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Right View from Many Angles

MN 9, the Sammādiṭṭhi Sutta — set 4, Not-Self and Dependent Arising

Reading time: about 14 min · 2,493 words

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Before you read

Sāriputta is asked what right view is. He answers — then answers again a different way, and again, more than a dozen times over. The wholesome and the unwholesome and their roots. Nutriment. The four noble truths. Then each link of dependent arising in turn, every one given the same four-part treatment.

Every answer arrives at the same destination: the disciple abandons the underlying tendencies and makes an end of dissatisfaction.

Because it covers so much ground so consistently, this reads best as a review. Once the vocabulary is familiar, the repetition becomes the point — one teaching, entered through door after door after door.

Translation

The Setting

So I heard.

At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī, in Jeta's Grove, in Anāthapiṇḍika's monastery.

There Venerable Sāriputta addressed the bhikkhus:

"Friends, bhikkhus."

"Friend," those bhikkhus replied.

Venerable Sāriputta said this:

The Question About Right View

"Friends, people say, 'right view, right view.'

Friends, in what way is a noble disciple someone with right view, whose view has become direct, who has verified confidence in the Dhamma, and who has arrived at this true Dhamma?"

"Friend, we would travel a long way to hear Venerable Sāriputta explain this. Please tell us what it means. We will listen and remember."

"Then, friends, listen carefully and attend well. I will speak."

"Yes, friend," the bhikkhus replied.

Venerable Sāriputta said this:

Wholesome and Unwholesome Roots

"Friends, when a noble disciple discerns the unwholesome, discerns the root of the unwholesome, discerns the wholesome, and discerns the root of the wholesome, to that extent the noble disciple is someone with right view, whose view has become direct, who has verified confidence in the Dhamma, and who has arrived at this true Dhamma.

And what is the unwholesome? What is the root of the unwholesome? What is the wholesome? What is the root of the wholesome?

Taking life is unwholesome. Taking what is not given is unwholesome. Sexual misconduct is unwholesome. False speech is unwholesome. Divisive speech is unwholesome. Harsh speech is unwholesome. Idle chatter is unwholesome. Coveting is unwholesome. Ill will is unwholesome. Wrong view is unwholesome.

This is called the unwholesome.

And what is the root of the unwholesome?

Greed is a root of the unwholesome. Aversion is a root of the unwholesome. Delusion is a root of the unwholesome.

This is called the root of the unwholesome.

And what is the wholesome?

Abstaining from taking life is wholesome. Abstaining from taking what is not given is wholesome. Abstaining from sexual misconduct is wholesome. Abstaining from false speech is wholesome. Abstaining from divisive speech is wholesome. Abstaining from harsh speech is wholesome. Abstaining from idle chatter is wholesome. Non-coveting is wholesome. Non-ill-will is wholesome. Right view is wholesome.

This is called the wholesome.

And what is the root of the wholesome?

Non-greed is a root of the wholesome. Non-aversion is a root of the wholesome. Clarity is a root of the wholesome.

This is called the root of the wholesome.

When a noble disciple discerns the unwholesome in this way, discerns the root of the unwholesome in this way, discerns the wholesome in this way, and discerns the root of the wholesome in this way, then he abandons the underlying tendency toward passion entirely, dispels the underlying tendency toward resistance, uproots the underlying tendency to the view and conceit 'I am,' abandons ignorance, gives rise to clear knowledge, and makes an end of dissatisfaction in this very life.

To that extent, too, the noble disciple is someone with right view, whose view has become direct, who has verified confidence in the Dhamma, and who has arrived at this true Dhamma."

Another Way

The bhikkhus were glad and approved of Venerable Sāriputta's words. Then they asked him a further question:

"But, friend, is there another way in which a noble disciple is someone with right view, whose view has become direct, who has verified confidence in the Dhamma, and who has arrived at this true Dhamma?"

"Yes, friends, there is.

Nutriment

When a noble disciple discerns nutriment, discerns the origin of nutriment, discerns the quenching of nutriment, and discerns how to quench nutriment again, to that extent the noble disciple is someone with right view, whose view has become direct, who has verified confidence in the Dhamma, and who has arrived at this true Dhamma.

And what is nutriment? What is the origin of nutriment? What is the quenching of nutriment? What is the way to quench nutriment again?

There are these four nutriments for the maintenance of beings who have come to be, and for the support of those seeking to come to be.

Which four?

