Note: This meditation is recorded in Tibetan along with English translations. Lam Rim Meditation (Stages of Path) on Karma: Geshe la gives instructions to settle the mind, and then leads a brief contemplation on karma or cause and effect. He closes with a brief reminder of the four essential points related to karma.
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Burlington, ON, Canada
Transcript
Greetings to all of my Dharma friends. I hope that you are well and I hope that you are happy. We have been going step by step through the Lamrim or the stages of the past topics. Geshe-la believes that today will be our 8th installment. We will be talking about the Lamrim, The spiritual friend, The root of the path, And the actual stages of training the mind. And in terms of the way to rely upon the virtuous friend or the spiritual teacher, The root of the path, Geshe-la said we will get to that and we will approach that topic very slowly. It is indeed very important. We will be talking about the Lamrim, The root of the path, And the actual stages of training the mind. In terms of the names of these teachings, The Lamrim or the stages of the path, This means the stages or steps. So the steps that we need to follow so that from lifetime to lifetime we can have good rebirths. The steps that we can follow so that we can approach liberation, Complete freedom from samsara. And the steps that we need to follow to journey on the bodhisattva path and eventually reach complete Buddhahood. So because of these teachings contain all of those steps expressed in an unmistak and unconfused way, They are known as the Lamrim, The stages of the path. Yes, That is right. We will be talking about the stages of training the mind. So then one of the important teachings contained here is that in terms of happiness and suffering, How they come about, The doer of this. The doer that brings forth happiness and suffering, Yes it is the mind, But especially karma, Cause and effect. So that is the topic. If we know how to protect our karma, We can make sure that we are accumulating less unwholesome karma. And we will know how to correctly engage with what is wholesome or positive good karma. However, Through purifying negative or unwholesome karma and merely accumulating wholesome or positive karma, Is that enough for us to achieve liberation from samsara? No, It is not enough in itself to do that. So you are not able to achieve liberation from samsara, But you are able to achieve liberation from samsara. That happens through the important practice of recognizing and developing the positive mental qualities, In particular wisdom. It is through the development of wisdom and those mental qualities that one can get rid of the root problem which causes samsara. And that is affliction or unwholesome mind. Yes, That is the reason why we are not able to achieve liberation from samsara. So today, Because the topic is cause and effect, We will explore this topic of karma and we will try to approach it from the perspective of meditation. Yes, That is the reason why we are not able to achieve liberation from samsara. So please put your body and mind in a relaxed state. Satsang with Mooji So all of the things of this world, Whether we speak about the mountains, The trees, The buildings and so forth, Any worldly objects, If we were to ask, Do they arise in the absence of causes and conditions? Do they do not arise in the absence of causes and conditions? And also in terms of ourselves or others, All of us, If we were to take this body or these bodies that we possess, Do these arise in the absence of causes and conditions? Do they arise connected to causes and conditions? Do they arise in the absence of causes and conditions? We could say that in terms of the karma from which these experiences arise, There are two types. We could say that shared or common karma, Cause and effect that is shared between us, And each of our own individual karmas or uncommon karma. So in terms of if we think of the situation of this world, Which we human beings along with other beings such as the animals inhabit, Many of the aspects of this world that arise, These are arising from our shared or common karma. If we think of the body that we possess, If this is something that arises from our uncommon or our individual karma, For those of us who are human beings, This human being arises mainly due to individual, Virtual, Or physical physical virtuous causes, Virtuous karma we've accumulated. In terms of this human body that we possess now, That didn't come from small instances of wholesome karma, Small instances of virtuous karma, It came from powerful, Powerful wholesome virtuous karma. In fact we could say that it came from a collection of three main causes. Firstly, The main cause, The protection of pure ethics, The assisting factor of training in the six paramitas or perfections, And engaging in stainless steel. And engaging in stainless prayers. And secondly, The main cause is because of the great difficulties we endured accumulating these positive causes, The great effort we put forth in previous lifetimes, That we have the situation of this human rebirth, This human body that we inhabit now. So we