ในวันมาฆบูชา พระสัมมาสัมพุทธเจ้าทรงประทานโอวาทปาฏิโมกข์ ซึ่งมีทั้งหลักการ 3 อุดมการณ์ 4 และวิธีปฏิบัติ โดยแก่นของหลักการ 3 คือการไม่ทำบาปทั้งปวง ทำกุศลให้ถึงพร้อม และทำจิตใจให้บริสุทธิ์ผ่องใส อันเป็นหนทางสู่ความเป็นอมตะที่แท้จริงในทางพุทธศาสนาOn Magha Puja day, the Buddha delivered the Ovadapatimokkha, containing three core principles, four ideals, and a method of practice. At its heart, the three principles — avoid all evil, cultivate the good, purify the mind — point toward the true meaning of immortality in Buddhism.
A student asked the teacher to expand on the Ovadapatimokkha that the Buddha delivered on the recent Magha Puja day.
Two Things the Buddha Gave on Magha Puja Day
On Magha Puja, the Buddha did two things: he delivered the Ovadapatimokkha, and he gave the three core principles of Buddhism — avoid all evil, cultivate the good, and purify one's own mind — together with four ideals: is the highest austerity; Nibbana is the highest state; one who harms others is no true monk; one who oppresses others is no true ascetic. He also gave the method of training: neither speak ill of nor harm others, observe discipline, know moderation in eating, dwell in solitude, and train the mind through meditation.
Immortality and the Unconditioned in Buddhism
The teacher added that phenomena fall into two categories: the conditioned and the unconditioned — those with causes and conditions, and those without. "Immortality," as commonly understood, means living forever or never dying. But in Buddhism its meaning runs much deeper: it is a state of no-birth, since whatever arises must, by nature, eventually decay. True immortality isn't living on forever once born, but a state beyond birth altogether — synonymous with Nibbana. The unconditioned has three qualities: first, it is never shaped by anything over time; second, it depends on no cause or condition whatsoever; and third, it is a truth reached only through wisdom, never through pleading or belief. One must train and elevate the mind step by step — from the human body to subtler bodies, celestial bodies, brahma bodies, all the way to the various levels of — before fully passing from the conditioned into the unconditioned.
Avoiding All Evil
The causal factor shaping everything is the three natures: , , and the neutral. Avoiding all evil means refusing to let the unwholesome steer us into creating unwholesome causes, since unwholesome energy takes the form of a dark sphere, a state that is difficult to bear, carrying within it a sphere of ruin that destroys our assets. The unwholesome constantly steers us through an inner voice, stirring up irritation, boredom, despair, and restlessness through greed, aversion, delusion, lust, and various hindrances — and we can recognize these voices aren't truly our own, since they persist even after we try to reject them.
Cultivating the Good
Cultivating the good means accessing the tools already built into every one of us: the spheres of precepts, concentration, wisdom, liberation, and -and-vision of liberation. Precepts govern right conduct in body and speech; concentration corrects our thoughts and feelings by clearing away ; and wisdom corrects our outlook, turning wrong view into right view. The sphere of liberation frees us once we see the danger in the unwholesome, and the sphere of knowledge-and-vision of liberation carries us toward a better life once we see the value in the wholesome. Cultivating the good this way encompasses all ten perfections, the orious action, and the cultivation of both calm and .
Patience: Where the Four Ideals Begin
The teacher began explaining the first ideal, that patience is the highest austerity, because while the three natures are contending with one another at a subtle level, as long as the wholesome hasn't yet won, we must hold the line with patience. Patience forges an "austerity" — an armor that lets us feel difficulty without being tormented by it, helping us overcome obstacles and, in turn, leading toward truth. As time was running short, the teacher said he would continue the remaining ideals at the next gathering.