"Refrain from all evil. Advance virtue. Purify all consciousness - The teaching of all Buddha's"

In our last discussion we emphasized importance of knowing the true path Lord Buddha showed to us and in this post we will be discussing about entering into the path. The topic itself revealing how to enter into the path and what needs to be done and this is the teaching of all Samma Sambudhha's in the past, present and future. So, lets go into detail of this teaching known as 'gatha' and this gatha seemingly very short and easy to understand as it showcase by the words. Nevertheless, this gatha has a profound meaning and after all do not forget that these words are from supreme beings who uncovered the nibbana by themselves - the utmost state of mind beyond samsara, thus under no circumstances that they can be equate to any other living being in the thirty one realms of existence. In other words, this gatha is an abstract of the 84000 mass of dhamma Lord Buddha preached to the world during his lifetime. So, indeed this gatha has everything that needs to be done by the followers of Lord Budhha to complete the journey of enlightenment.

Before go into details, the three steps on this 'gatha' is actually depicting all the other dhamma's Lord Buddha has taught to his disciples in many other occasions and even though the method of delivery, words used and the audience may have been varied, the core of the dhamma was always the same and deliver same result at the end. For an example - assume there is a masterpiece of painting set to be exhibited in an art gallery. The exhibit is positioned on the middle of the gallery and there are number of entrances to this gallery and all of those passages are finally end up on the exhibit. So, doesn't matter which entry you take, and along the way passages may look different to one another, but all leading to a one ultimate destination - the artwork. Likewise, Lord Buddha's dhamma also have different delivery methods and practices, but all leading to one result at the end - the nibbana. The three steps taught in this gatha also have been taught in number of other occasions, using different methods, words and practices.

Few Examples -

The Three Customs (mostly for lay people) - Dhana, Sila and Bhavana (Alms, Moral Precepts and Meditation)

The Three Customs (mostly for monks) - Sila, Samdhi and Pranna (Moral Precepts, Tranquility and Wisdom)

The Noble Eightfold Path

Thirty Eight Auspicious Facts (Maha Mangala Sutta)

Thirty Seven Dhamma elements favorable for nibbana (saththis bodhi pakshika dhamma)

Lets begin to explore the 'gatha' and as the first phrase tells "Sabba papassa akaranam" which means in English "refrain from all evil", is the first step one must fulfill in their path towards nibbana. Without meeting the first step, no one can become successful in the second or third steps. So, the order must be followed as taught by Lord Buddha. In order to refrain from evil or sins, one must thoroughly understand what are the evils Lord Buddha had taught to his followers and without knowing those sins there is no way one can become free of them. In Lord Buddha's dhamma there are ten defilements (akusal) he had preached to the followers, there are no more or less than ten and it's absolutely ten defilements. Out of these ten defilements, Lord Buddha had taught seven defilements are falling into the category of 'evil' or 'sins'. Out of seven, three are physical actions and four are verbal.

The three physical actions,

1) killing or harming any living being.

2) stealing anything that doesn't belong to you.

3) sexual misconduct.

The four verbal actions,

1) falsehood spoken

2) malicious speech

3) harsh speech

4) gossip

the above seven are known as evil conducts and once committed these actions have the ability to create a birth in lower realms (dugathi) or in other words four hells - Animal realm, Ghost realm, Asura realm and Hell. It's very clear why Lord Buddha wants his followers to complete the first step before moving to next. Because, if you born in a lower realm there is no way you can listen and understand dhamma because there is no existence of dhamma in lower realms. So, only if you are born in one of the human, god or Brahma (not all Brahma realms though) realms (sugathi) you have an opportunity to learn dhamma and follow the path towards nibbana. Therefore, all 'Samma Sambuddha's' teaching to their followers to refrain from all evil as it's the most important step one must complete in order to refrain from being born in lower realms.

Note - by looking into above seven sins one may have a doubt where the abstention from all forms of intoxication is going to fit in here as that precept is not to be seen anywhere among those seven evil actions one must refrain from doing. evidently, out of five precepts abstention from all forms of intoxication is something that all followers must refrain from doing all the time, however it's not listed under the seven evil deeds. In fact, abstention from all form of intoxication is part of the tenth defilement - false vision (mithya drushti). when a person is intoxicated his understanding of right and wrong about everything become false thus during all that time his vision is full of deception. And there is far more danger than this - person who cannot differentiate what is right and what is wrong, with his deluded mind, can commit to any of the above mentioned seven sins without a second thought. In other words, a person who is intoxicated can kill someone, steal, do sexual misconduct, speak false, speak malicious, speak harsh or gossip. So, the intoxicated mind is very dangerous thus Lord Buddha has regulated it as an action that one must refrain from doing all the time and has been defined among five precepts that people must follow and maintain all the time.

On a different perspective, a person who refrain from doing all these seven evil actions in any given moment or a duration in his or her life is qualified to proceed to the next step of the path on that very moment or during that time period he or she is being refrained from doing all evil. And a person who commit any of those seven evil actions isn't qualified to advance into the next step because their mental state on that time is equal to a living being of a lower realm (even though they are human by birth).

Example : if a human is killing an animal, on that entire time span that killing action took place, that human's mental state is no longer a human and is equal to either a mind of a animal or a ghost or a asura or a living being in a hell based off the intensity of the deed. So, when that human is dead, the energy of this low action (killing animal), known as 'karma' is capable of giving a birth to another living being (if not came into affect in same life or not delayed until a later birth other than the immediate next birth) in one of those lower realms equal to the state of mind that human had when killing that animal.

With what we have discussed so far, it's very clear that why Lord Buddha has made 'Refrain from all evil" forefront on this step by step path towards attain nibbana. When a person starts refrain from doing all sins, he or she can gradually improve and maintain to protect the precepts during their day today life. Thus, their moral conduct becomes very powerful and uninterrupted by the evil. The person who often practice the abstention of evil deeds (mostly the seven precepts as opposed to the seven evil) are more likely to become successful when they advance to the next steps on the path than a person who regularly break the precepts and commit evil. But, refraining from all evil as a practice won't be sufficient to attain nibbana hence followers must advance their virtue to continue through the path.

In summary, the step of 'refrain from all evil' fulfill the moral living known as 'Sila' which is the second element of the three customs for lay people and first element of the three customs for all disciples of Lord Buddha. The minimum requirement for lay people is to abstention from five evil deeds (practice five precepts) and that helps them to free from being born in lower realms (four hells) so they become qualified to enter into the path at any moment by either becoming a human or a god in their next lives (along with alms). Abstention from seven evil deeds will mostly result born as a god in next life (along with alms), but the greatest benefit is that it gives that person an instant opportunity to advance to next level on the path towards nibbana on that very moment the seven precepts are being practiced and preserved.

Finally, where do alms giving (dhana) fit on the path of nibbana and how it is going to aid us to accomplish the path? Alms giving (or worshipping) alone will not help anyone to complete the path of nibbana and relatively alms has a less importance than the moral practice (sila). But, without alms it's not possible for someone to retain on higher realms in the journey of samsara and along with the moral practice, alms will cause one to be born as human or god (sugathi) so he or she is capable of entering into the path.

On the next post, lets discuss why refraining from all evil isn't enough to understand four noble truths and what needs to be done on further steps in order to become successful.