Sam Vara wrote: ↑Mon Nov 01, 2021 2:35 pm
un8- wrote: ↑Mon Nov 01, 2021 12:54 pm
...
Thanks!
NP, the kalama sutta is another example where he employs a pascal wager style of arguing, but regarding rebirth instead of God
"So it is, Blessed One. So it is, O One Well-gone. One who is a disciple of the noble ones — his mind thus free from hostility, free from ill will, undefiled, & pure — acquires four assurances in the here-&-now:
"'If there is a world after death, if there is the fruit of actions rightly & wrongly done, then this is the basis by which, with the break-up of the body, after death, I will reappear in a good destination, the heavenly world.' This is the first assurance he acquires.
"'But if there is no world after death, if there is no fruit of actions rightly & wrongly done, then here in the present life I look after myself with ease — free from hostility, free from ill will, free from trouble.' This is the second assurance he acquires.
"'If evil is done through acting, still I have willed no evil for anyone. Having done no evil action, from where will suffering touch me?' This is the third assurance he acquires.
"'But if no evil is done through acting, then I can assume myself pure in both ways.' This is the fourth assurance he acquires.
"One who is a disciple of the noble ones — his mind thus free from hostility, free from ill will, undefiled, & pure — acquires these four assurances in the here-&-now
For example people (even monks on this forum) make the argument that all Arahants know that rebirth is true, but I don't think that's the case.I think only those that have attained the abhinna of divine eye and can see people being reborn know that rebirth is true, but this abhinna isn't a Supermundane abhinna, meaning it's not required, which is why not all Arahants have that ability. Therefore, one doesn't need to know that rebirth is true, all one needs to know is that their mind is free of the 3 poisons and that covers all bases, as the sutta I quoted demonstrates.
If rebirth or a supreme god happen to be true, your bases are covered either way, and that's what pascals wager aims to do, belief in God isn't actually necessary if you're a good person. Pascal argues that even if the probability of God existing is undefined or improbable there is nothing to lose and all to gain in acting as if he was likely to exist, which just means that one should be wholesome regardless if God or Rebirth is true.
The Buddha uses this same style of reasoning, and that's why Arahants don't actually need to know if rebirth is true, they only need to know that the 3 poisons are no longer subject to arising, and that's what Supermundane right view means
"When, friends, a noble disciple understands the unwholesome, the root of the unwholesome, the wholesome, and the root of the wholesome, in that way he is one of right view, whose view is straight, who has perfect confidence in the Dhamma, and has arrived at this true Dhamma.
4. "And what, friends, is the unwholesome, what is the root of the unwholesome, what is the wholesome, what is the root of the wholesome? Killing living beings is unwholesome; taking what is not given is unwholesome; misconduct in sensual pleasures is unwholesome; false speech is unwholesome; malicious speech is unwholesome; harsh speech is unwholesome; gossip is unwholesome; covetousness is unwholesome; ill will is unwholesome; wrong view is unwholesome. This is called the unwholesome.
5. "And what is the root of the unwholesome? Greed is a root of the unwholesome; hate is a root of the unwholesome; delusion is a root of the unwholesome. This is called the root of the unwholesome.
The destruction of the 3 poisons, btw, is a Supermundane abhinna, it's required to become an Arahant, unlike the divine eye abhinna.
When Sariputta gets clubbed on the head by a ghost and Anurrudha asks him "did you know that you just got clubbed on the head by a ghost", Sariputta is like "huh, interesting" and is indifferent because all he needs to focus on is the 3 poisons and nothing else, and since he's Arahant then his job is finished, anything else doesn't really matter anymore.
There is only one battle that could be won, and that is the battle against the 3 poisons. Any other battle is a guaranteed loss because you're going to die either way.