Originally posted by Buddhist Channel.
London, UK
-- We are fortunate as Buddhists to have such a well developed ethical
system in place which promotes the cultivation of such a positive and
rewarding outlook and the ability to respond with such clarity and
measure to difficulties that may arise both in our practice and
situations that may arise in every day life.
I
would like to touch upon what I believe are the advantages of the
Buddhist ethical standard over secular viewpoints but first I want to
make a brief comment about translation relating to our ethical
guidelines.
I noticed this recently when I was thumbing through an
older translation of the Anguttara Nikaya, and it struck me how someone
new to the practice might, if they were reading one of these earlier
texts misinterpret the meaning based on their westernised understanding
of the work. Personally speaking I prefer in many instances the older
copies of the canon in English but I have the advantage of having many
years of study behind me relating to the texts, as such I am not prone
(although admittedly, not immune) to the occasional ‘blunder’ when it
comes to reading the works.
As
far as the differences in style go the newer translations on the whole
appear to be much more stylised, but this tends to make them more
accessible, and as a consequence, more readable. In contrast the
antiquated language of some of the older transcriptions seems to appear
‘stuffy’ and long-winded. I think in the interests of balance though we
can say that the early texts were pioneers, without which Pali language
resource would still be in its infancy. Some of the early translators
themselves acknowledge such difficulties. I.B. Horner in the
introduction to his 1938 edition of the Sutta Vibhanga (Published by the
Pali Text Society as the Book of the Discipline Volume 1) notes that
when revising his own work he made significant changes to the way he
translated certain words. I think these pioneers of the Pali texts
were, as were many translator of their time, more inclined to put a
philological spin onto words that may have been difficult, that is to
say, they were more inclined to put words into the context they
themselves understood. It is with this in mind that I will speak about
the ethical standards the Buddha implemented, with the occasional
reference to the interpretation of the translation.
The Buddha was
quite straightforward in the implementation of his ethical
instruction. The follower of the Buddha was to develop skilful
qualities and abandon those qualities that were unskilful. These
qualities are to be developed in line with the backdrop of Buddhist
meditation, that is, concentration with the directed analysis of
thoughts as they arise and fall away. It is with this simple, yet
effective mindfulness technique that one can be aware of attributes that
arise that are a benefit to the path and cultivate them, while
attributes that are a detriment to the path may be observed as such and
avoided. The Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh refers to this process, quite
beautifully, as watering the good seeds of the mind. In the Buddhist
system those qualities indicated as skilful relate to the ‘path’ the
Buddha set out. He told his followers not to engage with metaphysical
questions which would detract from the practice. This is a very
important point, and relates both to the translation difficulties I
touched on earlier and the advantages of Buddhist ethics over secular
ethics.
The Buddhist ethical practice does not relate to ‘good’
and ‘bad’ ethical behaviour, that is, in our western society where our
ethical system developed largely from Christian ethical standards which
were based on innate ‘good and evil’ qualities. The Buddha’s path did
not rely on these ethical boundaries and instead related to those
qualities that would aid one in attaining Nibbana (Nirvana). Thus the
skilful qualities one develops on the Buddhist path don’t directly
relate to the ‘good’ qualities one would associate with normal ethical
standards. If I may refer to the afore mentioned metaphysical questions
to demonstrate. In the western ethical model questioning the nature of
the universe would not be deemed unethical, as it doesn’t infringe on
our ethical ‘good/bad’ position. In the Buddhist model such questions
would be deemed unskilful, that is they would distract one from the task
at hand, that is, the attainment of Nibbana.
In relation to some
of the earlier translations of the texts this could prove problematic,
as what has been translated in modern texts as skilful/unskilful
respectively was, in older translations described as good/evil. For the
casual observer, or those new to the practice this can cause great
difficulty in ascertaining the context of the text, if I am conditioned
to view good and evil in the western sense then reading it in a Buddhist
text would automatically lead me to think the same ethical viewpoint is
being propagated. Notwithstanding the early translations are valuable
resources and should be treasured as such, it is prudent that one is
mindful when reading them to bear in mind there age and the style of the
translation.
When we stand Buddhist ethics and western ethics
side by side in our every day life what can we take from Buddhism that
will allow us to benefit from them in day to day living? The
development of skilful qualities is paramount to achieving Nibbana. As
with all of the Buddha’s teaching it is the subtlety that is the
beauty. We develop Buddhist ethics against the backdrop of meditation,
yet it is those qualities that allow us to attain deeper levels of
concentration. In short, the Buddha’s ethical teaching is not a see saw
of balancing good against bad. It is a wheel that when set into motion
becomes a self fulfilling entity, the more you practice Buddhist ethics
the more concentration and insight develops, the more concentration and
insight develops the clearer Buddhist ethics become, the clearer they
become the subtler the level of concentration and insight.
The
Buddhist system of ethics is quite simple in comparison with many other
systems, and yet through the Buddha’s insight the wheel he set in motion
can achieve such subtleties that it will eventually put an end to
suffering – and that, in itself, seems to me a goal worth practicing
for.
---------Richard Gilliver is founder of "The Foundation of Interreligious Harmony and Education", an interfaith organisation seeking to promote better relations between religions. Please view his site at: http://fiheresource.wordpress.com
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