11 Right Action

90 Action is what we do by moving our bodies. Wrong actions consist of deeds with negative motives and negative effects upon both ourselves and others, while Right Action (samma kammanta) has positives motives and positive effects on both oneself and others. Because beings treasure their life and the lives of their loved ones above all things, killing them or threatening their lives is one of the worst things we can do to them.

Killing involves violence, terror and pain for the victim, and reinforces the tendency for violence, hatred and hard-heartedness in the killer. If we care for the feelings of others, we simply cannot kill or inflict pain on them any more than we could to ourselves. The Buddha says:      

All tremble at violence, all fear death.    

Put yourself in the place of the others    

And kill none, not have them killed.      

All tremble at violence, life is dear to all.    

Put yourself in the place of others    

And kill none, nor have them killed.       

And if we are trying to develop our compassion so that it is truly strong and expansive, it logically follows that we should refrain from killing any being, not just humans.  

91 To be harmless and to abstain from taking life is an extremely important aspect of Right Action, and so is the promoting of life. Efforts to make things safe so that beings cannot be injured,  to eliminate life threatening diseases, giving shelter and protection to the afflicted, and helping to bring peace and reconciliation where there is conflict are amongst the most positive actions we can initiate.  

Another thing that helps to preserve and promote life and which Buddhism lays great stress on is the care and healing of the sick.                                  

The Buddha called himself the good physician (anutarro bhisakko), by which he meant he was able to heal those whose hearts were sick with the defilements, with the medicine of the Dhamma. But he was also both physician and nurse to those who were sick in the body. The Tipitaka recounts many incidents where he visited sick people, counselled and comforted them, and even nursed them. 

Now at that time, a certain monk was suffering from dysentery, and lay where he had fallen in his own excrement. The Lord and Ananda were visiting the lodgings and they came to where the sick monk lay, and the Lord asked him:

"Monk, what is wrong with you?"        

"I have dysentry."      

"Is there no one to look after you? "      

"No, Lord."      

"Then why is it that the monks don't look after you?"      

"It is because I am of no use to them, Lord."         

Then the Lord  said to Ananda:

" Go and fetch water. We will wash this monk."

So, Ananda brought water and the Lord poured it

out while Ananda washed the monk all over. 

Then taking the monk by the head and feet, the

Lord and Ananda together carried him and laid

him on a bed.         

Later, the Lord called the monks together and asked them:

" Why, monks, did you not look after that sick monk?"  

"Because he was of no use to us, Lord."     

"You have no mother or father to take care of you.

If you do not look after each other, who will ?

He who would nurse me, let him nurse the sick."       

If we had been alive at the time of the Buddha and he had become sick, would we not consider it a duty, a privilege even, to nurse him? To serve the sick is to serve the Buddha because it is to do his bidding. The Buddha tells us what qualities we should have to be a good nurse for the sick:

                               

Possessing five qualities, one who nurse the sick is fit to nurse the sick. What five?  He can prepare the medicine; he known what is good and what is not; what is good he offers, and what is not he does not; he nurses the sick out of love, not of hope for gain; he is unmoved by excrement, urine, vomit and spittle; and from time to time he can instruct, inspire, gladden and satisfy the  sick with talk on Dhamma.       

If we can nurse the sick, having developed skills like these, we will be able to enhance their spiritual well-being as much as their physical well-being. The Subhasitaratnakhosa looks at the person who is able to put aside his or her own interests and act selflessly, and compares that person to a tree.       

They give shade to others    

While standing in the sun themselves.    

The fruit they bear they do for others.    

Thus good people are like trees     

92 In the light of what has been said about killing, is it necessary for a Buddhist to be vegetarian? At the time of the Buddha, as today, there were people who believed that certain foods, especially meat, were impure and defiled anyone who ate them. Buddhism clearly says that nothing we can eat makes us impure - only evil thoughts, speech and actions can do that.       

If one is rough, arrogant, backbiting, Treacherous, mean and does not share with others - This makes one impure, not the eating of meat.      

Anger, pride, stubbornness, hostility,    

Cunning, envy, boasting and pride    

And association with evil friends -    

This makes one impure, not the eating of meat.      

