Karma and our environment
40 Samsara, Nirvana, and Buddha Nature
Venerable Thubten Chodron 
Volume 3 Samsara, Nirvana, and Buddha Nature 
Nov 5, 2021 Part of an ongoing series of teachings (retreat and Friday) based on the book Samsara, Nirvana, and Buddha Nature, the third volume in The Library of Wisdom and Compassion series by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Venerable Thubten Chodron.
- Different views for the relationship between mind and external world
- Environmental results of karma
- Explanation of subtlest-wind-mind
- Space particles as the continuity for evolution
- Relationship between internal and external elements
- Individual karma and collective karma
- How the sentient beings’ minds influence the development of the world systems
- Substantial causes and cooperative conditions
- Roles played by laws of nature and laws of karma
Samsara, Nirvana, and Buddha Nature 40: Karma and Our Environment (download)
Contemplation points
- Describe in your own words the interdependence between the mind and the external world.
- Review the list from Volume 2 that explains the environmental results of the 10 negative actions. During you meditation time, explore the correlation of your actions and the environmental result of karma specifically. Meditate on each action and its environmental results and make great aspirations to avoid doing the negative actions.
- Make some examples of the laws of nature and the laws of karma. What are some examples of situations in which these two intersect?
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.
