Dear Dharma Friends,
Welcome to this episode of the podcast provided by the Buddhas’ Practice Incorporated of Australia.
Today, we have the privilege of studying the Sutra of the Ten Wholesome Deeds, a precious teaching given by the Buddha in the Dragon Palace. This sutra reveals the relationship between thoughts, actions, and their consequences, guiding us to practice the ten wholesome deeds to end the suffering of the lower realms and achieve rebirth in human or heavenly realms, or even ultimate enlightenment. Below, I will share the core principles of the sutra, hoping we can all draw wisdom from it and apply it to our practice and daily lives.
1. Consequences Arise from the Mind
The Buddha’s teaching highlights the root of cyclic existence—our thoughts. Beings have diverse minds: some are driven by greed, others by hatred, or by varied preferences. Through actions of body, speech, and mind, they create different karma, which propels the cycle of the six realms. As seen in the Dragon Palace assembly and the ocean, beings vary in form—some majestic, others coarse—all stemming from an initial thought.
2. All Phenomena Are Illusory
The Buddha further explains that while the spirit is formless and intangible, it drives both wholesome and unwholesome actions. However, the nature of consequences is illusory. Phenomena arise due to accumulated karma, and though beings experience different outcomes based on their karma, in truth, all is like a dream, a bubble, or a shadow.
3. Cultivating Wholesome Deeds
The Buddha teaches that the wise, understanding the illusory nature of phenomena, should diligently practice wholesome deeds. By doing so, they will, life after life, obtain a dignified body and environment, pleasing to others and free from aversion.
Using himself as an example, the Buddha notes that even Brahma kings cannot compare to his majestic form, a result of countless eons of cultivating wholesome deeds and merits. Similarly, great bodhisattvas, heavenly beings, dragons, and even coarse beings in the ocean manifest their forms according to their wholesome or unwholesome karma.
4. The Ten Wholesome Deeds as the Foundation
The Buddha further instructs us to constantly contemplate wholesome teachings, allowing wholesome thoughts to grow without being tainted by even the slightest unwholesome thought. This practice severs unwholesome karma, perfects wholesome deeds, and brings us close to Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and sages.
The core of these wholesome teachings is the ten wholesome deeds: abstaining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, divisive speech, harsh speech, idle chatter, greed, anger, and wrong views. These ten wholesome deeds are the foundation for attaining rebirth in human or heavenly realms, as well as the paths of sravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and ultimate enlightenment.
With unwavering right view, we should uphold the ten wholesome deeds as illusory yet virtuous actions, neither clinging to them nor abandoning them, while respectfully making offerings to fields of merit. By doing so, we will earn the respect and offerings of humans and heavenly beings.
Conclusion
Dear friends, the Sutra of the Ten Wholesome Deeds teaches us that thoughts determine karma, and karma determines consequences. The ten wholesome deeds are the foundation of enlightenment. May we encourage one another to follow these deeds, abandon evil, cultivate virtue, and ultimately attain liberation! Thank you for listening!