should think how fortunate I am that I have this human body that I possess now, And this only arises due to powerful wholesome deeds, Positive karma I accumulated in the past. I rejoice in that accumulated positive karma. However, If I use this opportunity, The basis of this human rebirth, To engage in unwholesome activities, Which would lead to me being reborn in the unfortunate states, The three unfortunate states, I would be able to do that. The three unfortunate states of existence would be something really foolish, Almost as if I weren't thinking at all. Thoughtless. So negative karma, Unwholesome karma, Something very important, Heavy to be aware of. And in terms of this unwholesome or non-virtuous karma, Even in this life we have definitely accumulated a measure. Therefore, It is very important to engage in the practice of purifying that unwholesome karma. I want to have a firm thought, First of all remembering the non-virtuous karma, The heavy unwholesome things that you have done in this life, Bringing that to mind, Reflecting on that, And then making a promise that it was not okay I engage in that unwholesome karma. I will not engage in that unwholesome action, I will restrain myself from doing it again. I will not engage in any type of virtuous or wholesome karma that I want to accumulate. Because the powerful basis of this human rebirth I have now, I can definitely accumulate it if I set my mind to it. I will not engage in that unwholesome karma, I will refrain myself from doing it again. And whether we speak of virtuous karma, Whether we speak of non-virtuous karma, Or I like to say wholesome and unwholesome karma, No matter how big or small that karma may be, It is certain. Karma is certain, It will bring forth a result. I will not engage in that unwholesome karma, I will refrain myself from doing it again. The next point is that karma increases, So even if just a small cause is accumulated over time, It gathers in momentum, It increases, And a small cause with time can lead to a great result. I will not engage in that unwholesome karma, I will refrain myself from doing it again. So for example, If you think about how from a small seed, A very small seed, A huge tree can grow and manifest, In this way, From a small karma, A small deed, A great result can manifest. Very important. The next point is that karma increases, And a small cause is accumulated over time, It gathers in momentum, It gathers in momentum, And a great result can manifest. So when we are engaging in the practice of accumulating virtuous karma, Wholesome karma, If we can think that I am not doing this only for myself, I am doing this for all human beings, Or even Vastra, I am doing this for all sentient beings, I am engaging in this positive action for the benefit of all sentient beings. Each sentient being acts as a basis of accumulation for that action, So by thinking in this way, You are able to collect a vast rainbow of positive karma, Of wholesome karma. With this human body, With this human brain, We can think in these vast ways, We can accumulate in these vast ways. How wonderful to do that. What an incredible opportunity. If we can think that any being that I encounter, I will try to benefit them and I will not harm them, Just through thinking like that, Continuously, We accumulate a vast rainfall of wholesome positive karma. If I can accumulate a vast rainfall of wholesome positive karma, I will not harm them. If I can accumulate a vast rainfall of wholesome positive karma, I will not harm them. So if we are able to use this way of thinking to accumulate these vast amounts of wholesome positive karma, Then yes, The small mistakes, Instances of negative karma will not be able to harm that positive potential. With whatever time I have left in this human life, I have this amazing opportunity to engage in wholesome conduct, Wholesome behavior of body, Speech and mind. Have a stable mind thinking from lifetime to lifetime. I must aim for a positive rebirth in human and celestial realms from lifetime to lifetime. I will strive to draw closer to liberation. I will now pause there. As I said, I will give you the details of my presentation. Geshe-la said that was just our brief presentation. Geshe-la said there's actually four points, But as we were pressed for time, We weren't able to cover everything very fully. We were able to cover everything from time to time. We were able to cover everything from time to time. So Geshe-la said those four points are karma is certain, Karma increases, You do not meet with the results of actions you did not accumulate, And karma accumulated does not perish. So for a good understanding of this topic, We'll go through all of those. We will also discuss the importance of karma and the importance of the fact that karma is a very important thing to understand. So of course with the understanding that karma cause and effect is something very important, An important thing to understand, Then as much as possible accordingly engage the body, Speech and mind with actions that are wholesome or virtuous. Thanks very much. We'll end here.
4.8 (39)
Amy
February 6, 2025
thank you, it’s a blessing being able to hear this words deeply * . * 🌈
