Filling the Potholes on the High Way of Three Yanas.
We all practice dharma different levels, such as shamatha, vipasyana, loving kindness, yidam deities and so forth. But we often miss the basic things that are important for being a practitioner. One would not be successful on the path without renouncing the ten non-virtues unless one is not engaging under the influence of three poisons. One always benefits from refraining from the ten non-virtues. As a practitioner that is the least one should do, even if you cannot help doing harm to other beings.
The Ten Non-virtues
The ten non-virtues are divided into three categories. They are the three non-virtues of body, the four non-virtues of speech and the three non-virtues of mind.
The three non-virtues of body are killing, stealing and sexual misconduct.
The four non-virtues of speech are lying, divisive speech/slander, harsh words/abusive speech and senseless speech/idle speech.
The three non-virtues of mind are covetousness, harmful intent and wrong view/holding wrong view.
These ten non-virtues always take a place in us under the influence of three poisons, desire/attachment, anger and delusion/ignorance. The reason why they are called poisons is because they will always lead to downfall and the lower realms. If we are born in the lower realms then there will be no opportunity to practice dharma and we will accumulate more and more non-virtues. For example, if we were born in a lower realm like hell. We will suffer constantly from extreme cold and hot temperature, if we born in the hungry ghost realm we suffer from hunger and if we born in the animal realm we suffer from labor and be killed by owners for food if domestic and eaten by bigger animals if wild. Even if we were born in the god realm there will be fewer opportunities to practice dharma because of the distraction of temporary bliss and happiness.
We are so fortunate to be born as human beings, precious human beings with the capacity to understand suffering and find the path to liberate from suffering by practicing dharma. The question is what is dharma? We talk about dharma almost every day. Is wearing rosary beads around ones neck or decorates a shrine with pictures and statues is that dharma? Is going to center and having tea and snacks with sangha members and chitchatting about your practice dharma? Such things are just the environment of dharma. The dharma has to be antidote which will free the fixation “I”, emotional obscurations, and “My”, cognitive obscuration. That is dharma. We have to monitor our attitude every day before we go to bed where dharma is leading to us. Is dharma becoming the antidote to free the fixations or becoming the causes and conditions for strengthening our self-attachment?
The teachings on Buddha nature says: Our inner clear nature of mind is precious, complete with the all qualities of enlightenment, but we need to make an effort to clean out the rust and dirt of emotional and cognitive obscurations. It is like a precious jewel covered with millions of years of old dirt. It will remain the same until we put our effort to clean it up. It is up to us keep the jewel covered with dirt or clean and experience the preciousness.
Let me tell you how the ten non-virtues are caused by three poisons.
Three non-virtues of body
Killing
• Killing out of desire. Killing animals for consuming their meat, blood and bones or for skins. We often hear that tigers are endangered because people kill them for skins and bones. In many parts of Asia elephants’ tusks and rhinoceros’s horn are considered jewels. People in those regions think having those kinds of animals’ parts will bring wealth. Human beings are easily fooled by that kind of superstition and try such methods in order to fulfill their desire. People kill animals for their furs to make expensive clothes.
• Killing out of anger. Killing other beings like misquotes and gnats that annoys you.
• Killing out of delusion. Killing animals in order to please the gods. In some parts of the Himalayan region there are some traditions of making animals sacrifices during the New Year and religious occasions to please the gods and bring happiness to oneself and family. Even a poor family who cannot afford to buy animals to sacrifice cut pumpkins and visualize a goat or chicken. They believe this to be a great virtuous work.
Stealing
• Stealing out of desire. Stealing valuable things from someone.
• Stealing out of anger. Stealing something from another in order to hurt him or her.
• Stealing out of ignorance. Stealing something from another while convincing yourself that you are doing no wrong.
Sexual misconduct
• Having sex out of desire. Getting involved in sexual misconduct with someone’s partner who does not belongs to you.
• Having sex out of anger. Rape of an enemy or their relatives in order to hurt them.
• Having sex out of ignorance. Engaging in sexual misconduct that you believe is a virtue and will lead to the state of enlightenment because you benefit other beings or think it is fun.
Four non-virtues of speech
Lying
• Lying out of desire. Lying to other people in order to get something you really want.
• Lying out of anger. Lying in the intention of destroying others’ status.
• Lying out of ignorance. Thinking lying is not a big deal.
