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Compiled by Jayaram V
"And what is right action? Abstaining from taking
life, abstaining from stealing, abstaining from unchastity. This is called
right action." - SN XLV 8
What is Right Action
Right Action is to abstain from killing, stealing and
unlawful sexual intercourse.
The practitioner of Right Action abstains from the killing
of living beings. He does not carry a stick or a sword. He is conscientious
and full of sympathy. He has concern for the welfare of all living beings.
He does not steal. He does not take what belongs to
another person, either in the village or in the woods with an intention to
steal.
He abstains from unlawful sexual intercourse. He does not
indulge in sexual intercourse with persons who are still under the protection
of father, mother, brother, sister or relatives, nor with married women, nor
female convicts, nor, with girls who are betrothed.
The two kinds of Right Action:
1. The Mundane Right Action: which is to refrain from
killing, stealing, and unlawful sexual intercourse. This leads to worldly
gains and good results.
2. The Ultra Mundane Right Action: which is to refrain
from the three fold wrong actions at the mental level, keeping the mind holy,
to remain other worldly and pursue the holy path in conjunction with the
eight fold path. This path is not of this world but of the ultramundane.
Relationship with other aspects of the eightfold path
"And how is right view the forerunner? One
discerns wrong action as wrong action, and right action as right action. And
what is wrong action? Killing, taking what is not given, illicit sex. This is
wrong action...
"One tries to abandon wrong action & to enter
into right action: This is one's right effort. One is mindful to abandon
wrong action & to enter & remain in right action: This is one's right
mindfulness. Thus these three qualities — right view, right effort, &
right mindfulness — run & circle around right action." — MN 117
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