The effects of negative karma
Venerable Thubten Chodron 
Gomchen Lamrim 
Mar 4, 2016 Having generated the motivation for a good rebirth, the text turns to creating the causes for that goal. Part of a series of teachings on the Gomchen Lamrim by Gomchen Ngawang Drakpa. Visit Gomchen Lamrim Study Guide for a full list of contemplation points for the series.
- The types of karmic results
- The ripening results of negative karma
- The results similar to the cause in terms of experience
- The results similar to the cause in terms of habitual behavior
- The environmental results
- How to work with the mind when we experience these kinds of results
Gomchen Lamrim 31: The effects of negative karma (download)
Contemplation points
- What are the three results of karma (divided into 4 where the second has two aspects)?
- Go through the ten non-virtues and consider each of the four results that come from them. Can you see how the results correspond with the cause created? It can be very powerful for the mind to list this out in a spreadsheet. Try this. How does it affect your mind to see this in writing?
- We’ve all experienced these results to some degree, haven’t we? Consider how you can transform your unpleasant experiences, and instead of getting angry and blaming others, see your experience as the result of past negativities, purify anything that might still be on your mindstream, and use the experience to motivate you to not recreate the causes for future suffering.
Venerable Thubten Chodron
Venerable Chodron emphasizes the practical application of Buddha’s teachings in our daily lives and is especially skilled at explaining them in ways easily understood and practiced by Westerners. She is well known for her warm, humorous, and lucid teachings. She was ordained as a Buddhist nun in 1977 by Kyabje Ling Rinpoche in Dharamsala, India, and in 1986 she received bhikshuni (full) ordination in Taiwan. Read her full bio.