  • edible-food nutriment, whether coarse or subtle
  • contact as the second
  • mental intention as the third
  • knowing as the fourth

With the origin of ignorant wanting, the origin of nutriment comes to be. With the quenching of ignorant wanting, the quenching of nutriment comes to be.

This same noble eightfold path is how to quench nutriment again:

  • right view
  • right attitude
  • right speech
  • right action
  • right livelihood
  • right effort
  • right remembering
  • right unification of mind

When a noble disciple discerns nutriment in this way, discerns the origin of nutriment in this way, discerns the quenching of nutriment in this way, and discerns how to quench nutriment again in this way, then he abandons the underlying tendency toward passion entirely, dispels the underlying tendency toward resistance, uproots the underlying tendency to the view and conceit 'I am,' abandons ignorance, gives rise to clear knowledge, and makes an end of dissatisfaction in this very life.

To that extent, too, the noble disciple is someone with right view, whose view has become direct, who has verified confidence in the Dhamma, and who has arrived at this true Dhamma."

The Noble Truths

Again the bhikkhus approved and asked whether there was another way. Sāriputta said:

"Yes, friends, there is.

When a noble disciple discerns dissatisfaction, discerns the origin of dissatisfaction, discerns the quenching of dissatisfaction, and discerns how to quench dissatisfaction again, to that extent the noble disciple is someone with right view.

And what is dissatisfaction?

Birth is dissatisfaction. Ageing is dissatisfaction. Death is dissatisfaction. Sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair are dissatisfaction. Association with what is disliked is dissatisfaction. Separation from what is liked is dissatisfaction. Wanting something and not getting it is dissatisfaction. In brief, the five clung-to heaps are dissatisfaction.

This is called dissatisfaction.

And what is the origin of dissatisfaction?

That ignorant wanting that leads to renewed becoming, accompanied by relishing and passion, delighting here and there. That is:

  • ignorant wanting for sensuality
  • ignorant wanting for becoming
  • ignorant wanting for non-becoming

This is called the origin of dissatisfaction.

And what is the quenching of dissatisfaction?

The complete fading and quenching of that very ignorant wanting: giving it up, relinquishing it, freedom, non-attachment.

This is called the quenching of dissatisfaction.

And what is the way to quench dissatisfaction again?

It is just this noble eightfold path:

  • right view
  • right attitude
  • right speech
  • right action
  • right livelihood
  • right effort
  • right remembering
  • right unification of mind

This is called how to quench dissatisfaction again.

When a noble disciple discerns this in this way, then he abandons the underlying tendency toward passion entirely, dispels the underlying tendency toward resistance, uproots the underlying tendency to the view and conceit 'I am,' abandons ignorance, gives rise to clear knowledge, and makes an end of dissatisfaction in this very life.

To that extent, too, the noble disciple is someone with right view."

The Dependent-Arising Analyses

Again the bhikkhus approved and asked whether there was another way.

For each analysis that follows, Sāriputta gives the same right-view frame: a noble disciple discerns the term, its origin, its quenching, and how to quench it again. Discerning in this way, the noble disciple abandons the underlying tendency toward passion, dispels the underlying tendency toward resistance, uproots the underlying tendency to the view and conceit "I am," abandons ignorance, gives rise to clear knowledge, and makes an end of dissatisfaction in this very life. To that extent, too, the noble disciple is someone with right view.

Ageing and Dying

What is ageing and dying?

Whatever ageing, wearing out, brokenness of teeth, greying of hair, wrinkling of skin, decline of life, and maturing of the faculties there is for the various beings in the various classes of beings: this is called ageing.

Whatever passing away, vanishing, breaking up, disappearance, dying, death, time-ending, breakup of the heaps, laying down of the corpse, and cutting off of the life faculty there is for the various beings in the various classes of beings: this is called death.

Such is ageing, and such is death. This is called ageing and dying.

With the origin of birth, the origin of ageing and dying comes to be. With the quenching of birth, the quenching of ageing and dying comes to be. This same noble eightfold path is how to quench ageing and dying again.

Birth

What is birth?

Whatever birth, being born, descent, appearance, manifestation of the heaps, and obtaining of the fields there is for the various beings in the various classes of beings: this is called birth.

With the origin of becoming, the origin of birth comes to be. With the quenching of becoming, the quenching of birth comes to be. This same noble eightfold path is how to quench birth again.

Becoming

What is becoming?