Divisive speech
• Out of desire. Causing an argument between two people in order to create some advantage for you.
• Out of anger. Creating disharmony between people you do not like.
• Out of ignorance. Creating hostility in society or among people and believing that is a positive action.
Harsh Speech
• Out of desire. Insult another person in a higher position, because you covet that position.
• Out of anger. Speaking in harsh words to someone you dislike.
• Out of ignorance. Using harsh and embarrassing language like throwing “F” bombs on someone thinking that it is fun.
Idle speech
• Out of desire. Talking about things that you are attached to and indulging in gossip.
• Out of anger. Gossiping idly in order to disturb somebody, especially people who are doing dharma practice like meditation etc.
• Out of ignorance. Spending time talking about extreme idle speech like, wars and politics and thinking there is nothing wrong.
Three non-virtues of mind
Covetousness
• Out of desire. Wishing to have things and thinking they will fulfill your desires.
• Out of anger. Wanting to posses something in order to show off for your enemies or people you dislike.
• Out of ignorance. Wanting to accumulate something that you do not need.
Harmful intend
• Out of desire. Wanting to harm your parents or other people in order to posses their wealth or position.
• Out of anger. Intending to harm someone whom you do not like.
• Out of ignorance. Wishing to create disharmony because you think that it is necessary.
Wrong view
• Out of desire. Teach someone the wrong view in order to obtain his or her wealth.
• Out of anger. Establish a wrong view in order to hurt other people.
• Out of ignorance. Not concerned about karma, cause and effect, what is right and wrong.
When you think about the ten non-virtues, you should see that they are all caused by three poisons. The Buddha taught the three antidotes: Impermanence, compassion and interdependence to free from those poisons.
When we see pleasant things we get lured towards those things and desire to posses them. We need to think, are those things that we see, sense and experience a source of happiness forever? Will they remain as beautiful as they are now forever? The beautiful things we see are temporary, just like a rainbow; they appear when causes and conditions come together. Causes and conditions are impermanence. Even if we are able to posses the thing we like, by the time we have it, it will be no longer be the same thing we saw the first time. All phenomena are nature of impermanence. It is like pointing to a river and saying, “Last year this water washed away my shoes.” The water that washed away your shoes is no longer there.
That is why Buddha taught impermanence: To free our attachments towards the phenomena which we sense through our six senses (eyes, nose, ears, tongue, body and mind). They are as temporary as rainbows and the morning dew. Being a practitioner, we eventually have to free our clinging towards this life. We will never become good dharma practitioners by clinging to our lives. The practice of impermanence is also very important when the time comes to leave our body. At that time when we will have to leave our bodies, along with our relatives, friends and belongings. Death is inevitable. So why do we spend time clinging to those things which will bring more suffering.
Compassion is the antidote for anger. If someone is angry at us we have to think immediately that this person is intoxicated by the poison of anger. It is true that when people come under the influence of disturbing emotions they cannot help themselves. It often becomes hard to apply this kind of method to strangers or enemies. So we have to try with a person who is close to us. We have to generate compassion within us starting with the person whom you care about most and are closest to. This is because you have received tremendous gratitude from them. In Mahayana teachings you often find that mother is the source of generousity and graciousness. Therefore in the teachings we often hear:“All sentient beings have been my mother.” Mother conceived us in her womb for months and our body is grown from her blood. After we were born she cleaned us, taught how to eat walk and talk. So, practitioners should learn to generate compassion by starting with their own mothers. If this method is not helpful for some people, they can find their own way to generate compassion by finding someone who is closest to them.
If somebody’s mom was very mean to her children, what then? Being as a dharma practitioner one should not entirely blame the mother, because to be born as her child is also part of karma. Practicing compassion is meant to lessen our poisons and anger. We should not think that we are doing a favor to other beings by being compassionate: We are doing a favor to ourselves.
Interdependence is antidote for ignorance. Whatever actions we engage in will create news causes, which lead us to both suffering and happiness. All beings want happiness, but happiness depends on positive causes. They are interdependent. So we should be aware of what we are doing all the time rather than not paying attention.
There is nothing wrong with the outside world, as everything comes out of our klesha mind. In a “nut shell” all the non-virtues are caused by the klesha of the three poisons. We should not go to the extremes.It is important to understand the essence of teachings. If all people in the world are free of attachments, anger and ignorance is there a need for law and order?
AL
May 6, 2010, Connecticut.
