.
We see the doctor for every small sickness and are quick to
ask the doctor for antibiotics. If we do this mindlessly, are
requesting to peform negative karmas. Thus, the best thing is
taking preventive measures – e.g. exercise to stay healthy, eat
sensibly, have a happy mind. Less stress also helps for one’s good
health. Exercise such as prostrations will definitely help. As long
as you have good health, you will not need to take antibiotics or
medicine. As long as our action harms another’s life, we cannot
do. That is the fundamental teaching of the Buddha. And if due
to circumstances we do harm others, immediately purification is
required because karma increases.

~