Hridayagita explores conditionality as a universal law, expressed within the 5 niyamas as cyclical and the spiral of the dharma niyama. She then describes the three fetters as a useful tool for reflecting on why we forget or do not fully believe that our actions of body, speech and mind truly have consequences. The talk entitled Recollecting the Consequences of One’s Actions was given at Taraloka Retreat Centre, 2016. ***
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[music] Dharma Bites is brought to you by Free Buddhist Audio, the Dharma for your life. Our work is funded entirely by donations from our generous listeners. If you would like to help us keep this free, make a contribution at freebuddhistaudio.com/donate. Thank you and happy listening. [music] The third of our reminders is recollection of the consequences of one's actions, knowing that unskillful actions give rise to misery, and that skillful actions give rise to delight. I shall abandon bad actions and cultivate what is good. So I've got the shortest reminder to talk about, and what seems like the simplest, and it also seems to lead to a delighting, free mind, and yet there are some questions. What is it that we know in the knowing that unskillful actions give rise to misery? How do we know, or following on from what came to series yesterday, how deeply do we know that? And if we know it, why don't we do it? So those are my three questions. So first of all, what do we know? This is basic Buddhism, Buddhism 101, the universal principle, the Buddha's main teaching. Patichat Samukpada, conditionality, Bante calls it an alchemical insight. It's the essence of the Buddha's enlightenment, conditioned co-production. This being, that becomes, from the arising of this, that arises. This not being, that does not become, from the ceasing of this, that ceases. Simple, we can all go home. Don't end up sounding like Ananda, who one morning comes up to the Buddha, and I'm paraphrasing here, and says to the Buddha, "It's brilliant, Master. Your teaching is so simple. It's profound, but it's so simple. Anyone could understand it." And the Buddha says, "Do not say that, Ananda. Do not say that. This dependent arising is deep and profound. It is not from understanding and penetrating this dharma, that people have become like a tangle of string, covered in mold and matted like grass. Unable to escape from Sanghsara with its miseries, disasters, and bad destinies. And that is us. We are a tangle of string, covered in mold, matted like grass, and unable to escape from Sanghsara with its miseries, disasters and bad destinies, despite having all these blessings and all these endowments." So why? So as we touched on yesterday, there's something about the rational mind knowing, "Proteach a summit pada. It makes sense." Yes, I know it. Of course, you have that, of course, moment. Yeah, it makes total sense. And off we go back into life. We need to know it emotionally. We need to know it with Chitta, with our whole being, our heart, mind integrated, and to have had a positive emotional experience of it. We need to be more like Shari Putra when he came across Ashvajit on the road. And Ashvajit was one of the first of the Buddhist disciples, and he was a monk, and he was walking along a dusty road, and Shari Putra had been searching and searching and searching for the answer, for the meaning of life, and to find a teacher. And he comes across Ashvajit, and he says, "What does your teacher teach?" Ashvajit says, "Of these things that arise from the cause, the tathāgata has told the cause, and also what their cessation is, this is the doctrine of the great recluse." And Shari Putra knows, and I read that, and I kind of think, "A" doesn't make any sense. But for Shari Putra, that was, it went in. It went deeply in, deeply enough in that he then became one of the Buddhist disciples. We hope you enjoyed today's Dharma Bite. Please help us keep this free. Make a contribution at freebuddhistaudio.com/donnie. And thank you.
