The Law of Cause & Effect

by His Holiness the 41st Sakya Trizin

Part of the teachings on the impure vision is the clarification of what is wholesome, which is to be accepted, and what is unwholesome, which is to be rejected. This is done by reflecting on non-virtuous, virtuous and neutral deeds. In the Vajra Verses, “impure vision” means this samsaric life which sentient beings are experiencing. The latter are subjected to a myriad of feelings, all of which are the result of their own karma. All that you are experiencing in your life do not arise without a cause, from an external cause, or by chance. Each and every phenomenon has its own causes and conditions. All pleasure and happiness arise from virtuous deeds, and conversely, all pain and suffering arise from non-virtuous deeds. In the case of the impure vision there are two kinds of appearances: the illusory and the karmic. Although in reality, at the ultimate level all phenomena are devoid of inherent existence, at the relative level they are polarised manifestations of subject and object. This dualistic manifestation is illusory appearance. Karmic appearances are phenomena that manifest as a result of the individual’s own karma, such as a long life or a short life, wealth or poverty, which leads each sentient being to experience different appearances. This explains, for instance, why some live a long life while others live a shorter life.

There are three kinds of deeds: non-virtuous deeds, virtuous deeds and neutral deeds. The way to engage them is firstly, to discard non-virtuous deeds by reflecting on these deeds and their results; secondly, to generate the desire to practise virtuous deeds by reflecting on these deeds and their results; and thirdly, to transform neutral deeds into virtuous deeds by reflecting on them.

NON-VIRTUOUS DEEDS

First, non-virtuous deeds are reflected upon in three ways: the nature of non-virtuous deeds, their results and how to discard them. What is a non-virtuous deed? A non-virtuous deed means any action that is committed out of greed, hatred or ignorance whether it is committed physically, verbally or mentally. If classified, there are ten of them: three committed physically, four verbally and three mentally.

The first non-virtuous deed committed physically is killing any living being intentionally, either by oneself or through others. The second is stealing anything that belongs to someone else, ranging from valuables like gold to trifles like needles and strings, either by force, by deceit, or any other means. The third is sexual misconduct. This means to engage in any form of carnal activities with someone apart from one’s lawful partner. And even if it is with one’s partner, it is a misconduct if, firstly it is performed at an improper time, such as when the female partner is pregnant or when she is taking the precepts; secondly in improper places, such as in a temple or in the presence of one’s parents; and thirdly through improper passages like the anal or oral passages.

The first non-virtuous deed committed by speech is lying. Lying means speaking untrue words, especially with the intention to deceive. The second is divisive speech, or using words that can either be true or untrue with the intention of creating disharmony between individuals or groups. The third is harsh speech, which is saying something nasty so that it pains the heart of the one who hears it. The fourth is idle talk, which means useless talk, particularly that which increases desire or anger, such as speaking about war or prostitution.

The first non-virtuous deed committed by the mind is covetousness, which is the desire to expropriate another person’s property. The second is malicious thought, such as wishing another person whom you dislike to suffer, through sickness, death or suchlike. The third is the wrong view that the teaching about the Triple Gem and Law of cause and effect is a fallacy.

Altogether, there are ten non-virtuous deeds. Next is to reflect on the results of non-virtuous deeds. It is said that all suffering arises from these deeds including rebirth in the lower realms. Each of them has three results: ripened result, result similar to its cause and result of ownership. The first result is the ripened result. If you indulge in non-virtuous deeds, the ripened result is to fall down into the lower realms. And which lower realm depends on your motivation and the extent of the non-virtuous deeds that you have committed. For example, if out of hatred you kill a human being, it will cause you to fall into the hell realm; out of desire, like killing an animal for the sake of its flesh, skin or bone, into the hungry ghost realm; and out of ignorance of the result, like children while at play kill worms or flies, into the animal realm. In addition, if the amount of negative deeds that one has committed is large, one will most likely be born in the hell realm, if medium in the hungry ghost realm, and if small in the animal realm. The second result is the result similar to its cause. This has two aspects: the experience similar to its cause, and the action similar to its cause.

