Harmful Activities

According to some Buddhist thinkers, there are 10 major harmful activities. I found the following on the Tricycle Magazine website:

THERE ARE TEN actions that we must become completely aware of and completely abandon in our lives. They are divided into three unvirtuous actions of the body: killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct; four unvirtutous actions of speech: lying, slander, harsh speech, and idle chatter; and three unvirtuous actions of mind: covetousness, wishing harm on others, and wrong view.

www.tricycle.com/insights/complete-abandon

The Way of the Bodhisattva

All those who slight me to my face
Or do to me some other evil,
Even if they blame or slander me,
May they attain the fortune of enlightenment!

May I be a guard for those who are protectorless,
A guide for those who journey on the road.
For those who wish to cross the water,
May I be a boat, a raft, a bridge.

—From The Way of the Bodhisattva

This quote is from the back cover of "The Way of the Bodhisattva" by Shantideva, Padmakara Translation Group, Shambala Press 2008, a book I recently checked out from the library.

Think of Future Generations - The Dalai Lama

Via Harper's Magazine [linked]:

The Dalai Lama on the Duty to Earth and the Human Family


Bsod-nams-rgya-mtsho. The Three-Deity Mandala of Auspicious Beginning.

If humankind continues to approach its problems considering only temporary expediency, future generations will have to face tremendous difficulties. The global population is increasing, and our resources are being rapidly depleted. Look at the trees, for example. No one knows exactly what adverse effects massive deforestation will have on the climate, the soil, and global ecology as a whole. We are facing problems because people are concentrating only on their short-term, selfish interests, not thinking of the entire human family. They are not thinking of the earth and the long-term effects on universal life as a whole. If we of the present generation do not think about these now, future generations may not be able to cope with them.

–H.H. Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, A Human Approach to World Peace (2006)

www.dalailama.com