Having bad morals, refusing to repay debts,    

Slandering, cheating, pretension    

And committing other such evils -    

This makes one impure, not the eating of meat.                                      

But some people wish to be vegetarian, not because they think meat defiles, but because they feel that it involves them, even if only at a distance, in killing. What did the Buddha have to say about this ? Firstly, the Buddha himself was not a vegetarian, and there is no record in the whole forty years of his ministry of him advocating vegetarianism.

On the contrary, in the rules he laid down for months, he says that the meat of certain wild animals should not be eaten, implying that other types of meat can, in another place he specially recommends that meat broth be taken to strengthen the body during sickness.

When the Buddha's cousin, Devadatta, requested that rules upholding strict asceticism be introduced for monks, one of these rules being compulsory vegetarian, the Buddha turned down the request.  Once the Jains tried to discredit the Buddha and his disciples for accepting and eating meat that had been offered to them. When the monks asked what they should do when meat was offered to them, the Buddha said that they should accept if they had not seen, heard or suspected that the animal had been killed specifically for them.    

93  So, the Buddha's position on this issue is clear. There are these two different cases:

the first is killing with one's own hand, instructing someone to kill one's behalf, or allowing  someone to kill on one's behalf;

the second is eating meat that has been killed without either one's consent, approval or knowledge.

In the first case, one is directly responsible, in the second case is to greater or lesser degree indirectly responsible.  

Critics of the ancient Buddhist tradition scoff at this distinction and claim that those making it are splitting hairs. However, the strictest vegetarian is just as responsible for creatures being killed, if only indirectly, as the meat-eater is. The vegetarian's food has been sprayed with poison to kill the insects that might otherwise eat the plants, he probably wears shoes made of leather, he certainly  uses dozens of household products which contain parts of animals (like soap which is made of animal fat), and he probably has no qualms about using medicines that contain animal serum or have been tested in animal's bodies.

Of all the animal products that the average uses, why should he single out only meat to avoid?  To be really consistent, the vegetarian should avoid all animal products and all commercially grown vegetables. Merely to live is to deprive other beings of their food, habitat or life, and this is but another example of the general unsatisfactory nature of existence.

The Buddhist will do everything he or she can to avoid killing and to preserve life, and to this end,  some will go as far as being vegetarian, some will go further, some not as far. Each person must choose for themselves. But either way, the non-vegetarian partakes as fully in the spiritual life as the vegetarian. 

94 Stealing is a wrong action because it reinforces greed, cunning and lies in the one who steals,  and it causes inconvenience and sorrow in the one who is stolen  from. In practising the Buddha's teachings, we refrain belongs to us. Generosity (dana) or liberality (caga) is more than just an antidote to acquisitiveness, it wins us respect, it binds friends and it gives joy to others.

The Buddha says:        

"Is it possible, Lord, to see the visible results of generosity?"

And the Lord said: "Yes, it is possible to see the visible results of generosity. The giver, thegenerous one, is liked and dear to many.

This is a visible result of generosity. The good and wise follow him.

This is a visible result of generosity.

A good reputation concerning his spreads about. This also is a visible result of generosity.

Again, in whatever company he enters, be it nobles, Brahmins, householders or recluses, he enters with confidence and is untroubled. This is a visible result of giving. And finally, the giver, the generous one, after death is reborn in heaven. This is a result to be seen hereafter.    

95 Traditional Buddhists recognise four types of giving. The first is the gift of material things (armisa dana). This refers to giving food, clothes, money or any other material thing that might be of benefit to others. The Buddha asks us to see beyond the given object itself and to consider the effect that the object has on the person who receives. When we do this we can see why giving, even material things, is so valuable to both giver and receiver.                                

For example, if we give medicine, we give more than just a collection of chemical substances, we give health, we give happiness, we might even give life itself. Concerning food, the Buddha says:

In giving food, the giver gives five things. What five ? 

He gives life, beauty, happiness, strength and intelligence. And in giving these things, one partakes in the qualities of life, beauty, happiness, strength and intelligence, both here and hereafter.        

The next type of gift is the gift of work (parichariya dana), which means lending our talents, skill and time to people or institutes that need it. Voluntary work in charitable organizations, or Buddhist temples or societies would be good examples of the gift of work.

The third gift is fearlessness (abhayadana).  All too often, people's  fears are due to their attitude of mind, by what their imaginations delude them into thinking  ‘might’  happen, rather than any immediate or real threat.  In such cases, words of reassurance and comfort from us can help dispel fear.