There are these three kinds of becoming:

  • sensual becoming
  • form becoming
  • formless becoming

This is called becoming.

With the origin of taking personally, the origin of becoming comes to be. With the quenching of taking personally, the quenching of becoming comes to be. This same noble eightfold path is how to quench becoming again.

Taking Personally

What is taking personally?

There are these four ways of taking personally:

  • taking sensuality personally
  • taking views personally
  • taking habits and observances personally
  • taking self-doctrine personally

This is called taking personally.

With the origin of ignorant wanting, the origin of taking personally comes to be. With the quenching of ignorant wanting, the quenching of taking personally comes to be. This same noble eightfold path is how to quench taking personally again.

Ignorant Wanting

What is ignorant wanting?

There are these six classes of ignorant wanting:

  • ignorant wanting for forms
  • ignorant wanting for sounds
  • ignorant wanting for smells
  • ignorant wanting for tastes
  • ignorant wanting for tangibles
  • ignorant wanting for dhammas

This is called ignorant wanting.

With the origin of felt experience, the origin of ignorant wanting comes to be. With the quenching of felt experience, the quenching of ignorant wanting comes to be. This same noble eightfold path is how to quench ignorant wanting again.

Felt Experience

What is felt experience?

There are these six classes of felt experience:

  • felt experience born of eye-contact
  • felt experience born of ear-contact
  • felt experience born of nose-contact
  • felt experience born of tongue-contact
  • felt experience born of body-contact
  • felt experience born of mind-contact

This is called felt experience.

With the origin of contact, the origin of felt experience comes to be. With the quenching of contact, the quenching of felt experience comes to be. This same noble eightfold path is how to quench felt experience again.

Contact

What is contact?

There are these six classes of contact:

  • eye-contact
  • ear-contact
  • nose-contact
  • tongue-contact
  • body-contact
  • mind-contact

This is called contact.

With the origin of the six fields of experience, the origin of contact comes to be. With the quenching of the six fields of experience, the quenching of contact comes to be. This same noble eightfold path is how to quench contact again.

The Six Fields of Experience

What are the six fields of experience?

There are these six fields:

  • the eye sense field
  • the ear sense field
  • the nose sense field
  • the tongue sense field
  • the body sense field
  • the mind sense field

These are called the six fields of experience.

With the origin of name-and-form, the origin of the six fields of experience comes to be. With the quenching of name-and-form, the quenching of the six fields of experience comes to be. This same noble eightfold path is how to quench the six fields of experience again.

Name-And-Form

What is name-and-form?

  • felt experience
  • recognition
  • intention
  • contact
  • attention

This is called name.

The four great elements, and form derived from the four great elements: this is called form.

Such is name, and such is form. This is called name-and-form.

With the origin of knowing, the origin of name-and-form comes to be. With the quenching of knowing, the quenching of name-and-form comes to be. This same noble eightfold path is how to quench name-and-form again.

Knowing

What is knowing?

There are these six classes of knowing:

  • eye-knowing
  • ear-knowing
  • nose-knowing
  • tongue-knowing
  • body-knowing
  • mind-knowing

This is called knowing.

With the origin of putting things together, the origin of knowing comes to be. With the quenching of putting things together, the quenching of knowing comes to be. This same noble eightfold path is how to quench knowing again.

Putting Things Together

What are putting things together?

There are these three kinds of putting things together:

  • bodily putting things together
  • verbal putting things together
  • mental putting things together

These are called putting things together.

With the origin of ignorance, the origin of putting things together comes to be. With the quenching of ignorance, the quenching of putting things together comes to be. This same noble eightfold path is how to quench putting things together again.

Ignorance

What is ignorance?

Not knowing about dissatisfaction, not knowing about the origin of dissatisfaction, not knowing about the quenching of dissatisfaction, and not knowing about how to quench dissatisfaction again: this is called ignorance.

With the origin of outflows, the origin of ignorance comes to be. With the quenching of outflows, the quenching of ignorance comes to be. This same noble eightfold path is how to quench ignorance again.

Outflows

Again the bhikkhus approved and asked whether there was another way. Sāriputta said:

"Yes, friends, there is.

When a noble disciple discerns outflow, discerns the origin of outflow, discerns the quenching of outflow, and discerns how to quench outflow again, to that extent the noble disciple is someone with right view, whose view has become direct, who has verified confidence in the Dhamma, and who has arrived at this true Dhamma.

And what is outflow? What is the origin of outflow? What is the quenching of outflow? What is the way to quench outflow again?

