Upp Ss 4Encouraging Someone to Serve One’s Desires
Pāli / Sanskrit:Attakāmpāricariya
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Explanation of the Attakāmpāricariya Sutta (Serving One’s Own Desires)
Background
The Attakāmpāricariya Sutta is found in the Vinaya Piṭaka, specifically the Uppalavanna Sutta Samyutta, a collection of texts concerning Uppalavanna and one of the profound legal collections of the Theravāda tradition. The Vinaya Piṭaka not only prescribes prohibitions, but also deeply analyzes the motives and actions of the minds of monastics in both household and renunciant life.
This sutta was taught in the context of the Buddha guiding disciples concerning forms of serving oneself for one’s own desires. “Attakāmpa” means personal desire, one’s own thirst for pleasure, while “āricariya” refers to serving or attending. The sutta addresses an important psychological reality: human beings often tend to seek satisfaction for their personal desires.
Main Content
The specific content of this sutta has not been fully translated, but according to the general context of the Theravāda Vinaya Piṭaka, it addresses how monastics and Buddhists may fall into the trap of being overly concerned with satisfying personal cravings.
In the Theravāda tradition, the Buddha often taught that “serving one’s own desires” (attakāmpāricariya) is a path leading to suffering. When we care for and nourish greedy desires (lobha), aversion (dosa), and delusion (moha), the three poisons of the mind, we are in fact creating binding roots that tie us to the cycle of saṃsāra.
This sutta may analyze the ways in which the human mind seeks to gain advantage through actions, speech, and thoughts driven by uncontrolled desires. It may also relate to the Vinaya when considering whether a monastic has violated a precept based on intention, whether they acted to serve personal desire or for the common good.
Practical Meaning
The practical meaning of this sutta is extremely profound for those practicing on the path of the Buddha’s Dharma.
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