It's 4, not 3. Neither black nor white has to do with the NEFP. Black and white is different.TRobinson465 wrote: ↑Sat Dec 04, 2021 5:14 amI agree lust and entertainment are certainly not wholesome but Buddhism makes 3 distinctions, wholesome, unwholesome and neither wholesome or unwholesome. always thought most entertainment to be in the last categoryCeisiwr wrote: ↑Sat Dec 04, 2021 5:03 amI think it has lust underpinning any consensual sexual activity. That can be fully unwholesome, or there can be moments of metta too making it mixed. Mixed though isn't ever wholesome. I think the suttas also lead to that conclusion. Intentional action based on any amount of lust can never be wholesome. The same with entertainment etc.TRobinson465 wrote: ↑Sat Dec 04, 2021 4:59 am
Unwholesome kamma and not neutral kamma? Doesnt the abhidhamma only designate sexual misconduct as unwholesome?
https://suttacentral.net/an4.237/en/thanissaro“Monks, these four types of kamma have been directly realized, verified, & made known by me. Which four? There is kamma that is dark with dark result. There is kamma that is bright with bright result. There is kamma that is dark & bright with dark & bright result. There is kamma that is neither dark nor bright with neither dark nor bright result, leading to the ending of kamma."
The anti-entertainment idea is even more explicit when we consider that all actors, or all entertainers rather, are said to go to hell when they die.
https://suttacentral.net/sn42.2/en/suja ... ript=latinAt one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha, in the Bamboo Grove, the squirrels’ feeding ground. Then Tāḷapuṭa the dancing master came up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to the Buddha:
“Sir, I have heard that the dancers of the past who were teachers of teachers said: ‘Suppose a dancer entertains and amuses people on a stage or at a festival with truth and lies. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the company of laughing gods.’ What does the Buddha say about this?”
“Enough, chief, let it be. Don’t ask me that.”
For a second time …
And for a third time Tāḷapuṭa said to the Buddha:
“Sir, I have heard that the dancers of the past who were teachers of teachers said: ‘Suppose a dancer entertains and amuses people on a stage or at a festival with truth and lies. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the company of laughing gods.’ What does the Buddha say about this?”
“Clearly, chief, I’m not getting through to you when I say: ‘Enough, chief, let it be. Don’t ask me that.’ Nevertheless, I will answer you.
When sentient beings are still not free of greed, and are still bound by greed, a dancer in a stage or festival presents them with even more arousing things. When sentient beings are still not free of hate, and are still bound by hate, a dancer in a stage or festival presents them with even more hateful things. When sentient beings are still not free of delusion, and are still bound by delusion, a dancer in a stage or festival presents them with even more delusory things. And so, being heedless and negligent themselves, they’ve encouraged others to be heedless and negligent. When their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in the hell called ‘Laughter’.