Karma

Continuation of Refraining from Using Divisive Language Yesterday, we were speaking about the fifth destructive action, which is using divisive language. We have already covered the three destructive actions of body and the first of speech. We were discussing the second...

We have discussed the first two periods, immediately before doing, saying, or thinking something and while we are actually doing, saying, or thinking it. Now we are ready to discuss what happens after the karmic action has ended. After a karmic action has ended, there are...

Formulation of the Topic for Analysis  In Buddhism, a temporal interval is what we’re speaking about when we talk about time; it’s an interval between the occurrence of a cause and the occurrence of an effect. What is most common in Buddhism (and what all Buddhist tenet...

If I explain like I have been doing, is this something that you find beneficial? I ask because there are many different ways the Dharma can be taught. Dr. Berzin: Rinpoche is asking for some feedback. Is this a suitable manner to present this material for you? If you find this...

Review We were talking about how "mind" in Buddhism refers to an activity that goes on with no break, with no beginning and with no end. It is the mental activity of experiencing things and it is an individual, subjective experiencing of things. We are not talking here about...

How a Mental Urge, and Not a Revealing Form, Functions as a Karmic Impulse for Actions of the Body  Vasubandhu explains in A Discussion for the Establishment of Karma (Las-grub-pa’i rab-tu byed-pa, Skt. Karmasiddhiprakaraṇa) (Derge vol. 136, 144B): Suppose (Vaibhashika)...

Stages of True Stoppings What is relevant here in our discussion of mahamudra is that in both the impure and pure situations, the nature of the mental activity is the same. The conventional nature of both impure and pure mental activity is always mere clarity and awareness....

The Meaning of Karma There are many explanations of karma in the different Indian Buddhist tenet systems. Let us use the least complicated of them, the main explanation followed by the non-Gelug Tibetan traditions. We also find it in the Gelug explanation of all the Indian...

The karmic impulses of the body, speech and mind can be further divided into seven types.  Nagarjuna’s Presentation Nagarjuna states in Root Verses on the Middle Way, Called Discriminating Awareness (dBu-ma rtsa-ba’i tshig-le’ur byas-pa shes-rab ces bya-ba, Skt....

Review of Mental Urges in Karmic Actions of the Mind In the previous part of this series, we modified Vasubandhu’s Sautrantika presentation of the division between performer impulses (byed-pa’i las, Skt. kāritrakarma) and exertional impulses (rtsol-ba-can-gyi las, Skt....