PART V: Basis for the Conclusion
Since I did an extended summary of everything a few posts back (end of page 5, top of page 6) I'm going to give only my briefest summary here:
* that MN 117 The Great Forty has been read without considering the context, which is that it was a rebuttal of three negative doctrines as listed at the end of the sutta
* that these three negative doctrines are described with catch-phrases well known in the Buddha's time in “Wrong View” at the beginning of the sutta
* that these are (1) non-causality which equates to the Brahminical view of the world in which offerings, gifts and sacrifices do cause certain effects in the world through correspondence, (2) non-action which equates to a denial of kamma, and (3) nihilism which equates to a denial of just about every belief system
* that these three negative views are reflected in their positive versions in “Right View, with Effluents”
* that the three kinds of views: Wrong View, Right View with Effluents, and Supramundane Right View represent an arc moving away from immoral views to the supramundane “view” that is the most moral
* and finally that since this is a sutta about concentration in which “Right View is Foremost” the sutta is saying both that Right View is needed for productive practice of concentration, and that direct insight through concentration is needed for Right View – as well as to win the extra factors of the path listed here – right knowledge and release.
We haven't talked a lot about the term “effluents” and that is the last piece I need to include here. Let me quote from Bhikkhu Bodhi's audio talk on MN 117 (Part 1, to be found here:
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Now we come to right view. This is where it becomes more interesting. We see this distinction, “Right view, I say, is two-fold. There is right view that is affected by taints...” Here the Pali expression is simpler, “sasava” that is literally, “with the asavas”, with the (I don't like “taints”) “with the influxes” or “corruptions”. “Partaking of merit,” now we have an expression a little obscure, the translation is “ripening in the acquisitions”: “upadhivepakkà”. What is meant here by “the acquisitions”, that is the word “upadhi”, which has several shades of meaning, but the relevant meaning here would be “the five aggregates that constitute personal existence”. And so meritorious right view, ripens in the acquisitions, in that it leads to acquiring a new set of five aggregates in the future, that is it's still, you could call it “right view which is still bound up with samsaric existence”. It's still a mundane right view. It's an important type of right view for leading a righteous life within the world. It's the right view that will help one to steer clear of unwholesome courses of action, and to undertake wholesome courses of action.
In general, I agree with the flavor of what is said above, but I disagree on one fine point.
The definitions of the word “with effluents” (Access To Insight's translation) and “with taints” (Wisdom Pubs translation) can mean “with the influxes” or “corruptions” and the rather obscure part about “ripening in the acquisitions” means this belief continues to generate samsaric existence, or in other words, keeps us generating those five aggregates which are self-views. This is considered, in the description above, to be “an important type of right view for leading a righteous life within the world”.
When seen as an arc, from “wrong view” – one that does others harm and whose representatives demonstrate by their actions amorality – through “right view with taints” in which your behavior is improved over “wrong view” but is still generating a self-centered view – to the supramundane right view which is the most moral, yes, I can see that it's an important view for leading a *more* righteous life within the world, but not *The* Righteous Life.
It is clear to me that the Buddha's path, the one he is aiming to teach all of us, is the Supramundane view, the one that is NOT “tainted”, “corrupted” “with influxes” or “ripening in acquisitions” that “leads to acquiring a new set of five aggregates in the future” – how could a path, so described, possibly be the one he wants us to follow? Sure, it's better than the Wrong View, and if you're in Wrong View, it's something to aim for, a first step, but it surely is not the path the Buddha teaches. Why would he teach us to practice something that “leads to acquiring a new set of five aggregates in the future”?