Gomchen Lamrim review: Specific aspects of karma
Venerable Tenzin Tsepal 
Gomchen Lamrim 
May 13, 2016 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 purpose and benefits of meditating on karma
- The various topics of karma to contemplate
- The initial motivation and the concluding motivation of an action
- Actions and paths of actions
- Transgressions and naturally negative actions
Gomchen Lamrim 41 review: Specific aspects of karma (download)
Contemplation points
Venerable Tsepal reviewed a number of ways to meditate on karma and its effects:
- Meditation on four characteristics of karma (bring in your own life experience to prove to yourself that these characteristics function as they are described).
- Meditation on the ten non-virtues, focusing on the various parts that compose a complete pathway of action.
- Meditation on the ten non virtues, reflecting on where we personally avoid it and where we engage in it.
- Meditation on the effects of the ten non-virtues, recognizing the results in your life as well as in the lives of those around you and tracing back their causes.
- Meditation on the distinctions of the ten paths of action (weights and seriousness of our action, strength of the performance, etc). How can you strengthen virtue and weaken non virtue?
- Meditation on current events in the news (What results are being experienced now and what must their causes have been? What causes are being created now and what must the results be in the future?)
Venerable Tenzin Tsepal
Venerable Tenzin Tsepal was first introduced to meditation in high school in the 1970s. While working as a dental hygienist in Seattle and hospital administration in Yakima, she practiced and attended retreats in the Vipassana tradition. In 1995, she found Dharma Friendship Foundation and teachings with Venerable Thubten Chodron. She attended the Life As A Western Buddhist Nun conference in India as a lay volunteer in 1996. Following a life-changing 3-month Vajrasattva retreat in 1998, Ven. Tsepal lived in Dharmsala, India for two years where she further explored the idea of monastic life. She received novice ordination as a Buddhist nun with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in March of 2001. After ordination, she was immersed in the full-time residential Buddhist Studies Program at Chenrezig Institute in Queensland, Australia, principally with Khensur Rinpoche and Geshe Tashi Tsering. As a qualified FPMT teacher, Ven. Tsepal was appointed the Western Teacher at Chenrezig Institute from 2004 to 2014, teaching the Discovering Buddhism series, tutoring for the general program and leading retreats. In 2015, she tutored three subjects for the FPMT Basic Program. Venerable Tsepal arrived at Sravasti Abbey in mid-January for the 2016 Winter Retreat. She joined the community in September 2016, and received Shiksamana training that October.
