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Notes - Samanamandika Sutta (MN 78)

by Mike Potter ( January 6, 2001)

    The following are my notes of the Samanamandika Sutta (MN 78).  It is an attempt to outline the various factors described in this sutta so that their order and various relationships can be clearly reviewed.


    Can one be "accomplished in what is wholesome, perfected in what is wholesome, attained to the supreme attainment, an ascetic invincible" (the Arahant) by doing no evil bodily actions, uttering no evil speech, having no evil intentions, and not making one's living by any evil livelihood? Is virtuous intentions and conduct enough? No! The Buddha compares one like this as standing in the same category as "the young tender infant lying prone". Craving for (and the resulting clinging to) virtuous intentions and conduct is still craving. Ignorance, the root of all taints, remains. This is not Sila (Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood), because the other factors of the Noble Eightfold Path are not present as supporting conditions, and such intentions and conduct alone do not result in liberation.

    Before one can be described as "accomplished in what is wholesome, perfected in what is wholesome, attained to the supreme attainment, an ascetic invincible", the Buddha tells us that the following must be understood:
 

HABITS OF MIND

INTENTIONS What are the ten qualities of one who is beyond training (the Arahant)? One who possesses Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration, Right Knowledge, and Right Deliverance.


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