Right Action – ☕️

In Buddhism, the Noble Eightfold Path comprises Ethical Conduct, Mental Discipline and Wisdom. Ethical Conduct comprises Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood. Mental Discipline comprises Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration. Wisdom Comprises Right Thought and Right Understanding. In this post, I meditate on Right Action.

In the Magga-Vibhanga Sutta, Right Action is defined as the abstention from taking life, stealing and unchastity:

“And what, monks, is right action? Abstaining from taking life, abstaining from stealing, abstaining from unchastity: This, monks, is called right action.” (SN 45.8)

An individual practises Right Action if and only if he abstains from taking life, from stealing and from unchastity. In the Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta, an individual “is made impure … by bodily action” if he “takes life, is a hunter, bloody-handed, devoted to killing and slaying, showing no mercy to living beings”, “takes what is not given … in the manner of a thief, things in a village or a wilderness that belong to others and have not been given by them” or “engages in sensual misconduct … sexually involved with those who are protected by their mothers, their fathers, their brothers, their sisters, their relatives, or their Dhamma; those with husbands, those who entail punishments, or even those crowned with flowers by another man”. In addition, an individual is “made pure in … by bodily action” if he “abandon[s] the taking of life, abstains from the taking of life … dwells with his rod laid down, his knife laid down, scrupulous, merciful, compassionate for the welfare of all beings”, “[a]bandons the taking of what is not given … abstains from taking what is not given … does not take, in the manner of a thief, things in a villageor a wilderness that belong to others and have not been given by them” and “[a]bandon[s] sensual misconduct … abstains from sensual misconduct … does not get sexually involved with those who are protected by their mothers, their fathers, their brothers, their sisters, their relatives, or their Dhamma; those with husbands, those who entail punishments, or even those crowned with flowers by another man”.

Additional Resources

Buddhist teachings on Right Action can be accessed here.

Notes. The Magga-Vibhanga Sutta is a sutta (discourse) in the Magga-Samyutta. The Magga-Samyutta is a samyutta (chapter) in the Maha Vagga. The Maha Vagga is a vagga (section) in the Samyutta Nikaya. The Samyutta Nikaya is a nikaya (collection) in the Sutta Pitaka. The Sutta Pitaka is a pitaka (basket) in the Tipitaka. The Tipitaka is the Pali Canon which forms the doctrinal foundation of Theravada Buddhism.

The Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta is a sutta (discourse) in the Tenth Nipata. The Tenth Nipata is a nipata (book) in the Anguttara Nikaya. The Anguttara Nikaya is a nikaya (collection) in the Sutta Pitaka. The Sutta Pitaka is a pitaka (basket) in the Tipitaka. The Tipitaka is the Pali Canon which forms the doctrinal foundation of Theravada Buddhism.