The relationship problems of people in the West are based on both people’s negative karma, which was created previously. The problems are a result of that.

Now, we need to introduce karma, which is why there are relationship problems, such as the wife not being in harmony with the husband, becoming enemies with each other, other people not supporting the husband, going against his wishes, and so on. This disharmony is the result of past negative karma.

Enjoying the opposite situation, harmony with your partner and children, is the result of morality in past lives. This is an example of the result being similar to the cause. One result of negative karma is the suffering you experience in the human realm.

Besides this, there is the possessed result—where you live, where you are born, for example, in muddy, unhygienic places. There is also the ripening-aspect result: to be reborn in the lower realms, hell, as a hungry ghost or animal, and experiencing those sufferings.

The worst among those is creating the result similar to the cause. In this and future lives, you perform that action again and again due to the habits of past lives. Each complete action produces these four suffering results.

The way to understand how it becomes negative karma is because attachment is a non-virtuous thought. When actions are performed with attachment, with clinging only to the temporary samsaric happiness of this life, then that non-virtuous motivation transforms the action into non-virtue. Then the result is only suffering.

Then there is the suffering of separation, of other people slandering you, of splits in a relationship, or between boss and employee, or disharmony because someone says something negative. Those are the results of slander and causing disunity among others in your past lives.

There is also the suffering of depression without reason. The Buddha explained in the Kangyur that being depressed for no apparent reason, when night time comes, is the result of past sexual misconduct. The same would apply when one wakes up in the morning and feels depressed, but one can’t tell why.

If one wishes to purify this, there are so many powerful methods one can use, so one doesn’t have to experience suffering results endlessly in future lives, and one doesn’t have to continuously create negative karma due to habits. At least, you are able to make the result you experience much lighter or shorter. It depends on how wise you are in performing the practice of purification, and how much strong, healthy, positive regret you generate, which makes your mind and body healthy and free from all results of negative karma.

Reciting the Thirty-five Buddhas’ names is extremely powerful, because among these Buddhas are those who dedicated themselves to purifying these negative karmas. By reciting their names, many eons of negative karma are purified. [See Appendix 3 of Rinpoche's book Making Life Meaningful for more information about this practice.] You can also recite the Vajrasattva mantra, which is practiced by all four Tibetan Mahayana traditions.

The lamrim lineage lamas emphasized performing prostrations every day, like Lama Atisha did. They recited and made prostrations hundreds and even thousands of times in a day. You can also recite the Compassionate Buddha’s mantra.

Here, the solution involves two things: purify past negative karma, and live according to vows, by taking precepts. The best way is to take vows for life, but if that is not possible, then take them for a certain number of years. If that is not possible, take them on certain days each month. You can take the eight Mahayana precepts for one day, which collects vast amounts of merit, because you take them with a bodhicitta motivation before all the gurus, buddhas, and bodhisattvas. These involve avoiding black foods,* so the mind is more pure and able to meditate better.

If you perform the Nyung Nä Abiding in Compassionate Buddha retreat, it includes all these practices: recitation of the Chenrezig mantras, long and short, which purifies all those negative karmas and collects enormous amounts of merit; taking precepts; recitation of the 35 Buddhas’ names; and prostrations. All these powerful practices are included. Even if you can perform just one two-day nyung nä, so much negative karma is purified, and you get closer to enlightenment.

This is the most powerful thing to do in your life. So much merit is created for luck and success in the future, up to the highest success of being able to achieve all the realizations, and achieve enlightenment for sentient beings. There is no question that it is the best way to have a good rebirth after death. Therefore, so much merit is collected and obscurations to happiness are purified, and it brings so much happiness in this life, a long life, health, harmony, and success. You develop compassion for other sentient beings, so you have more harmony with others, and others are more harmonious with you. Others are more loving and helping toward you.

This is why practicing Dharma in daily life is extremely important and the most profitable thing. Dharma has all the answers in life. Without Dharma, there are no solutions. Life is only problems and suffering. Therefore, to learn Dharma and practice meditation is extremely important. It is the most important education, the most urgent thing in life for oneself and others.

[* Black foods include meat, eggs, onion, garlic, and radishes.]