another great sutta on right view
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying at
Savatthi, in
Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's monastery. There he addressed the
monks: "Monks!"
"Yes, lord," the monks replied.
The Blessed One said, "Monks, I will teach you noble right
concentration with its supports and requisite conditions. Listen,
and pay close attention. I will speak."
"Yes, lord," the monks replied.
The Blessed One said: "Now what, monks, is noble right
concentration with its supports & requisite conditions? Any
singleness of mind equipped with these seven factors — right view,
right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right
effort, & right mindfulness — is called noble right
concentration with its supports & requisite conditions.
[1] "Of
those, right view is the forerunner. And how is right view the
forerunner? One discerns wrong view as wrong view, and right view
as right view. This is one's right view. And what is wrong view? 'There
is nothing given, nothing offered, nothing sacrificed. There is no
fruit or result of good or bad actions. There is no this world, no
next world, no mother, no father, no spontaneously reborn beings;
no priests or contemplatives who, faring rightly & practicing
rightly, proclaim this world & the next after having directly
known & realized it for themselves.' This is wrong view.
"And what is right
view? Right view, I tell you, is of two sorts: There is right view
with effluents [asava], siding with merit, resulting in
the acquisitions [of becoming]; and there is noble right view,
without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the path.
"And what is the right view that has effluents, sides with
merit, & results in acquisitions? 'There is what is given, what
is offered, what is sacrificed. There are fruits & results of
good & bad actions. There is this world & the next world.
There is mother & father. There are spontaneously reborn
beings; there are priests & contemplatives who, faring rightly
& practicing rightly, proclaim this world & the next after
having directly known & realized it for themselves.' This is
the right view that has effluents, sides with merit, & results
in acquisitions.
"And what is the right view that is without effluents,
transcendent, a factor of the path? The discernment, the faculty of
discernment, the strength of discernment, analysis of qualities as
a factor for Awakening, the path factor of right view of one
developing the noble path whose mind is noble, whose mind is free
from effluents, who is fully possessed of the noble path. This is
the right view that is without effluents, transcendent, a factor of
the path.
"One tries to abandon wrong view & to enter into right view:
This is one's right effort. One is mindful to abandon wrong view
& to enter & remain in right view: This is one's right
mindfulness. Thus these three qualities — right view, right effort,
& right mindfulness — run & circle around right view.
[2] "Of
those, right view is the forerunner. And how is right view the
forerunner? One discerns wrong resolve as wrong resolve, and right
resolve as right resolve. And what is wrong resolve? Being resolved
on sensuality, on ill will, on harmfulness. This is wrong
resolve.
"And what is right resolve? Right resolve, I tell you, is of two
sorts: There is right resolve with effluents, siding with merit,
resulting in the acquisitions [of becoming]; and there is noble
right resolve, without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the
path.
"And what is the right resolve that has effluents, sides with
merit, & results in acquisitions? Being resolved on
renunciation, on freedom from ill will, on harmlessness. This is
the right resolve that has effluents, sides with merit, &
results in acquisitions.
And what is the right resolve that is without effluents,
transcendent, a factor of the path? The thinking, directed
thinking, resolve, (mental) fixity, transfixion, focused
awareness, & verbal fabrications of one developing the noble
path whose mind is noble, whose mind is without effluents, who is
fully possessed of the noble path. This is the right resolve that
is without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the path.
"One tries to abandon wrong resolve & to enter into right
resolve: This is one's right effort. One is mindful to abandon
wrong resolve & to enter & remain in right resolve: This is
one's right mindfulness. Thus these three qualities — right view,
right effort, & right mindfulness — run & circle around
right resolve.
[3] "Of
those, right view is the forerunner. And how is right view the
forerunner? One discerns wrong speech as wrong speech, and right
speech as right speech. And what is wrong speech? Lying, divisive
tale-bearing, abusive speech, & idle chatter. This is wrong
speech.
"And what is right speech? Right speech, I tell you, is of two
sorts: There is right speech with effluents, siding with merit,
resulting in the acquisitions [of becoming]; and there is noble
right speech, without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the
path.
"And what is the right speech that has effluents, sides with
merit, & results in acquisitions? Abstaining from lying, from
divisive tale-bearing, from abusive speech, & from idle
chatter. This is the right speech that has effluents, sides with
merit, & results in acquisitions.
"And what is the right speech that is without effluents,
transcendent, a factor of the path? The abstaining, desisting,
abstinence, avoidance of the four forms of verbal misconduct of one
developing the noble path whose mind is noble, whose mind is
without effluents, who is fully possessed of the noble path. This
is the right speech that is without effluents, transcendent, a
factor of the path.
"One tries to abandon wrong speech & to enter into right
speech: This is one's right effort. One is mindful to abandon wrong
speech & to enter & remain in right speech: This is one's
right mindfulness. Thus these three qualities — right view, right
effort, & right mindfulness — run & circle around right
speech.
