It was very nice to see all Dharma friends this morning as we inch towards the Mid Autumn Festival, which marks the 15th day of the 8th Lunar Month, and the Centre wishes everyone a very Happy Mid Autumn Festival in advance!
Whilst today’s lesson was, in the main, an introduction to the 1st of the 4 non-virtuous negative karmic actions committed by way of speech, that of Lying, Geshe la gave the class extremely helpful and practical tips on how one should practise, bearing in mind the laws of karma which imbue us with the propensity to (whether knowingly or unwittingly, and to varying degrees) commit non-virtuous actions. The important takeaway point is that one should always quickly dedicate the merits of any positive or virtuous activity, so as to lock up the karmic merits so created in one’s karmic bank balance, so that it will not be destroyed by any negative or non virtuous actions that may be committed subsequently. Conversely, if one has committed a non-virtuous action, it is important for one to generate remorse and regret that action, and make a commitment not to do so again, so as to immediately purify that negative karma, and not allow it to make its way into one’s karmic bank balance.
The above advice may appear simple, but to put it into practice presupposes that one is mindful of one’s daily thoughts and actions. That is why in our tradition, there is great emphasis on mind training (Tib: Lojong), or mindfulness in general, because the efficacy of any spiritual practices is heavily dependent upon the ability of our minds to recognise not just our actions and the nature of those actions (positive/ negative), but also our thoughts/intentions that may precede such actions.
A) GENERAL REFLECTIONS ON THE (TRUTH OF) THE LAWS OF KARMA
Geshe la reminded the class of the Buddhist Saint Nagarjuna’s admonitions to the effect that all phenomena we experience in this life, whether it be our physical, mental or emotional constitution, are the fruits (effects) of our karmic actions (causes) of the past.
Geshe la observed that there is a lot of scholastic debate as to whether karma exists, and if it does, where does it come from, and noted that different people have different conceptions of karma.
Some of us ascribe to the Buddha’s teachings as more recently summarised by Nagarjuna per the above. Others say that karma is relevant but what we experience is also due to the will of external entities/ sources, such as gods or devas.
Those engaged in scientific study may say that how any given human being is like in this life is shaped by habit, conditioning, or environmental factors (including family and society), one’s parents’ DNA etc and such study and debate continues apace in our modern scientific world. Geshe la engaged the class on the possibility that such conclusions, whilst supported by some evidence, may be under-inclusive.
Let’s take the proposition that human beings are shaped by DNA, and examine the example of a family of four with identical twin children born of 2 very warm hearted and kind parents. Whilst the twins grow up in the same environment and come from the same DNA (indeed as identical twins), they can exhibit very different dispositions even as babies, experience different successes and failures/ challenges, and equally have very different paths later on in life, and indeed different times or circumstances of death (of course recognizing that the children’s path may diverge at some point in time after they come of age).
Let’s examine the proposition that one is shaped by one’s experience whilst still in one’s mother’s womb during pregnancy – the mood of one’s parents (esp mother) during gestation is often cited as relevant. But again, even twins as described above, can exhibit very different emotional constitutions and characters shortly after birth, even though they look same and would have been exposed to the exact same conditions during pregnancy.
By Buddhist reckoning, the phenomenon of children (even identical twins) being different is explained by the fact that they come into this world with a different karmic imprint from the past life / past lives. While they may look identical, what experiences they will have, their degree of success or setbacks in life, and even how long they will live, will invariably differ. This is why we say that one’s karmic imprint is important – whatever karmic imprint we bring into this life, when the conditions are right, those karmic seeds will ripen, and the imprint is different for each and every individual as we inherit our consciousness from a life of the immediate past.
Some have actually asked: if the laws of karma are true, why do we see some conniving, ill minded and badly behaved people, experiencing success after success despite their disposition and continued perpetration of negative acts to harm others. On the other hand, those who are honest and upright individuals have to experience setback after set back.
