Three Wrong Views about Sectarian Tenets That a Noble Disciple Must Abandon

Monks, there are these three sectarian tenets which, when questioned, interrogated, and cross-examined by the wise, and taken to their conclusion, will eventuate in non-action.

What are the three?

(1) There are, Monks, some Ascetics and Brāhmins who hold such a doctrine and view as this: Whatever this person experiences whether pleasure, pain, or neither pain-nor-pleasure all that is caused by what was done in the past.

(2) There are other Ascetics and Brāhmins who hold such a doctrine and view as this: Whatever this person experiences whether pleasure, pain, or neither pain-nor-pleasure all that is caused by God’s creative activity.

(3) And there are still other Ascetics and Brāhmins who hold such a doctrine and view as this: Whatever this person experiences whether pleasure, pain, or neither pain-nor-pleasure all that occurs without a cause or condition.

A View That Whether Pleasure or Pain Are All Caused by Past Deeds

(1) Monks, I approached those Ascetics and Brāhmins who hold such a doctrine and view as this: ‘Whatever this person experiences — whether pleasure, pain, or neither pain-nor-pleasure — all that is caused by past deeds’ and I said to them: ‘Is it true that you Venerable Ones hold such a doctrine and view?’ When I ask them this, they affirm it.

Then I say to them: ‘In such a case, it is due to past deeds that you might destroy life, take what is not given, indulge in sexual activity, speak falsehood, produce argumentative speech, speak harshly, indulge in idle chatter; that you might be full of longing, have a mind of ill will, and hold wrong view’.

Those who fall back on past deeds as the essential truth have no interest [to do] what should be done and [to avoid doing] what should not be done, nor do they make an effort in this respect.

Since they do not apprehend as true and valid anything that should be done or should not be done, they are muddle-minded, they do not guard the mind, and even the personal designation ‘Ascetic’ could not be legitimately applied to them.

This was my first legitimate confirming falsehoods of those Ascetics and Brāhmins who hold such a doctrine and view.

A View That Whether Pleasure or Pain Are All Caused by God’s Creative Activity

(2) Then, Monks, I approached those Ascetics and Brāhmins who hold such a doctrine and view as this: ‘Whatever this person experiences — whether pleasure, pain, or neither pain-nor-pleasure — all that is caused by God’s creative activity,’ and I said to them: ‘Is it true that you Venerable Ones hold such a doctrine and view?’

When I ask them this, they affirm it. Then I say to them: ‘In such a case, it is due to God’s creative activity that you might destroy life, take what is not given, indulge in sexual activity, speak falsehood, produce argumentative speech, speak harshly, indulge in idle chatter; that you might be full of longing, have a mind of ill will and hold wrong view’.

Those who fall back on God’s creative activity as the essential truth have no interest [to do] what should be done and [to avoid doing] what should not be done, nor do they make an effort in this respect.

Since they do not apprehend as true and valid anything that should be done or should not be done, they are muddle-minded, they do not guard the mind, and even the personal designation “Ascetic” could not be legitimately applied to them

This was my second legitimate confirming falsehoods of those Ascetics and Brāhmins who hold such a doctrine and view.

A View That Whether Pleasure or Pain All Occur Without a Cause or Condition

(3) Then, Monks, I approached those Ascetics and Brāhmins who hold such a doctrine and view as this: ‘Whatever this person experiences — whether pleasure, pain, or neither pain-nor-pleasure — all that occurs without a cause or condition,’ and I said to them: ‘Is it true that you Venerable Ones hold such a doctrine and view?’

When I ask them this, they affirm it. Then I say to them: ‘In such a case, it is without a cause or condition that you might destroy life, take what is not given, indulge in sexual activity, speak falsehood, produce argumentative speech, speak harshly, indulge in idle chatter; that you might be full of longing, have a mind of ill will, and hold wrong view’.

Those who fall back on absence of cause and condition as the essential truth have no interest [to do] what should be done and [to avoid doing] what should not be done, nor do they make an effort in this respect.

Since they do not apprehend as true and valid anything that should be done or should not be done, they are muddle-minded, they do not guard the mind, and even the personal designation ‘Ascetic’ could not be legitimately applied to them.

This was my third legitimate confirming falsehoods of those Ascetics and Brāhmins who hold such a doctrine and view.

(Reference: AN 3.61)

The Teachings of The Buddha on The Path to Enlightenment, referred to as The Natural Laws of Existence, center on The Natural Law of Kamma. It is through “cause and effect” or “action and result” that all things occur. Nothing occurs without an initial cause or action which creates an effect or result. Kamma is essentially the results of our decisions.

All our decisions either wholesome or unwholesome will have a result. Nothing in this life is predetermined, and through making wise decisions, a Practitioner can improve the condition of the mind and their life.

In these three (3) Teachings from Gotama Buddha, he shares how what one has done in the past is not what causes discontentedness, God does not cause discontentedness, and that there is a cause for all results we experience in this life.

These three (3) Teachings comprise a Teaching that is crucial in your development of wisdom on The Path to Enlightenment.

It is your decisions that are either wholesome or unwholesome that lead to the results you experience in this life. If you do not see this clearly, you will need to investigate this deeply until you can observe and understand that everything experienced in life is a result of your own decisions. This would be part of Right View.

Without establishing Right View, you would be unable to ever experience Enlightenment.

If it was all the decisions of the past that creates discontentedness in the mind, then you could do nothing to attain a peaceful and content mind now.

