Lzh Mi Bi Pm Pc 144Learning Pointless Knowledge
Pāli / Sanskrit:Tiracchānavijjāpariyāpuṇana
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Discourse on Learning Pointless Knowledge
Background
This discourse belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka of the early Buddhist tradition, where the Buddha and his disciples established rules for the communal practice of monks and nuns. In the social context of India in the time of the Buddha, many forms of knowledge were regarded as noble: astronomy, veterinary medicine, special arts, poisons, magic, and skills connected with commerce or crafts. Different social classes all valued these kinds of knowledge.
However, the Buddha saw that those who had gone forth to practice the Buddha-Dharma had a different purpose. This discourse was especially intended to guide bhikkhus, male monastics who had abandoned household life in pursuit of liberation. The title "Tiracchānavijjāpariyāpuṇana" (Learning animal-like knowledge) indicates that these skills are classified as "tiracchānavijjā," animal-like knowledge, that is, skills used by animals or used to make a living like animals, rather than a path leading to awakening.
Main Content
In the Vinaya Piṭaka, the Buddha prohibited bhikkhus from learning these forms of knowledge because they diverge from the purpose of practice. Specifically, forms of "pointless" knowledge include astronomy (calculating the positions of stars, predicting weather), veterinary medicine (treating animals), special arts and magic tricks (seeking to impress others), calculating commercial profit, weaving cloth, cooking, and other skills used for livelihood or the pursuit of fame.
The reason the Buddha prohibited this was not that these skills are inherently bad. Rather, a bhikkhu has vowed to leave worldly life for a different aim: seeking liberation from suffering (nirvana). When a bhikkhu becomes absorbed in these kinds of knowledge, the mind is distracted from the primary path: mindfulness, meditation, insight, and the practice leading to the attainment of arhatship, or at least deep meditative states.
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