[4] "Of
those, right view is the forerunner. And how is right view the
forerunner? One discerns wrong action as wrong action, and right
action as right action. And what is wrong action? Killing, taking
what is not given, illicit sex. This is wrong action.
"And what is right action? Right action, I tell you, is of two
sorts: There is right action with effluents, siding with merit,
resulting in the acquisitions [of becoming]; and there is noble
right action, without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the
path.
"And what is the right action that has effluents, sides with
merit, & results in acquisitions? Abstaining from killing, from
taking what is not given, & from illicit sex. This is the right
action that has effluents, sides with merit, & results in
acquisitions.
"And what is the right action that is without effluents,
transcendent, a factor of the path? The abstaining, desisting,
abstinence, avoidance of the three forms of bodily misconduct of
one developing the noble path whose mind is noble, whose mind is
without effluents, who is fully possessed of the noble path. This
is the right action that is without effluents, transcendent, a
factor of the path.
"One tries to abandon wrong action & to enter into right
action: This is one's right effort. One is mindful to abandon wrong
action & to enter & remain in right action: This is one's
right mindfulness. Thus these three qualities — right view, right
effort, & right mindfulness — run & circle around right
action.
[5] "Of
those, right view is the forerunner. And how is right view the
forerunner? One discerns wrong livelihood as wrong livelihood, and
right livelihood as right livelihood. And what is wrong livelihood?
Scheming, persuading, hinting, belittling, & pursuing gain with
gain. This is wrong livelihood.
"And what is right livelihood? Right livelihood, I tell you, is
of two sorts: There is right livelihood with effluents, siding with
merit, resulting in the acquisitions [of becoming]; and there is
noble right livelihood, without effluents, transcendent, a factor
of the path.
"And what is the right livelihood that has effluents, sides with
merit, & results in acquisitions? There is the case where a
disciple of the noble ones abandons wrong livelihood and maintains
his life with right livelihood. This is the right livelihood that
has effluents, sides with merit, & results in acquisitions.
"And what is the right livelihood that is without effluents,
transcendent, a factor of the path? The abstaining, desisting,
abstinence, avoidance of wrong livelihood of one developing the
noble path whose mind is noble, whose mind is without effluents,
who is fully possessed of the noble path. This is the right
livelihood that is without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the
path.
"One tries to abandon wrong livelihood & to enter into right
livelihood: This is one's right effort. One is mindful to abandon
wrong livelihood & to enter & remain in right livelihood:
This is one's right mindfulness. Thus these three qualities — right
view, right effort, & right mindfulness — run & circle
around right livelihood.
"Of those, right view is the forerunner. And how is right view
the forerunner? In one of right view, right resolve comes into
being. In one of right resolve, right speech comes into being. In
one of right speech, right action... In one of right action, right
livelihood... In one of right livelihood, right effort... In one of
right effort, right mindfulness... In one of right mindfulness,
right concentration... In one of right concentration, right
knowledge... In one of right knowledge, right release comes into
being. Thus the learner is endowed with eight factors, and the
arahant with ten.
"Of those, right view is the forerunner. And how is right view
the forerunner? In one of right view, wrong view is abolished. The
many evil, unskillful qualities that come into play with wrong view
as their condition are also abolished, while the many skillful
qualities that have right view as their condition go to the
culmination of their development. In one of right resolve, wrong
resolve is abolished... In one of right speech, wrong speech is
abolished... In one of right action, wrong action is abolished...
In one of right livelihood, wrong livelihood is abolished... In one
of right effort, wrong effort is abolished... In one of right
mindfulness, wrong mindfulness is abolished... In one of right
concentration, wrong concentration is abolished... In one of right
knowledge, wrong knowledge is abolished... In one of right release,
wrong release is abolished. The many evil, unskillful qualities
that come into play with wrong release as their condition are also
abolished, while the many skillful qualities that have right
release as their condition go to the culmination of their
development.
"Thus, monks, there are twenty factors siding with skillfulness,
and twenty with unskillfulness.
"This Dhamma discourse on the Great Forty has been set rolling
and cannot be stopped by any contemplative or priest or deva or
Mara and Brahma or anyone at all in the world.
"If any priest or contemplative might think that this Great
Forty Dhamma discourse should be censured & rejected, there are
ten legitimate implications of his statement that would form
grounds for censuring him here & now. If he censures right
view, then he would honor any priests and contemplatives who are of
wrong view; he would praise them. If he censures right resolve...
right speech... right action... right livelihood... right effort...
right mindfulness... right concentration... right knowledge... If
he censures right release, then he would honor any priests and
contemplatives who are of wrong release; he would praise them. If
any priest or contemplative might think that this Great Forty
Dhamma discourse should be censured & rejected, there are these
ten legitimate implications of his statement that would form
grounds for censuring him here & now.
"Even Vassa &
Bhañña — those
teachers from Okkala who were proponents of no-causality, no-action,
& no-existence — would not think that this Dhamma discourse on
the Great Forty should be censured & rejected. Why is that? For
fear of criticism, opposition, & reproach."
That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, the monks
delighted in the Blessed One's words.