Apannaka Sutta Summary

Apannaka Sutta Summary

VAMSAPALA , ID. 5301201125

There are some recluses and Brahmins whose teaching and view is this: ‘There is no giving, offering, or sacrifice, no fruit of good and evil deeds, there is neither this world, nor another world, there is no mother nor father, no spontaneously arisen beings, and no recluses or Brahmins who, having practised correctly, realise the truth about this world and the other world by direct knowledge, and reveal this truth to others.

If what these recluses and Brahmins say is true, and there is another world, then on the dissolution of the body after death they will be reborn in a happy destination, or in heaven. Even if there is no other world, this good person is praised by the wise as virtuous and for holding the right view of moral responsibility. He has rightly undertaken this incontrovertible teaching in a two-sided way that excludes the unwholesome alternative.

The Buddha was a teacher who illuminated the way like a lamp illuminates a path in the darkness. The disciple must walk on that path with his own efforts. The teacher cannot carry him on his shoulders, he only clarifies the right method of practice. A disciple should depend on himself for protection from danger, but he should also depend on the Dhamma as a guide and protection. Buddha often likened himself to a doctor, offering a treatment for the sufferings of the heart. He could not directly show newcomers the state of health - the state of nirvana - but if they followed his teaching, they could see it for themselves. The first indications that he was awakened - and that awakening was a good thing - came with entering the stream.

One of these means was the pragmatic argument, which differs from empirical arguments as follows. An empirical argument presents facts that logically imply that            a must be true or false. A pragmatic argument focuses not on the facts related to a, but on the behavior that can be expected from a person who believes or rejects a. The Buddha's main pragmatic argument is that if one accepted his teachings, one would be likely to pay careful attention to one's actions, so as to do no harm.

He abstains from idle chatter. He speaks what is factual, what is in accordance with the goal. He speaks words worth treasuring, seasonable, reasonable. He abstains from damaging seed and plant life. He abstains from accepting male and female slaves. He abstains from running messages.  He abstains from mutilating, executing, imprisoning, highway robbery, plunder, and violence.

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