CHAPTER ELEVEN
Purifying Negative Actions and Obscurations, Which Are Unfavorable Conditions on the Path: Instructions on the Meditation of Vajrasattva
T
HIS
CHAPTER
COMPRISES
TWO
SECTIONS:
GENERAL
POINTS
to
be
understood, and the points of the training in this case. The first is divided into three parts: the reason one needs to purify negative actions, the method for purifying them, and the benefits of purification.
I. GENERAL POINTS TO BE UNDERSTOOD A. The reason one needs to purify negative actions Since time without beginning, throughout our whole series of lives in cyclic existence, we ordinary beings have been accumulating the two kinds of obscuration, along with habitual tendencies, and we now have a great many of them in our stream of being. Because of them, the path to liberation and omniscience is obstructed, and, in particular, during the main practice, experiences and the wisdom of realization are prevented from forming properly in our minds. These interruptions and obstacles are the result of our past negative actions and downfalls related to vows. Furthermore, it is said that from breaking the Secret Mantra Vehicle commitments, many unpleasant things will happen to us in this life, we will meet with obstacles on the path, and we will go directly to the Diamond Hell, as we read in the tantras: The diamond ogre will suck the blood from your heart, You’ll have a short life, with much illness, the loss of your wealth, and fear of enemies; And in the truly horrendous Hell of Ultimate Torment, For ages you’ll endure the most unbearable pain. So because of the enormous benefits and risks involved, should the slightest breach occur, it must be parted froma immediately. Actions motivated by the three poisons comprise mental actions, which are not given physical or verbal expression directly, and physical and verbal actions, which are actually expressed. For all actions, though, it is the thought that comes first. As it is said, Because it makes the world go dark, Mind is the root of the poisons. All through our beginningless series of lives, we have unknowingly and imperceptibly gathered a mountainous burden of negative actions and