Karma (vipaka) should be fair.

[Inge]

When I received the oral instructions for the Vajrasattva practice (Karma Kagyu lama) she told me the same thing. What it is trying to say is that if one does not pruify even a trifling action of thought, body or speech then it becomes the basis on which similar actions can be executed thus developing into a habit that can then follow us through this life and into our next lives.

The other analogy used was using the four opposing powers to destroy negative actions before they become seeds, because after that, when they become sprouts, plants and finally trees, the effort required to uproot them becomes greater, exponentially.

Inge, do yourself a favour and find a good teacher, their explanations will help overcome negative reactions to statements like these.


PS Vajrasattva practice is not the only method to purify karma. There are also the 35 Confession Buddhas, Riwo Sang Cho, Heart Sutra practice, etc...

What can I do in order to find a teacher? I already go to the teachings that I know of where I live, and use whatever money I can afford to travel to teachings abroad.

[Tilopa]

What can I do in order to find a teacher? I already go to the teachings that I know of where I live, and use whatever money I can afford to travel to teachings abroad.

This thread might help you a bit. www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=3503
So might prayers to the Buddha,Tara or whichever deity you feel most strongly connected to.

[justsit]

Try watching some You Tube or other videos of different teachers. You may see one or several with whom you feel some connection. Then read their works, and find out more about them and their lineage. Check them out very carefully, as per Patrul Rinpoche's instructions in Chapter 6 of Words of My Perfect Teacher. Try to see them in person. Meet the sangha if possible. Don't jump too quickly at the first person you find. Keep searching, sooner or later someone will click. Don't forget to make lots of positive merit.
And recite one of the Calling the Guru from Afar prayers. There are several variations - here is one.

[gregkavarnos]

Dear Inge,
If you can PM me an email address I can send you the text and an audio file of the Calling the Guru from Afar practice. It will definitely help you find a teacher. The other thing you can do is ask for a specific teaching that you feel a connection to from a teacher that you feel the most connection to. I feel that it is always best to have a teacher that you can have regular and personal contact with. Super-star-lama are great (and don't get me wrong, many of them are fantastic teachers) but your lama really needs to know where you are at in order to push you that one step further. It's no use having a jet-set teacher that happens to be teaching in Honolulu and will be back in four weeks when shit is falling apart right now and your practice is collapsing along with it. Well, at least that's my opinion, others will care to differ.

[Pema Rigdzin]

There are many ways of purifying negative karma and different schools emphasize different methods.

That isn't what Thubten Zopa said

"[If you] have not purified that negativity by the end of the day with a practice such as the Vajrasattva purification, the weight of that karma will have doubled by the next day."

That reads fairly exclusive to me.

-M

Meindzai,

You've apparently overlooked a couple of important details: first, Lama Yeshe's advice occurred in the context of teachings on Vajrasattva practice, the most ubiquitous purification practice in Vajrayana, so it would be a bit strange if he didn't recommend that practice in particular lol. For example, you wouldn't write a book on running and then say "it's important to get some cardio every day through an aerobic exercise such as cross-country skiing." You might mention somewhere in your book that cross country skiing can also achieve the same goals as running, but since your audience is people interested in hearing about running, advice on running is the only exercise strictly relevant to your book.

Secondly, if you look more closely, he said that one must purify negative karma by the end of the day with a practice, not "this and only this practice." He only says "a practice such as the Vajrasattva practice."

[Pema Rigdzin]

Also, as an aside, Vajrasattva practice is an especially powerful method of purification due to a few extraordinary things: first are the aspirations and vows made by Vajrasattva as an aspiring bodhisattva not to attain Buddhahood unless he could help even the most deeply obscured, negative sentient beings purify the most heinous karmas, etc. (This is a common theme in Mahayana of Buddhas having made vows not to attain Buddhahood unless they can accomplish certain benefits for sentient beings; think Amitabha and Medicine Buddha and their practices that are empowered both by the motivations and efforts of the practitioner AND the strength of those Buddhas' accomplishment of their vows.) Then, there are the elements of the mantra which express refuge, bodhicitta, the four Brahma viharas (the "four boundless" qualities), regret, prayer to help one uproot negativity from one's mind and realize total positivity, the view of emptiness, and also the four empowerments. So it's extraordinary.