Throughout time, sentient beings have been cycling in the vast ocean of samsara, driven by a multitude of thoughts, hopes, and fears. Despite our diversity, we all share a common desire for happiness. Our current circumstances are shaped by our past actions, our karma. The experiences of happiness, suffering, and neutral states that we encounter are the fruits of our accumulated causes.

While our inherent aspiration is happiness, we often remain oblivious to the cause of happiness, which lies in the accumulation of virtuous deeds. Due to our habitual tendencies, we find ourselves inclined towards non-virtuous actions, while virtuous actions seem arduous and demanding.

Karma refers to the mind’s ability to initiate virtuous, non-virtuous, or neutral thoughts, emotions, and deeds. Merit, on the other hand, empowers us to avoid disharmony, suffering, obstacles, and illnesses. It is the mind’s capacity to create harmonious conditions, requiring active cultivation and accumulation by each individual.

The profound intricacies of karma can only be comprehended by a fully enlightened Buddha. A Buddha possesses clear insight into the cause-and-effect relationship of actions, spanning countless cycles of rebirth. Based on this profound understanding, a Buddha imparts teachings on conduct, such as the ten virtuous actions, guiding us on the actions to adopt and those to avoid. To attain happiness in this life and beyond, we must practice the ten virtuous actions. Persisting in the ten non-virtuous actions, despite our yearning for happiness, contradicts our aspirations and leads to wretched states of existence.

Actions that foster harmony and positive conditions are considered virtuous or wholesome, while those causing disharmony and negative conditions are termed non-virtuous or unwholesome. Happiness and its causes are rooted in positivity and virtue, while suffering and its causes stem from negativity and non-virtue. Both virtue and non-virtue, as well as merit and de-merit, depend on the mind and are products of the mind.

The law of cause and effect, known as karma, dictates that virtuous actions lead to happiness, while non-virtuous actions result in suffering. Even before embarking on the Buddhist path and seeking refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, one must grasp and accept the law of karma. Without this understanding and adherence to the ethical principles of a bodhisattva, the journey towards enlightenment remains out of reach.

You are the inheritor of your past karma and actively shaping your future karma in the present moment. Buddhist practitioners bear full responsibility for their own karma, recognizing that they have crafted both their suffering and happiness. They understand that liberation from the suffering of samsara depends entirely on their own efforts.

A Buddhist acknowledges the law of cause and effect, firmly believing in the consequences, positive or negative, that arise from their actions. Following the ten virtuous actions and embodying the conduct of a bodhisattva are essential for genuine Dharma practice. Any notion that harm can be inflicted upon others while progressing towards enlightenment is merely a delusion.