What causes the karma of divisive speech?

Double-tongued speech, in common parlance, is sowing discord—saying one thing to person A and another to person B, with the aim of making the two misunderstand each other, so that one can profit as the fisherman does when the snipe and the clam fight. Some people do not even intend to gain anything from it; it is simply caused by afflictive habits. Double-tongued speech also includes false speech; whether intentional or unintentional, it is all sinful karma. Within the Three Jewels, as long as one creates discord in the relationships among the fourfold assembly or between master and disciple, it constitutes the karma of the Avīci hell. It also involves this: if a disciple who has been accepted and guided by an ordained master no longer believes in and accepts the master, no longer follows him in learning the Dharma, and instead turns to study other erroneous, inferior, and worldly dharmas that cannot lead to liberation, then at the same time one creates the sin of misleading that disciple's Dharma body and wisdom-life; in future lives there will be great entanglement between the two, and one must also bear the karmic retribution of this portion of sinful karma.

There are also cases where the evil karma of double-tongued speech is created out of jealousy. Most people have jealousy, or rather, everyone has it; the key is whether one can subdue it, not letting one's jealousy manifest, not creating great evil karma. When there is self, others, and people in one's mind, when one wants to stand out and gain some benefit, hoping that others will envy, respect, admire, and follow oneself but failing to achieve this, jealousy arises. Jealousy is a manifestation of incompetence. If one were truly capable, one would obtain all the benefits oneself—then why be jealous of others?

Everyone hopes to be first or second, hopes to stand at the highest peak, above everyone else. If you are truly capable, your talent, virtue, and character should be the highest and best; even wanting to be second and condescend to be beneath others would be impossible—you could not hide even if you hid in the crowd; you would inevitably be revealed. If you want to occupy the first place, you must weigh where your virtue ranks; virtue must match the position for one to have that position, otherwise there will surely be disaster. Exceeding the range and degree of one's own virtue and capability, it is very hard to bear, and the consequences will be serious. For example, if your body can originally only bear a burden of fifty catties or less, yet you insist on carrying a hundred catties, even your spine will not be able to endure it.

Whenever each person wants to obtain some benefit, one must first weigh one's virtue, then weigh one's ability, then also take into account one's character and disposition, and finally assess whether one can bear that position and power. Do not add excessive afflictions and distress to yourself; if virtue does not match the position, it is better not to have that position. A desire that greatly exceeds one's own capability is called ambition. Excessive ambition leads to madness; excessive madness leads to destruction, and one's life will come to an end. A practitioner of the Path should regard everything in the world with equanimity, and as much as possible be without mind, without desire, and without seeking; only thus will one's character become higher and higher. When one's character reaches a certain degree, one will possess the disposition of a bodhisattva, enter the bodhisattva stage, and become a bodhisattva-mahāsattva. The bodhisattva stage is attained without mind; no one has ever attained a sage's or worthy's position through struggle, jealousy, or squeezing out others.

In any group, being first or second is not obtained by contention, not obtained by fighting, not obtained by self-praise, not obtained by advertising, not obtained by canvassing for votes—it is attracted by virtue and conduct. What is attracted by virtue and conduct cannot be pushed away even if you push it, cannot be hidden even if you hide it. What is obtained by means and schemes, once merit and power are exhausted, will decline and fall; if there is sinful karma during this period, one will fall even into the deep valley—more perdition than gain. Afflictions arise because of the view of self and self-grasping; when self-grasping is too heavy, one will create evil karma for the sake of self. Taking the self too seriously brings no benefit at all; the heavier the self, the deeper one falls; conversely, the more selfless the mind, the lighter and more soaring one becomes. Whether one rises or falls depends entirely on one's handling of the self. In daily encounters with conditions and circumstances, constantly reflect on the falsity and unreality of the self, and introspect on one's own mental conduct; the better the reflection and observation, the better one's handling of the self will be.