The teachings of all the Buddhas centre around the core three principles, which are to:
(i) refrain from unwholesome deeds
(ii) cultivate wholesome deeds
(iii) purify the mind
As such, from this New Year onwards, you should wisely, thoroughly, and profoundly reflect on whether you are truly following these three core principles. As the Buddha says: "One who sees the Dhamma sees me." If you call yourself a Buddhist—someone who values the Dhamma and follows his teachings—then by practising in accordance with these principles, you can become one who truly sees him.
In every moment, day, week, month, and year that passes by, we engage in actions that are either harmful or beneficial to us, and sometimes to those around us as well. People (or beings), in general, tend to be very outward-focused. This means they often pay more attention to the actions of others rather than their own. Much energy, time, and focus are spent observing, judging, analysing, criticising, and reacting to what others do or say—and how they say it. These external distractions occupy most people's minds; in other words, others "live rent-free" in their heads. Therefore, even those who call themselves Buddhists or follow the teachings of the Dhamma sometimes forget to follow the three core principles that all the Buddhas taught.
As a result, people end up cultivating more unwholesome deeds than wholesome ones, which goes against the core principles of the Buddhas' teachings. This outward-focused tendency causes people to forget what they should ultimately be doing: observing and understanding what is happening within their own minds and finally, purifying their minds. It is crucial to clearly know the types of thoughts occupying one's head. In essence, people forget to look inward. This "quality of looking inward"—examining our own minds, habits, tendencies, inclinations, and thoughts—is precisely what the Buddha encouraged us to cultivate. Just as the Buddha said, 'We are our own refuge,' we must practise to reach such a state, and this can only happen if we strengthen our minds and remove the 'toxins' that weaken the mental strength. Throughout his teachings, the Buddha emphasised training ourselves to observe what is happening within our minds and not lose sight of what's happening internally. Instead of channelling our energy and attention on pointless actions like scrutinising others' behaviour with negative criticism, gossip, or judgement, we should strive to turn our attention inward.
So what happens when we start to care externally too much, without mindfulness and wise attention? Firstly, mental misconduct; secondly, verbal misconduct; and thirdly, physical misconduct:
Mental misconduct: Feelings of conceit, jealousy, envy, anger, hatred, malice, etc., which are defilements of the mind.
Verbal misconduct: With the defilements that cause unwise attention as the foundation, what follows are pointless chatter, harsh speech, slanderous speech, and false speech.
Physical misconduct: Lastly, when such verbal actions become strong and overpowering, one may end up committing wrong deeds physically.
Because all wrongdoings start in the mind first, we must be careful about what we 'feed' our minds. The Buddha laid out several tools to help us cultivate wise attention so that mental, verbal, and physical misconduct do not arise. These include mindfulness on the meditation object, recollection of being the heir of one's own kamma, cultivation of mettā, and so on.
However, in this post, I'd like to focus on two important wholesome mental states that enable one to refrain from wrongdoing: the shame of wrongdoing (hirī) and the fear of wrongdoing (ottappa). Although other wholesome qualities are widely discussed, moral shame (hirī) and moral fear (ottappa) are not as commonly emphasised.
In the Visuddhimagga (and Abhidhamma), the following is mentioned:
"Moral shame (hirī) arises from a sense of conscientious scruples regarding bodily, verbal and mental misconduct, embodying disgust towards such actions. Fear (ottappa), on the other hand, stems from an aversion to those same actions, embodying dreadful state of mind towards misconduct. Hirī is characterised by disgust towards evil, while ottappa is defined by dread of it. Hirī functions to prevent wrongdoing through a sense of modesty, while ottappa prevents it through a sense of fear. Both manifest as a shrinking away from wrongdoings, as previously described. The proximate causes of hirī and ottappa are self-respect and respect for others, respectively.
Hirī leads a person to avoid wrongdoing out of self-respect, akin to the actions of a virtuous person from a reputable family. For instance, "A person from a reputable and virtuous family refrains from engaging in theft. One reflects:
"I come from a noble lineage where integrity and honour have always been upheld. If I steal, I will tarnish the dignity of my family name and betray the values instilled in me by my ancestors. Such behaviour is unbecoming of someone from a respected household. It is conduct fitting only for those without pride, self-respect, or a sense of decency."
Through this reflection on his family’s reputation and his own self-esteem, the person feels shame (hirī) and abstains from stealing.
Shame prompts the avoidance of wrongdoing out of respect for others. For example, "A merchant refrains from selling substandard goods at a high price, reflecting:
"If I engage in deceitful trade practices, my reputation in the market will suffer. Customers will criticise me and share their grievances with others. The wise and reputable merchants who value fair dealings will avoid associating with me. My business will decline, and I will be seen as untrustworthy. Just as people avoid a rotten fruit stall, so too will they shun my business. I will also suffer the consequences of this unwholesome kamma."
Fearful of the (kammic) consequences and the loss of respect among peers, the merchant feels moral fear (ottappa) and maintains honesty in their trade.
A wise person, upon encountering actions that can lead to unwholesome deeds, feels a sense of shame and refrains oneself from immoral acts. Similarly, one refrain from immoral acts out of fear of danger or harm. This can be compared to two iron balls: one iron ball is cool but covered in filth, and the other iron ball is glowing hot. A wise person avoids touching the cool iron ball because it is filthy, just as one avoids immoral acts due to a sense of shame (hirī).. Similarly, the hot iron ball is avoided out of fear of being burned, just as one refrains from immoral acts due to fear (ottappa).