First, the experience that is similar to its cause. Through the act of killing you have caused distress and have shortened another life, so that even if you are born in the higher realm, you will have a short life that is beset with sickness and distress. Through stealing, you will be destitute and even if you own little, you won’t be able to enjoy it. Through sexual misconduct, you will have many enemies and lead an unhappy married life. Through lying, you will be badly slandered. Through divisive speech that causes disharmony, you will have very few friends, and even these friendships will not last long. Through harsh speech, you will hear unpleasant remarks and whatever you say will become the basis for quarrels. Through idle talk, even when you tell the truth no one will believe you. Through covetousness, all your wishes will not be fulfilled, or even if fulfilled, you will not be satiated. Through malicious thoughts, you will always live in fear of harm from others. Through wrong view, you will have very little wisdom and will always continue to hold the wrong views.

Second, the action that is similar to its cause means that the negative deeds that you perform in the present are similar to those that you have committed in the past. For example, there are some people who have a natural tendency to engage in negative deeds such as killing, stealing and sexual misconduct.

The third result is the result of ownership. It means the result will ripen at the place in which one is born and dwells. Thus, for example, stealing will result in being born in a place with hailstorms and frost; and sexual misconduct in a place with dust storms. Thus, through indulging in non-virtuous deeds, all that is achieved is rebirth in the lower realms where the suffering is abysmal. Even if one is born in the higher realms, one cannot escape the suffering therein. Nobody wishes for misfortune but instead wishes to be free from suffering.

At the time of death worldly activities are of no use, so that no matter how wealthy, powerful, clever or even sagacious you are; or how many relatives or friends you have, nothing can help you except the Dharma. Now that you are not sick, old or dying, you should practise without further delay.

To be free from suffering, you must abstain from its causes, which are non-virtuous deeds. Now that you have obtained the precious human body with the prerequisites, if you continue to indulge in nonvirtuous deeds, it is like using a golden vessel to hold spittle. And even a small negative deed should not be ignored because it will accumulate and later cause much harm, like a small spark of fire having the capacity to burn down a whole forest.

For an ordinary person it is difficult to avoid nonvirtuous deeds of mind. The way to counteract this is to practise more virtuous deeds. If you have committed any non-virtuous deed, you should immediately confess with deep remorse. It is said in a sutra that there are two kinds of noble persons; one who never commits any non-virtuous deed, and one who confesses once he has committed one. If you confess properly, the result of whatever non-virtuous deed committed can be purified. For example, in the past there were cases of people who had excessive defilements, like Angulimala who killed numerous people, Ajatashatru who killed his father and Udayana who killed his mother. They had committed heinous acts that they regretted and confessed, and through the power of the Dharma they were extricated from imminent suffering.

VIRTUOUS DEEDS

Next, is to produce the desire to practise virtuous deeds by reflecting on them and their results. This is also done in three ways: reflecting on the nature of virtuous deeds, their results and on how to perform them. A virtuous deed means any action that is committed through the body, voice and mind devoid of greed, hatred and ignorance. This can be classified into ten virtuous deeds, which are the diametrical opposites of the ten non-virtuous deeds. They are abstinence from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, harsh speech, divisive speech, idle talk, covetousness, hatred and wrong view. There also have three results: ripened result, result similar to its cause, and result of ownership of the ripened result.

First is the ripened result. By practising virtuous deeds extensively, it can be a cause to be reborn in the heavenly realms; quite extensively, in the demi-god realm; and least extensively, in the human realm. You may wonder why the teachings stress the difficulty of obtaining the precious human body and affirm that human life is the most precious one, whereas here it says that performing many virtuous deeds will lead to rebirth in the heavenly realms. The difference is that from the standpoint of practising Dharma, human life is the most favourable, whereas from the standpoint of the result of practising virtuous deeds the heavenly realm is the best.

The second result, the result that is similar to its cause also has two aspects: experience similar to its cause and action similar to its cause. The experience similar to its cause means that by abstaining from killing you will have a healthy and long life; by abstaining from stealing, you will be prosperous and be able to enjoy your wealth; and by abstaining from sexual misconduct will have many friends and lead a happy married life. It is the diametrical opposite of the result of non-virtuous deeds. The action similar to its cause means that, for example, if you had abstained from killing in the previous life, in this life naturally you will not be inclined to kill and as such, you will continue to experience happiness.

