We have been discussing Karma for the last three sessions. We will continue with our Karma discussion. You may recall we discussed bodily negative Karma in our last session. Today, we will discuss the speech and mental negative Karma. Let’s begin with lying. Lying is a negative action of speech. Although one can commit this action by writing or staying silent.
A classic example of this is Yudhishthira during the Kurukshetra war. Someone asks him if Ashwatthama is dead and he said Ashwatthama was indeed dead not clarifying that it was the elephant and not the Guru. Also for lying to create negative consequences, the object of lying must be present along with determination and delusion. Another important point is that the other person has to understand before action is considered complete. For example, if we utter a lie to an infant who cannot process what we are talking about, then the action is not complete.
Divisive speech is something when we create division between people. A lot of this is going on in our society at this time where people make statements just to incite hatred amongst groups of people. There is also a divisive speech of gossip where people talk about other people behind their backs trying to create a rift among friends. The object of divisive speech is two or more people who have a relationship with one another. The divisive speech causes that relationship to deteriorate or make it worse. One thing to point out is that even if something is true but it can cause harm in a relationship between two people then it is considered divisive speech.
Hurtful speech is again, a type of negative action that is intended to hurt someone. If a person is hurt by our speech, it is hurtful speech. As before, if we intend to hurt John but end us hurting Jim then the action is not complete. Also, if we get angry at a non-living being say weather then there is no hurt caused so no negative action occurs. Sarcasm is also a form of hurtful speech. Before we speak or post something on social media, we should contemplate, is it true; is it necessary; is it kind? If the answer to any of these three questions is no, then don’t do it?
Idle chatter is the least affecting negative Karma. This means a meaningless conversation. Although it is not harmful to others too much idle chatter can prevent us from working on positive Karma. So it is indirect negative Karma if you will.
So those are all verbal or speech negative Karma. Now, we will take a look at mental negative Karma. Covetousness is a negative Karma where one desires something that does not belong to them. It can be a material possession, a job, a higher position, or someone else’s partner. This is one Karma that creates negative results just with a train of thought. For the negative Karma to occur, we must first correctly identify the object of desire. We must be determined to possess it. And we must be influenced by delusion. Usually, we repeatedly consider how we will obtain this object and the action is complete when we chose a method and decide to apply it to procure the object ourselves. I should point out that this does not apply to a free will transaction. For example, if you want to purchase something from someone and contemplate how you are going to approach this transaction, that is not covetousness.
Malice is expressing ill will towards other people to harm them. We engage in malice by repeatedly contemplating the best method to express ill will towards someone and the decision to cause harm by our chosen method. A train of thought that combines all three, causes the negative action of malice to occur.
Holding wrong views is where we reject universal truths such as Karma, the Cycle of birth and death, and so on. We engage in this negative action by repeatedly considering how to deny these universal truths. There are many methods that include repudiating these truths, incorrect ways of reasoning for opposing views, etc.
So we covered all ten types of negative actions over the last two sessions. If we commit ourselves to avoiding these ten negative Karmas, our lives will drastically improve for ourselves and those around us.