The Great Difference Between Taking and Not Taking Vows - Teaching #135

Lama Zopa Rinpoche continued his video teachings on thought transformation from Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore in August and September. Here is a summary of the teaching offered on September 7, 2022:The most important Dharma, Rinpoche teaches us, is compassion. If you are becoming kinder and more compassionate, this means you are practicing Dharma.Rinpoche discusses the importance of taking vows. Our virtue is much more extensive after having taken vows than if we have not taken any. This is also true for the non-virtues: it is heavier negative karma for someone ordained to commit a trivial misdeed than for a lay person to indulge in the ten non-virtues. This is why it is so heavy when people who hold bodhisattva vows, and even more so, tantric vows, commit misdeeds. We should take and receive vows to receive a human rebirth again because there is no cause for a higher rebirth other than practicing ethics. We create great merit even by keeping even one precept. By taking vows, one's virtue increases continuously—even while sleeping, and by not having vows and committing non-virtue, one's negative karma increases continuously. Because of this, we need to purify our negative karma to stop it from increasing every day.Rinpoche offers the lung of the Vajrasattva long and short mantras (1:31:17), to help us with our practice or purification.During Rinpoche's September 3 teaching (#134 In Your Life as a Couple, Practice Good Heart), Rinpoche offered the lung for Lama Tsongkhapa's Utilizing Suffering in the Path to Enlightenment.  In this teaching, Rinpoche began translating and offering commentary on this important thought transformation teaching by Lama Tsongkhapa at 1:40:14.