The Path to Choose in Life

This is an excerpt from the Dhamma talk 'The Path to Choose in Life' ('ဘဝခရီးဝယ် ရွေးချယ်ရမယ့်လမ်း') delivered by the Chief Abbot, Dr. Ashin Nandamalabhivamsa.

In the journey of life that everyone is undertaking, choosing the right path is an extremely important issue. Due to the current era, there are many different religions and numerous beliefs, making it difficult to distinguish between right and wrong. For these difficulties, the Buddha taught life guidance in the Kesamutti Sutta (also known as the Kalama Sutta).

Making Decisions with Your Own Wisdom

When searching for the truth, the Buddha first instructed people to discard 10 points that should not be relied upon. He said to avoid these points. They include hearsay, adherence to tradition, information from scriptural texts, logical reasoning (logic), and the word of one's own teacher.

The Buddha stated that decisions should not be based on these points, but rather on direct, practical knowledge gained through one's own experience.

For example, you must examine and determine for yourself:

• That qualities like greed (lobha), anger (dosa), and delusion (moha) are bad because they cause you distress and only lead to suffering and negative results.

• That qualities like non-greed (alobha), non-anger (adosa), and non-delusion (amoha) (such as loving-kindness, patience, and wisdom) are good because they bring you peace and lead to well-being and happiness.

If you know something is wrong, immediately abandon it. If you know it is right, accept it and practice it.

The Way to Live (in Society)

When living together in society, it is essential to hold onto Loving-kindness (Mettā), Compassion (Karuṇā), Appreciative Joy (Muditā), and Equanimity (Upekkhā) (The Four Sublime States) to maintain a pure mind. These teachings are the key to peace, and they state that anger can be eliminated by non-anger (Mettā), greed by non-greed, and delusion by non-delusion (wisdom).

Guidance for Doubtful Issues

If you have unresolved doubts, such as whether there is a next life, or whether wholesome and unwholesome deeds give results, which cannot be answered by your own direct knowledge, you must choose the sure path that is beneficial in both situations.

• Live as a good and noble person. By living this way, if there is a next life, you will reach a good destination. If there is no next life, you will still live honourably as a good person in this life.

• Completely refrain from unwholesome deeds (Akusala). If unwholesome deeds give results, you are safe because you did not commit them. If they do not give results, there is still no problem because you did not commit them anyway.

These guidelines, which are the laws of nature (Dhamma) taught by the Buddha, will enable you to walk the correct path in life's journey without confusion.