The third, the result of ownership means that your virtuous deeds will ripen as the outer aspect of the world where you are born and dwell. For example, by abstaining from killing you will be born in a place that has much splendour, good climate, bountiful harvests and free from natural disasters. If these virtuous deeds are carried out in the beginning with the motivation of the enlightenment mind, in the interim with the wisdom of emptiness, and if at the end they are dedicated, they will not only be the cause of higher rebirth but also that of liberation and enlightenment.

The way to practise is to weigh the benefits of doing virtuous deeds so that even an insignificant one should not be underestimated. For, just as an accumulation of drops of water can become an ocean, similarly, seemingly insignificant virtuous deeds can accumulate to form a significant virtuous deed.

NEUTRAL DEEDS

Next is to transform the neutral deeds into virtuous deeds. These are also reflected on in three ways: their nature, their result and how to transform them. A neutral deed means any deed that is neither virtuous nor non-virtuous such as walking, sitting, sleeping and eating. Since they are neither the result of defilements nor of non-defilements, they do not produce any karmic result. Moreover, since they do not lead to any suffering they are exemplary. But by not leading to any positive results, they are of no benefit. Since the outcome of every deed depends on one’s motivation, neutral deeds can be transformed into virtuous deeds if the motivation is proper. A change in motivation is able to transform any neutral deed. For example, eating by itself is an indifferent act. But if you eat in order to stay alive and to prolong your life for the practice of dharma, the act of eating is transformed into a virtuous deed. Similarly, you can apply this to the other aspects of your daily life. Thus when staying in a house, you should wish for all living beings to attain the city of liberation; when you sit, may all attain the Vajra seat; when you sleep may all attain the Dharmakaya; when you awake, may all beings attain the Rupakaya; when you put on your clothes, may all beings wear the clothes of piety and modesty; when you bathe, may all beings be cleansed of the stains of their defilements; when you eat, may all beings eat the food of Samadhi. When you leave the house, may all sentient beings leave the city of worldly existence; when you embark on a trip, may all sentient beings enter the path of the Noble Ones; when you meet people, may all sentient beings meet with enlightened beings; when you do different activities may all sentient beings complete the two purposes; when you enter your house, may all beings enter the city of Liberation; and having arrived home, may all sentient beings reach the state of Buddhahood.

Now that we have covered all the subjects of the impure vision, the way to meditate on them is first to reflect on the three sufferings: the suffering of suffering, the suffering of change and the suffering of conditioned existence. This is followed by the reflection on the difficulty of obtaining the prerequisites. First, that the human body is difficult to obtain from many points of view, from the cause, number, example and nature points of view. Second, not only it is difficult to be obtained, it is also precious. Third, the prerequisites that are now obtained will not last long.

Death is certain, as anyone who is born will have to die, the body is fragile and void of essence, and life is not permanent. On the other hand, the time of death is uncertain as there is no definite life span, and there are many causes of death and very few causes to prolong life. At the time of death worldly activities are of no use, so that no matter how wealthy, powerful, clever or even sagacious you are; or how many relatives or friends you have, nothing can help you except the Dharma. Now that you are not sick, old or dying, you should practise without further delay.

Next, reflect on the three kinds of deeds, first on the non-virtuous deeds, their nature and their results. Reflect that everything you experience is due to your actions. Since non-virtuous deeds are harmful, there is no point in performing such deeds; and thus plant the firm resolve that, even at the cost of your life you will not do so. Second, on the virtuous deeds: their nature and their results. Since performing virtuous deeds is beneficial, you should cultivate this. Third, on the neutral deeds that can be transformed into virtuous deeds. Finally, you need to request your Guru and the Triple Gem that you be successful in your practice. At the end, you dedicate the merits arising from the meditation. It is important to dedicate the merits because these can be destroyed by gross defilements like pride or hatred. If you can, dedicate it for a specific purpose, with the right motivation of enlightenment, and with the understanding of emptiness; or if not, at least with a firm intention to follow the great Bodhisattvas’ manner of dedicating, then the merits will not be wasted. Instead, they will increase your virtue all the time. With this we have completed the instruction on cause and effect.