If it was all God’s decisions that creates discontentedness in the mind, then you could do nothing to attain a peaceful and content mind now.

If there is no “cause and effect” or “action and results”, in other words, The Natural Law of Kamma does not exist, then you could do nothing to improve your own decision making to attain a peaceful and content mind now.

So why learn, reflect, and practice these Teachings to acquire wisdom to improve your decision making if everything that you are experiencing is due to someone or something else that is out of your control or ability to improve? It would be pointless, right?

These three (3) Teachings from Gotama Buddha help a Practitioner learn, reflect, and practice to be able to see the truth that it is your own decisions that lead to the results you experience in this life. Through accepting responsibility for the decisions you make that are causing discontentedness in the mind, this then empowers you to gain wisdom, make wise decisions, and through improved decision making you can improve the condition of the mind and your life.

If the cause of discontentedness was from the past, God, or from no cause at all, you would be powerless to ever improve the condition of the mind and your life. But this is not true reality and to awaken to eliminating ignorance (unknowing of true reality) to attain Enlightenment, you will need to see the truth and acquire the wisdom that you can improve the condition of the mind and your life.

In these Teachings, The Buddha discusses with Ascetics and Brāhmins their view on whether discontentedness (i.e. pleasure, pain, neither pain-nor-pleasure) is caused by all that was done in the past, God, or no cause at all.

When they affirm this as being true, the way they see it, The Buddha shares that they have “no interest [to do] what should be done and [to avoid doing] what should not be done, nor do they make an effort in this respect”. Essentially, they are complacent and unwilling to take action to improve their life practice because they feel that improvements to their life is out of their control and abilities.

The Buddha explains that they “do not apprehend as true and valid anything that should be done or should not be done, they are muddle-minded, they do not guard the mind, and even the personal designation ‘Ascetic’ could not be legitimately applied to them”.

An Ascetic is one who has given up the household life entering into homelessness in search of the truth. If one has resorted to think that they have no ability to improve their life through acquiring wisdom and making wise decisions, then The Buddha shares that “the personal designation ‘Ascetic’ could not be legitimately applied to them”. Essentially, they are not even trying to learn, reflect, and practice to attain Enlightenment if they are of the view that it is past decisions, God, or no cause at all that discontentedness arises in the mind.

A View That Whether Pleasure or Pain Are All Caused by God’s Creative Activity

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares that it is not God’s creative activity that causes discontentedness in the mind (i.e. pleasure, pain, neither pain-nor-pleasure). Oftentimes some people assume that The Buddha did not share Teachings related to God. However, The Buddha did share Teachings to help people during his lifetime to understand God but guided them to understand that the attainment of Enlightenment is not dependent on God.

This Teaching helps a Practitioner understand that it is their own decisions that lead to the improvement to the condition of one’s mind and life, not based on the creative activity of God.

While one might choose to maintain a relationship with God on The Path to Enlightenment, if they have one or would like to develop one, a Practitioner will need to understand that rites, rituals, ceremonies, and worship is not what produces Enlightenment. And, one might also choose to have no relationship with God as part of their journey to Enlightenment. Both approaches can be explored but one would need to deeply understand how to improve their life practice if they are going to maintain a relationship with God.

If you’ve been taught that all is caused based on God’s creative activities, this is not true reality and a Practitioner will need to understand this observing the truth so that with that wisdom, they can become determined, dedicated, and diligent to learning, reflecting, and practicing wise decision making to improve the condition of the mind and their life.

If a Practitioner continued to believe that God was controlling all that happens in this life and your day-to-day decisions, then there would be no interest to do what is wholesome and eliminate what is unwholesome. There is “no interest [to do] what should be done and [to avoid doing] what should not be done, nor do they make an effort in this respect”. The mind will become complacent dwelling in ignorance (unknowing of true reality) inhibiting a Practitioner from awakening to Enlightenment.

Detailed explanation of God’s Creative Action: You Have Free Will is available in this same book series found in Chapter 18 of the book “Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenment” (Volume 1).

A View That Whether Pleasure or Pain All Occur Without a Cause or Condition

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares that the cause of discontentedness in the mind (i.e. pleasure, pain, neither pain-nor-pleasure) is not “absent of cause and condition”. The Natural Law of Kamma is an essential truth that one needs to deeply understand to improve their decision making.

This Teaching helps a Practitioner understand that it is their own decisions that lead to the improvement to the condition of one’s mind and life.

If you’ve been taught that you have no ability to improve your life and that all is predetermined, this is not true reality and a Practitioner will need to understand this observing the truth so that with that wisdom, they can become determined, dedicated, and diligent to learning, reflecting, and practicing wise decision making to improve the condition of the mind and their life.

If a Practitioner continued to believe that all that happens in this life is predetermined or otherwise not due to “causes and conditions” based on your own decisions, then there would be no interest to do what is wholesome and eliminate what is unwholesome. There is “no interest [to do] what should be done and [to avoid doing] what should not be done, nor do they make an effort in this respect”. The mind will become complacent dwelling in ignorance (unknowing of true reality) inhibiting a Practitioner from awakening to Enlightenment.

As a Practitioner learns, reflects, and practices these Teachings, the mind is awakening to The Natural Law of Kamma. Without the wisdom of The Natural Law of Kamma, a Practitioner would be unable to improve their decision making to attain Enlightenment.

Detailed explanation of The Natural Law of Kamma is available in this same book series found in the book “The Natural Law of Kamma” (Volume 6).