Ethics are the Heart of Spiritual Practice

No matter how advanced our spiritual practice might be, in the end, we should always remember not to be reckless in our behavior. Therefore, ethics is the foundation of all Buddhist practices, including the Dzogchen tradition in which I practice.

Without the framework of ethics in our spirituality, it is incomplete and it may not take us anywhere in terms of authentic awakening or even personal transformation. Our spirituality can be hijacked by ego, self-interest, ulterior motives, self-deception, and narcissism. The practice of ethics brings goodness into our lives as well as goodness in our relationships between ourselves and the world.

What is ethics? Sometimes it refers to understanding the line between wholesome and unwholesome actions—cultivating wholesome actions, and refraining from unwholesome actions. Sometimes ethics is not only what we do, but the state of mind that we cultivate.

“True ethics is not just about following some old scriptures nor about adhering to a behavior code dictated by any given society. Its roots lie in each of us—empathy and compassion.”

The Buddhist system of ethics is very complex because the definition of ethics varies according to the different systems of practices and philosophies. Yet there is one universal system of ethics agreed upon by all the systems, which is ahimsa in Sanskrit, or “nonviolence.” It means refraining from harming others either directly or indirectly. Buddhist ethics is not exclusively humancentric, so nonviolence is exercised not just toward people but toward all living beings, with not one single species excluded, no matter how insignificant or different it is from humans.

There is a danger, especially when people get into nondual advanced spiritual practices. They may ignore the importance of ethics or may be “barking up the wrong tree,” thinking that the higher teachings literally transcend the system of ethics. It gives the ego a self-fulfilling fantasy that one can enjoy the bliss of enlightenment even while doing whatever one wants without any restraint, letting one’s primitive impulses be unhinged. Such a misunderstanding can eventually lead us to pitfalls, where we end up disregarding the law of karma, and ethics is no longer part of our spirituality. This can be very dangerous and can lead to both philosophical and behavioral disasters.

Ethics could be categorized into two: what to cultivate and what to refrain from. The first is what we regard as virtue, or wholesome action. This comes down to one single principle—to benefit others. The second one—what to refrain from—is harming others. 

When we think of harming others, we should not just associate it with hurting someone physically or causing serious emotional abuse. There are so many subtle ways we can hurt other people unless we bring intentional reflection to what we do and say. Even the words we use are extremely important. When we call people names based on their physical characteristics, race, religion, or lifestyle, even if we don’t have a bad intention, such words can be tainted by collective phobia and discrimination against others. They can be perceived as different, undesirable, or less than us, and so forth.

The great Buddhist master Patrul Rinpoche is known for practicing ethics and for embodying the phrase spoken by Padmasambhava, the Indian master who is said to have brought Buddhism to Tibet:

One’s view should be as high as the sky.

Yet one’s conduct should be as fine as flour.

Ethics is not just a cultural or religious matter; it should be held as the very foundation of our spiritual practice. It can also bring about dignity and inner happiness to oneself. Furthermore, human society may not even survive at all without ethics as the cornerstone of our lives.

Human beings are very complex creatures. Sometimes a contradiction happens inside us—there is the desire to be good, but at the same time, powerful forces and impulses lead us to do unwholesome deeds. We may feel these two forces fighting with each other. Yet in the end, we have the ability to decide which force we want to side with.

No doubt there is an innate aspiration in human beings to strive to be a good person, regardless of whether they are actually living in accordance with their high ideals. In our hearts, we often find so much goodness, such as altruism, our desire to help others, and our wish to live life in accordance with noble principles. This is why, collectively, we honor certain individuals as heroes and heroines who embody virtue, not because of their personal power, wealth, or physical prowess.

The way to practice ethics is to look inside and see the powerful forces that motivate us to engage with unwholesome deeds. It could be greed, unhealthy desire, jealousy, hatred, anger, or any of the negative forces. Ultimately, all our actions come from our motives or impulses. Without acknowledging or working with these forces, we may outwardly pretend to follow a good example—like a good sheep in the human herd—but the roots of our negative actions haven’t been purified.

This is why some Buddhist masters defined the line between kushala (virtue) and akushala (nonvirtue) as not just the action but the motivation behind the action. This seems to be a more holistic and logical way to define true ethics in our everyday life.

There is joy from not harming others and benefiting others, because our true nature is intrinsically good. When we follow universal ethical lines, our heart is more and more full, and we experience pure joy that cannot be found from material gain or sensual pleasures.

A Harvard Business School experiment gave students five dollars or twenty dollars to spend either on themselves or others. The researchers found that people who spent the money on themselves weren’t happier, but people who spent it on others were. The researchers said, “The amount of money, five dollars or twenty dollars, didn’t matter. It was only how people spent it that made them happier.”

This is an example of the intrinsic goodness in our hearts as human beings, and when we do good things in the world, our hearts’ deeper needs are fulfilled. This results in a nonmaterial joy.

Ethics is both the state of our mind and relational. It often involves what we do as well as how we relate to the world and other beings around us. Therefore, we cannot have true virtue or ethics if we don’t bring ethical principles into our relationships with others.

True ethics is not just about following some old scriptures nor about adhering to a behavior code dictated by any given society. Its roots lie in each of us—empathy and compassion. When these are lacking in us, we are prone to being very self-centered and have little reservation about causing harm to others. Empathy is a virtue, without which we are morally bankrupt. We can be extremely wealthy, basking in worldly glory, but without empathy, we are morally bankrupt.

Once again, the most important part of practicing ethics is to become aware of our inner dark forces and not give in to them, no matter how tempting or irresistible they may be. We don’t have to declare a sacred spiritual war against our inner dark forces. They don’t go away easily, but when they occur, we don’t need to take them personally. Everyone has dark forces. All we need to do is be aware of them and learn not to allow them to take over.

With such practice, eventually these forces have less and less of a grip on us. Then we find ourselves living in accordance with our higher principles, which results in a sense of dignity and fulfillment.