Path of Action

Daily reviews are a way of reflecting at the end of each day about actions of body, speech and mind that have been performed. I’ve listed below the 10 Non-Virtues that Tibetan Buddhism defines. I’ve also noted their opposites, making a list of 10 Virtues. Definitions of each of the 10 Non-Virtues is available from Lamrim sources such as Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand. Here is my interpretation of the 10 Non-Virtues based upon my own understanding, and what I think I should be striving to live up to:

1. Killing | Preserving life: Killing can be any human, animal or insect, whether directly or indirectly through the meat industry.
   
2. Taking what is not given | Generosity: Anything not voluntarily given to me qualifies as stealing – whether that is an item from the supermarket, software from the internet, or copyright infringement.
   
3. Sexual misconduct | Sexual respect: Here I’m working with the light version of sexual misconduct – not sleeping with another person’s sexual partner, and not sleeping with anybody when I have a sexual partner.
   
4. Lying | Honest: Being honest in all forms of communication, as well as not holding back any information or misleading anybody through not saying anything.
   
5. Divisive speech | Unifying speech: Not creating disharmony in any relationship or group dynamic.
   
6. Harsh words | Kind, caring words: Being respectful of others.
   
7. Idle gossip | Meaningful speech: Including gossip magazines, websites, talking about other people without any reason for doing so.
8. Covetousness | Rejoicing in achievements of others: Marketing blurs the lines between desire and covetousness, so I’m unsure how this is going to work out.
9. Harmful intent | Bodhisattva wish: Sometimes described as ill will. The opposite is to wish only for the complete happiness of all others, and accepting responsibility for bringing their happiness about.
10. Wrong views | Right views: It’s all very well having an intellectual understanding of views on the law of karma, emptiness, and so forth, as opposed to actually applying those views to day-to-day situations.
    

So they are 3 actions of body (1-3), 4 actions of speech (4-7) and 3 actions of mind (8-10). They capture obviously unwholesome actions, but don’t capture every single unwholesome action. In this way they act as a general rule of thumb.

Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand pg.419 describes how for each wholesome action Geshe Baen Gung-gyael would add a white pebble to a pile and for each unwholesome action he would add a black pebble to a pile. At the end of each day he would assess the day’s pile of pebbles, if there were more black pebbles he would determine to change his behaviour, if there were more white pebbles he would rejoice. At first his pile of pebbles was all black, but slowly over time he modified his behaviour so that his pile of pebbles was all white.

The law of karma describes how wholesome or virtuous actions lead to future happiness and how non-virtuous or unwholesome actions lead to future suffering. These are naturally occurring laws, as unavoidable as sitting out in the sun too long and getting a sun-burn.

Now, there are two opposing factors, that I will need to balance in order to make this work:

1. My behaviour won’t possibly change on it’s own. But by taking responsibility for my own actions I also take responsibility for my own future happiness, as described by the law of karma. So like Geshe Baen Gung-gyael I will monitor my behaviour and try to modify it accordingly.

2. I have all of the failings of a modern guy. I will need to accept my own limitations and work with them. There is no use setting unrealistic goals or beating myself up when I don’t meet my own unrealistic expectations.

In this way I need to strive towards improving myself but accept my own limitations and capacity.

Forever forward:

• Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand: A Concise Discourse on the Path to Enlightenment by Trijang Rinpoche and Michael Richards