In Buddhist tradition, there is a reason for this. That person experiencing success in this life, may well be reaping the fruits of positive karma from a previous life/ lives. It is important to remember that karma takes time (and the right conditions present) before it ripens. By parity of reasoning, any positive seeds we sow now, will also take time (and the right conditions) to ripen, and one ought not to be impatient. This is also why if we commit negative karmic acts, it is crucial to be able to recognize those acts as being negative, and confess our downfalls/ wrongs, so as to purify those negative karmic seeds.
Geshe la has also been asked in the past, why some great Rinpoches and Masters who are born amongst us humans, will still get ill or even be stricken with cancer (manifesting the aspect of illness). Geshe la explained that this is normal as they may have committed negative karmic acts (causes) in lives past which they have not been able to purify, which leads to the effect of having to suffer such illness(es) in this life. Even the great Nagarjuna, whose story Geshe la told during the last lesson, had the negative karma of killing which had not yet been sufficiently purified, which allowed his life to be ended by King Sushakti’s son being able to lob off his head with a blade of kusha grass.
B) THE NON VIRTUOUS ACTIONS COMMITTED BY WAY OF SPEECH – LYING
THE CONSTITUENT ELEMENTS
With Geshe la’s kind reminder on the general workings of karma, Geshe la introduced the first negative karmic act (non virtuous action) committed by way of speech, that of Lying.
Similar to the negative karmic actions committed by the body, there are 4 elements that have to be present.
(a) There has to be an object/ person to whom one wishes to tell the lie i.e. relay what is contrary to the truth – the content of the lie is relevant here in assessing the severity of the karma of lying, if it is completed.
(b) There has to be an intention to trick the person, with a view to mislead.
(c) The act of making a representation so as to mislead.
(d) The sense of feeling satisfied and of completion, after the act.
As regards (a), the object and content of the lie, there are varying levels of severity and Geshe la gave the class an introduction to why this is relevant. Geshe la explained that the heaviest karma of lying, is the kind that carries an intention to mislead students of the Dharma into believing that one has certain spiritual attainments, when one is not in fact quite there. It may be difficult to understand why this issue of the heavy karma of lying is important in our spiritual tradition, and Geshe la thought it fit to provide some examples. He explained that if a great spiritual master manifests the aspect of passing away, and his followers wish to find his reincarnation (Tib: tulku), it is not unheard of that the late master’s close disciples or assistants may deliberately engineer the recognition of one of his/ her relative’s child, as the tulku – this is illustrative of the karma of lying of the heaviest kind. Of course that is not to say that it is impossible for a true bona fide reincarnation to be reborn in the family of a close disciple – that can happen and has happened, but the above is just an illustration of when the karma of lying is of the heaviest type, if the exercise is engineered.
Another example is when someone who has some experience in spiritual practice claims that he/she has the ability to see past lives and future lives. If this is untrue, that heavy karma of lying is also a very significant downfall.
Geshe la explained that it was far easier to commit the karma of lying in a heavy way back in the day when there were no instantaneous communications and it was difficult to verify the truth or otherwise of any statement. Back in the day, officials from kingdoms with personal selfish agenda, would give accounts with tainted lenses, in order to sow discord between neighbouring states or empires so that they would go to war. That would also be the karma of lying of the heaviest category, albeit as an example in a secular rather than spiritual context.
As regards (b), the requirement of “intention”, if that act was committed due to ignorance, or a moment’s weakness, then the karma associated with “heavy” lying, is not complete. As with the other non virtuous actions, the intention to tell a lie is often motivated by the usual poisons of attachment （贪）aversion（嗔）ignorance （痴）. Sometimes, we may accidentally tell a lie or out of ignorance – in these cases, the karma of lying is not complete, as it lacks the intention.
As regards (c) the act, it is not necessary for words to have been spoken. Through omission (keeping silent to others views and leading others to misunderstand), through body language – all these are sufficient to constitute the act of lying, leading to others believing a certain state of affairs that is untrue. It can be even be committed by the singing of a song leading to another person being misled.