In this analogy, the avoidance of immoral acts due to shame (hiri) corresponds to avoiding the filthy cool iron ball. The avoidance of immoral acts due to fear (ottappa) corresponds to avoiding the hot iron ball out of fear of harm. Thus, hirī involves being repelled by wrongdoing due to a sense of shame, while ottappa involves avoiding wrongdoing due to fear of harm. These are the distinct characteristics and natural qualities of hiri and ottappa. Although these two qualities are distinct, they often arise together and cannot exist independently. There cannot be shame without fear, nor can there be fear without shame when it comes to avoiding immoral acts.
These two qualities, moral shame and fear, are regarded as the guardians of the world (lokapāla-dhamma). Note that they are inherently wholesome and virtuous qualities that prevent one from committing in wrongdoings and are different from feelings of anxiety, remorse, regret, which are rooted in aversion (dosa). The Buddha refers to these two states as the bright guardians of the world (lokapāla-dhamma). He bestows this title upon them because, as long as they reside in people's hearts, the moral fabric of society remains intact and wholesome deeds will be proliferated further. However, when these wholesome states diminish in the minds of humans, humanity descends into unrestrained promiscuity and violence. This can cause the blurring of the distinction between the human and animal realms.
The foundation of the entire Buddhist practice is purified conduct, and maintaining strict adherence to the training rules one has committed to—such as the Five Precepts for a lay Buddhist—is essential for preserving the purity of one's behaviour. Sīla is the foundation for any meditation practice and all wholesome deeds to proliferate further. The absence of such a foundation is oftentimes what leads to the lack of progress or regression from the practice. In an age where countless influences tempt people to stray from the principles of righteousness, this commitment becomes even more crucial. Although these wholesome qualities of moral shame and fear are not yet greatly diminished in the world, their fading is still prominent, can be easily influenced, and can occur in today's world due to unwise attention and a lack of wise association. Most notably this would be a reluctance to follow the Five Precepts strictly, according to the Buddha's wishes, which can also be dishearteningly found among (some) practitioners. The main reasoning behind the inability to do so is because of the weakening of moral shame and fear itself. Listening to and learning the Dhamma can influence one to uphold sīla diligently, but it's more of a distant cause. The proximate and most influential causes are the strong reflection on moral shame and fear. That's why the ability to uphold sīla diligently and avoid verbal, physical, and mental misconduct comes from a strong sense of moral shame and fear. Such qualities cannot be pushed into us like external medicine consumed to cure sickness; this strength must be cultivated innately with your wisdom. The first step that goes into properly cultivating it is by looking inwardly: deeply and thoroughly reflecting on your mind's inclinations, habits, and everyday conduct. The path towards realisation is hard, and along the way, we learn and discover terrible things about our minds (how defiled they are). Sometimes, moha (delusion) prevents us from acknowledging these things, even when they are vividly obvious. Therefore, we must be observant of these fallacies at every moment in order to overcome them.
It might seem in today's world that mental qualities like shame and fear of wrongdoing is outdated, a strict and rigid rules that limit freedom and is a superstition. Yet, the Buddha emphasised the importance of hirī and ottappa because he deeply understood human nature. The minds of all beings are constantly engulfed in defilements (and that's why we're still in the saṃsāra). Reaching liberation is like swimming against a current of defilements, continuously rushing towards us in a destructive manner. So, to develop the mind’s wisdom, purity, and peace, we need to keep these destructive forces under the vigilant care and guardianship of these two moral protectors.
The Noble Eighfold Path, which the Buddha discovered and laid out for us as the path to liberation from suffering, involves maintaining a vigilant awareness of the workings of the mind and the associated defilements that influence our mental actions and when they inspire bodily and verbal actions. This practice that emphasises inward looking is called heedfulness (appamāda), which the Buddha identifies as the way to Nibbāna. That's why the sense of shame and fear of wrongdoing play an essential role in motivating us to overcome unwholesome mental states by recognising them as obstacles that can detract us from the Dhamma. The wholesome attribute of moral shame reflect the dignity of the noble ones and one of the essential factors for attainment of Path and Fruition is emulating the practices and conducts of the noble ones. Just as noble ones uphold the abstinence from misconduct with their life, ordinary people must emulate their actions and cultivate such moral fear and shame. Fear of wrongdoing, on the other hand, encourages us to avoid morally questionable thoughts and actions, and helps us that these deeds carry the potential to produce undesirable consequences. The Buddha teaches that all evil arises from a lack of shame and fear of wrong and that's why these two mental factors are present in every unwholesome mental states.
The Noble Eightfold Path involves looking inward and focusing on one's actions to identify and overcome defilements (kilesa), which are mental impurities that perpetuate saṃsāra, the cycle of birth and death. The Buddha explained that kilesa—such as greed (lobha), hatred (dosa), and ignorance (moha)—are the root causes of suffering, as they lead to unwholesome actions (kamma) and their corresponding results (vipāka) in a continuous cycle, as outlined in the principle of dependent origination. Defilements are likened to pollutants that cloud the mind, preventing it from perceiving reality clearly, much like a polluted body of water cannot reflect accurately. This obscured perception binds beings to saṃsāra until the mind is purified through mindfulness, insight, and upright living. Another analogy compares kilesa to a burning iron ball that causes suffering when grasped; clinging to defilements due to ignorance perpetuates pain, but releasing them through wisdom leads to liberation.
The reason you, I, and all of us are (still) trapped in this saṃsāra is because we have repeatedly failed to develop the 'inward' quality throughout our past existences, and have sometimes been, and still are, looking outwardly—focusing on nonsensical things instead of learning about our own minds, inclinations, habits, and defilements, and cultivating a better sense of urgency and effort to be released from them. It's never too late to look inward. All you need is the effort to start doing so.
May you all be inwardly looking from today onwards.
May you all be those who can cultivate moral shame and fear at all times.
With karuṇā....