20 Vajrasattva - Purification of the Body, part 1 1-30-12

Using personal anecdotes, Ven. Samten explains the first two non-virtues of the body, killing and stealing.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• killing
• stealing
• action
• karma
• steal
• kill
• fly
• swatter

[ttesnyc]

I realize now I didn't kill the roach because I was tired (which is what I thought after I killed it). I killed it because I hadn't been studying and practicing diligently so the teachings weren't foremost in my mind. I bow to the roach for this teaching which led me to Ven. Samten's help and to more dedicated study and practice - and I pray that the roach has a precious human rebirth.

[sravastiabbey]

@ttesnyc Thank you for your great honesty - it inspires me.

-Samten

[sravastiabbey]

@ttesnyc Thank you for writing and if you have more questions please feel free to ask them.

Ven. Samten

[sravastiabbey]

@ttesnyc When dedicating the merit of any virtuous actions also make prayers that the roach has a precious human rebirth, is able to meet the teachings of the dharma and meet authentic spiritual teachers in every lifetime until full awakening. You need to check that your regret and grief do not tip over into guilt and it will be most beneficial for you to work on forgiving yourself. In this way, when we forgive ourselves for our mistakes, we are more able to forgive others.

[sravastiabbey]

@ttesnyc First of all you are feeling sincere heartfelt regret, this is very potent towards purifying this action. From what is written, in the future, I am sure that you will also do everything possible to avoid this in the future. Yes, Vajrasattva practice will help purify this action, and of course the Vajrasattva practice is something that we need to sustain for our entire life. You can also save insects, protecting life is very meritorious.

[ttesnyc]

I was given an opportunity to save an insect in my apt last night and didn't repeat my mistake. "...check that your regret and grief do not tip over into guilt" was very helpful - I wasn't aware I was doing this until I read what you wrote (thank you again, Ven. Samten). It's really amazing how powerful studying and doing the practice are - I've been diligent with both since my mistake with the roach and I feel so much more aware of trying to be of benefit to all beings and do no harm.

[ttesnyc]

This talk was a very useful reminder for me of 'don't take what isn't given' - I'm so thankful for the reminder. I found a pretty fountain pen on the sidewalk outside my apartment building a few nights ago - someone must've dropped it as they were walking. I brought it inside and put it with my other pens. After hearing this talk, I returned it to the sidewalk where I found it with a note attached, asking people to leave it there so the rightful owner could find it if s/he walked by.

[ttesnyc]

This talk made me so aware of so many things. The roach I killed & how at work I sometimes used things that were not meant for my personal use - small things like post-it notes for personal reasons or printing things from the internet for personal use. Today I wanted to print a few pages of Ven. Chodron's teachings to read on the train ride home so I took them on a flash drive to the neighborhood copy store for printing rather than printing them at work like I would have done in the past.

[ttesnyc]

Venerable Samten - Thank you very much for your response.