As regards (d), it is the sense of achievement after the act, and is self-explanatory.
THE EFFECTS OF THE NEGATIVE (NON VIRTUOUS) ACTION OF LYING
Similar to the other non virtuous actions, the 1st effect is that it creates the karmic seeds to be born in the hells, hungry ghosts or animals, depending on the severity of the lie, and that varies by reference to the nature of the lie and the intention. The heaviest of lying karmas as mentioned above, would be those where one tells others of spiritual attainments when one has none – that is a straight road to the hells.
Geshe la then took some time to explain the role of spiritual practitioners who help people in society with divinations (占扑/卜卦) and astrology （历算）readings, which is very much a feature of our tradition.
Geshe la explained that a lama who offers such services must not only have undergone thorough training and retreats relevant to the spiritual Yidam (meditational deity) whose blessings are invoked for this purpose, but must also have been given permission to train and subsequently practise as such by his root guru. Such a lama has to undergo long periods of retreats to see if he or she can obtain a relevant connection with the relevant Yidam, and not everyone passes the requisite standard to become qualified to do readings.
That said, Geshe la explained, divinations/ readings are not always accurate – sometimes it happens. Yet, on these occasions, Geshe la explained that the karma of lying is not constituted as long as there is no intention to deceive. Geshe la further explained that readings can sometimes be inaccurate for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, it rests with the intent on the part of the person seeking the divination, or obstacles that he/she may have that arise by reason of negative karmic imprints that stand in the way of an accurate reading.
The 2nd effect is that those who lie will find difficulty getting respect or trust of others they may meet in life. The ubiquitous story of “Cry Wolf” is actually very illustrative of the karmic retribution of lying, and is in fact a story widely told even in Tibet. Therefore, we should try our very best not to lie, whether in familial relationships or beyond into society. If we are habitual liars, no one will not trust or respect us anymore, even if we subsequently tell the truth on all subsequent occasions. Therefore, one should always try to be sincere and truthful.
The 3rd effect is that there will be a tendency on the part of those who keep lying, to continue that habit into their next life.
Finally, they will end up being lied to / cheated as well in their next life. This explains why you sometimes encounter people who get cheated time and again, by different people, throughout their lives. This is an illustration of the karmic retribution of lying.
There are many more details relating to this non-virtuous action of Lying, but these are the basic concepts and hope this will be helpful to everyone.
C) CONCLUDING REMARKS – PRACTICAL TIPS ON DEDICATION OF MERITS & CONFESSION OF DOWNFALLS
Geshe la ended the lesson with some precious advice to the Class. Geshe la introduced the concept of dedication of merits created by virtuous actions, which is very much a feature of the Mahayana tradition.
For instance, the learning of the Dharma through attending this lesson, or a simple quiet prayer to the Buddhas or Boddhisattvas (whether before one’s altar or otherwise), creates immense merits, and dedicating these merits towards the well being and happiness of all sentient beings is tantamount to ensuring that all the merits are properly accumulated and locked up in the karmic bank balance. It is important to do the dedication immediately after the positive/ virtuous activity because it is easy for these hard-earned positive karmic seeds to be destroyed in a moment’s anger, which can so easily happen for example in the workplace. Therefore, the speedy dedication of merits to all sentient beings after any meritorious action is crucial as it serves to lock that positive balance in one’s karmic bank account, without running the risk of those merits being wiped out by our actions motivated by the poisons of attachment(贪)， aversion（嗔），ignorance（痴） , pride （慢）and/ or jealousy）（疑). Equally, if we have committed a negative karmic action, we should generate a sense of remorse and regret as soon as we can, so as to purify those negative karmic seeds.
May all these merits inure to the benefit of all sentient beings, and thank you everyone for attending today’s class. Our sincere thanks and Geshe la’s blessings also go out to everyone who follows and reads these words.
The Maha Tare Team