But few things invoke more fear than the thought of death, especially if death is approaching. If we have unshakable confidence in the Three Jewels, if we are strong in virtue and we understand the process of rebirth, death should hold no fear for us, and we should be able to impart our

fearlessness to those who are about to die.

Encouraging the dying to think about their good deeds, helping them to see as an integral and natural part of the process of life, or merely being present with them to listen to them or make them more physically comfortable, can all continue to helping someone to die with peace and confidence.  

Closely related to the gift of fearlessness is the gift of the Dhamma (dhamma dana) which the Buddha says is the greatest of all. Apart from actually talking about it to others, we can give the gift of Dhamma by writing books, printing them for the distribution and by supporting monks or nuns and institutions that propagate it.                                  

96  As in the case of speech, we can give in different ways and with different motives, not all of them in the spirit of the helpfulness and love that mark true generosity. The Paramitasamasa makes this clear when, referring to the person trying to develop pure generosity, it says:      

That person gives, not seeking pleasures, which are just poison, not to harm others, not to counteract fear or shame; and he does not go about seeking for those who are worthy to receive.      

He does not give a base thing when a fine one is available, or contemptuously thinking: " They are not worthy of offering," nor does he degrade the gift by expecting something in return, nor does he give disrespectfully or hesitantly.

When giving to a good person, he is not arrogant; when giving to a common person, he is not humble. He gives impartially, neither exalting himself nor disparaging others.      

He does not give with wrong intentions; he does not give without aspiration. He does not give with anger, nor does he have regret once he has given.      

He does not give much when flattered or little when not. He gives nothing that might cause harm or give rise to devious behaviour.

97 Sex is a very important aspect of human behaviour, involving as it does both the biological and the psychological. Its basic purpose is to reproduce the species, but it has evolved beyond the mere physical to become, at its best, an expression of love and tenderness between husband and wife.

All too often, however, the sexual drive has been twisted by superstition and taboo into a source of guilt, fear and mental sickness. Just as often, the unrestrained desire for pleasure has led to frustration, promiscuity and exploitation. To help us avoid both these extremities so that sex is given its proper place in our physical, psychological and social life, the Buddha urged us to avoid what he called sexual misconduct (kamesu miccha cara).

Sexual misconduct is any sexual behaviour that harms either ourselves or others. Rape would be the most obvious example of sexual misconduct. Adultery would be another, because it involves broken promises, lies and deceitful behaviour, quite apart from the sense of betrayal it causes.

  

Taking advantage of a person's innocence, gullibility or emotional weakness to satisfy one's sexual appetite is likewise sexual misconduct. Promiscuity, while it might not directly hurt oneself or others, does distract us from more noble pursuits and tends to make us careless of the wishes and feelings of others. Buddhism however, would agree with modern informed opinion that neither masturbation, nor pre-marital sex where mutual consent and responsibility are present, are wrong. However, while pre-marital sex may not be wrong, it is perhaps not advisable, because it can lead to pregnancy and all the complications that this would entail. Continence and moderation in sex would be what Buddhism calls skilful sexual behaviour.  

98  While Buddhism gives precedence to the mind, its nature, its training and its transformation, the state of the body is also important because it can influence our state of mind.

Consequently the Buddha urges us to act in such a way as to maintain bodily health and vigor. To this end, exercise, a balanced diet, moderation in food and, in particular, avoidance of alcohol and intoxicating drugs is most helpful. In fact, abstinence from alcohol is an essential part of Buddhism practice. The Buddha tells us why:       

Whoever follows the Dhamma    

Should take no drink    

Or encourage others to drink,    

Knowing that intoxication is the result.      

Because of intoxication    

The fool commits evil deeds    

And makes others negligent too.    

So avoid this root of wrong    

This folly loved only by fools.       

When we are intoxicated, disorientation and carelessness result, and it becomes easy to do wrong in other ways.

Alcohol taken in small amounts contributes in no way to physical health, while taken regularly, and in larger amounts, it is very harmful to the body. And in a state of intoxication, it becomes easy to injure the body through accidents. But, perhaps worse than this, alcohol has an extremely harmful effect upon the mind, causing confused awareness, thus reinforcing the very thing Buddhist practice tries to overcome.