Lzh Mi Bu Vb Ss 4Encouraging Someone to Serve One’s Desires
Pāli / Sanskrit:Attakāmpāricariya
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The Attakāmpāricariya Sutta: Encouragement According to One's Own Desires
Background
The Attakāmpāricariya sutta (Pāli: atta-kāma-pāricariya, meaning "service according to one's own desires") is recorded in the Vinaya Piṭaka of Theravāda Buddhism, specifically in the Bhikkhunī Vibhaṅga, the explanation of the rules for bhikkhunīs. This is part of the Vinaya system that the Buddha Gotama set forth to govern the life of practice in the monastic community.
This context reflects practical situations in the early monastic community, when those gone forth needed clear guidance on conduct appropriate to the holy life and the path. This sutta concerns encouraging others to pursue the satisfaction of personal desires and self-benefit, conduct regarded as a violation of the basic ethical principles of the life gone forth.
Main Content
According to the Vinaya Piṭaka, encouraging someone to serve one's own desires (attakāma) is regarded as a significant violation in the life of practice. Specifically, if a bhikkhunī or bhikkhu actively encourages another to choose the path of pursuing immediate sensual pleasures, fame and gain, or personal benefits, instead of practicing the Dharma for liberation, that is a wrongful action.
This conduct reflects lack of understanding of the Dharma and lack of compassion (karuṇā). Those gone forth, if they truly follow the Buddha's teaching, must help others find the path of liberation from suffering, not lead them more deeply into the bondage of greed (lobha), hatred (dosa), and delusion (moha).
The sutta emphasizes that such encouragement harms not only the person being encouraged but also the one who encourages. It creates obstacles in the progress of practice for both sides, binding them to the cycle of birth and death (saṃsāra) from which the Buddha-Dharma aims to liberate.
Practical Meaning
The Attakāmpāricariya sutta teaches us a profound lesson about the ethical responsibility of those who pursue the Dharma.
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