Purport of Ambalațțhikā-Rāhulovāda-Sutta (MN.61)

By Wong Weng Hon

Introduction

The Ambalațțhikā-Rāhulovāda-sutta is the Gotama Buddha’s Instructions to Rāhula on the repeated reflection of the benevolence or malevalence of the bodily actions , verbal actions and mental actions to oneself and others . The Buddha counseled his son Ven. Rāhula that all bodily actions , verbal actions and mental actions  are to be committed  after  repeated reflections on their benefits or harm to oneself and others . The golden admonition of the Exalted One  concurs with both the Confucian and Christian wisdom. Confucian declares that one ought not to do onto others as one does not want others to do onto you . The Christians also adhere to a similar  social philosophy of empathy .

Repeated Reflection

In the Ambalațțhikā-Rāhulovāda-sutta (MN61) , the Buddha promulgates thus :

Whenever you want to commit a bodily action, you should reflect on it thus: ‘This bodily action I desire to commit –would it lead to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both? Would it be an unskillful bodily action, with painful consequences, pain-ful results? If on reflection ,  you know that it would lead to self-affliction , to the affliction of others , or to both ; it would be an unskillful action with painful consequences , painful results, then any bodily action of that sort is absolutely unfit for you do. But if on reflection, you know that it would not cause affliction…., it would be a skillful bodily action with pleasant consequences, pleasant results, then any bodily action of that sort is fit for you to do.’

Gotama Buddha repeated a similar instruction pertaining to repeated reflection of verbal action and mental action. The Exalted One further reminded Ven. Rāhula to train himself thus:

 ‘I will purify my bodily actions through repeated reflection. I will purify my verbal actions through repeated reflection. I will purify my mental actions through repeated reflection .That’s how you train yourself.’

Heedfulness or Mindfulness

This Buddha’s discourse is closely related to the Master’s advice on Heedfulness (Appamāda) expounded in the Dhammapada (Appamāda-vagga) and the Great Discourse of Four Foundations of Mindfulness (Mahāsatipațțhāna-sutta.D.N). Heedfulness is both mundane wisdom as well as supramundane wisdom. On the mundane or exoteric dimension, repeated reflection invigorates heedfulness or vigilance in order not to act carelessly resulting in the unwholesome consequences of harming oneself and others. According to the Tathāgata, before one acts, one ought to consider whether such an action, bodily, verbal or mental, would be harmful to oneself and others. If it would be harmful to oneself and others, such unwholesome or unskilled action ought to be abandoned. If the action would be beneficial to oneself but harmful to others, it ought to be discarded too. If the action would be beneficial to both oneself and others, one is encouraged to commit it. This golden instruction or advice of the Buddha is the skilled application of the 6th item of the Noble Eight Fold Path (Ariyo Ațțhangiko Maggo) – Right Efforts (Sammā -Vāyāma). The tenet of Right Efforts pertains to the repeated reflection on mental actions which regulate both bodily and verbal actions so that only wholesome consciousness (kusalacitta) arises. The application of four foundations of mindfulness (satipațțhāna) helps purify the bodily, verbal and mental actions through inoperative consciousness (kiriyacitta) or non-manifestative consciousness (anidassana-viññāṇa). The exercise of repeated reflection to purify bodily, verbal and mental actions can be consummated by the insightful or wise   application of the four foundations of mindfulness of body (kāya), feelings (vedanā), mind (citta) and phenomena (dhammā). It mirrors that spiritual or supramundane wisdom (lokuttara-paññā) supports and enhances secular or mundane wisdom (lokiya-paññā) in constructing personal harmony and  appeasement of dispositions  (saṅkhārasamatha)  and ,in turn, also contributing to the preservation and fostering of social harmony , tranquility, goodwill and peace.

Conclusion

Spirituality does not collide with secularity but enhances or consummates it. Supramundane wisdom of insight synergizes with the mundane wisdom of actions through the body (kāya), speech (vācā) and mind (mano) .  When wisdom of insight (vipasanā) has been developed from the application of the four foundations of mindfulness of the body, feelings, mind and phenomena both internally and externally without grasping or clinging (upādāna) upon anything in the world, the repeated reflection will automatically be obsolete and is immediately replaced by the spontaneous purification of all bodily, verbal and mental actions committed. The soteriological wisdom insures that only actions through the body, speech and mind beneficial to self and others are committed. The released or pure consciousness of the wisely liberated person automatically purifies all bodily, verbal and mental actions of this maximally excellent person of liberation (vimutti). Before the development of wisdom of insight, repeated reflections on all bodily, verbal and mental actions are important and necessary to avoid ethical flaws, deficiency or  short-comings of the fallible ordinary worldlings whose illusive selfish or egoistic self dominates. The wisdom of insight annihilates the illusive self or ego superimposed by the ignorance (avijjā) of the ordinary worldllings (puthujjanas) who are, since time immemorial, ontologically committed to their five aggregates and the multiplicity of the empirical world. Heedfulness and mindfulness are highly extolled character traits. The noble truth of the highest knowledge (parmatthañāṇa), unveiled by esoteric religions, such as Buddhism , consummate human character and produces maximally excellent person - the Noble One (Ariya) who is  perfect in knowledge (vijjā)  and conduct (caraṇa).