There are these three outflows:

  • sensual outflow
  • outflow of becoming
  • outflow of ignorance

With the origin of ignorance, the origin of outflows comes to be. With the quenching of ignorance, the quenching of outflows comes to be. This same noble eightfold path is how to quench outflows again:

  • right view
  • right attitude
  • right speech
  • right action
  • right livelihood
  • right effort
  • right remembering
  • right unification of mind

When a noble disciple discerns outflow in this way, discerns the origin of outflow in this way, discerns the quenching of outflow in this way, and discerns how to quench outflow again in this way, then he abandons the underlying tendency toward passion entirely, dispels the underlying tendency toward resistance, uproots the underlying tendency to the view and conceit 'I am,' abandons ignorance, gives rise to clear knowledge, and makes an end of dissatisfaction in this very life.

To that extent, too, the noble disciple is someone with right view, whose view has become direct, who has verified confidence in the Dhamma, and who has arrived at this true Dhamma."

That is what Venerable Sāriputta said.

The bhikkhus were satisfied and welcomed what Venerable Sāriputta had said.

The Sammādiṭṭhi Sutta, the ninth discourse, is finished.

Words used in this translation (47)
ageing and dying
Growing old and dying, treated in these texts as one linked process and as the end point of the dependent-arising sequence.
aversion
One of the three "roots" behind unwholesome action, alongside greed and delusion -- the pushback against what's unwanted or unpleasant.
becoming
This project's rendering of "bhava" -- the settling of experience into a way of being that feels like somebody being something. Often translated "existence."
bhikkhus
Buddhist monks -- those who have left household life to practise full time. The Buddha's usual way of addressing the assembly, roughly "friends" in force.
birth
This project's rendering of "jāti": birth, coming into being. In the dependent-arising sequence, ageing and dying depend on it. In MN 141 the word appears once in its everyday sense instead, in a simile about a mother.
body
The physical body, as distinct from speech and the mental side of experience.
clarity
This project's rendering of "amoha," literally "non-delusion" -- seeing without the confusion and distortion that drive harmful action.
clung-to heaps
The five categories experience gets sorted into and then grasped as "me" or "mine" -- body, feeling, recognition, mental activity, and awareness. Not clinging to the categories themselves, but to the sense of ownership placed on top of them.
contact
This project's rendering of "phassa" -- the meeting of a sense, its object, and the knowing of it. A technical link in the dependent-arising sequence, not physical touch specifically.
delusion
One of the three "roots" behind unwholesome action, alongside greed and aversion -- the confusion that keeps you from seeing what's actually happening.
Dhamma
The Buddha's teaching taken as a whole -- both what he taught and the way things actually are, which the teaching describes.
dissatisfaction
This translation's rendering of "dukkha," the Buddhist term for the unsatisfying, unstable quality of ordinary experience. Often translated "suffering," but that can sound more dramatic than the everyday sense of things not quite being right.
faculties
The capacities used in practice, especially confidence, energy, remembering, unification of mind, and discernment. You can train them and bring them into balance.
fading
The fading away of attraction and investment in experience, as passion cools.
felt experience
This project's rendering of "vedanā", often translated "feeling". It is the immediate pleasant, painful, or mixed tone of an experience, before any story we build on top of it.
form
This project's rendering of "rūpa" -- the physical, material aspect of experience, one of the five heaps.
greed
One of the three "roots" behind unwholesome action, alongside aversion and delusion -- the acquisitive pull toward what looks satisfying.
heaps
This project's rendering of "khandhā" (usually translated "aggregates") -- the five piles experience gets sorted into: form, felt experience, recognition, putting-together activities, and knowing.
ignorance
This project's rendering of "avijjā" -- not general stupidity, but specifically not seeing how dissatisfaction works and how it ends. The first link in the dependent-arising sequence.
ignorant wanting
Wanting something you can't have right now. This project's rendering of "taṇhā", often translated "craving". We call it ignorant because it comes from not seeing clearly; ordinary, sensible wanting is something else.
ill will
Hostility toward others or situations: pushing things away and wishing them harm. As one of the five hindrances, it pulls the mind off track.
knowing
This project's rendering of "viññāṇa" (often translated "consciousness") -- bare awareness of an object through one of the senses or the mind.
name-and-form
The mental and physical sides of experience taken together: roughly, whatever you can name plus whatever has shape. One link in the dependent-arising sequence.
noble disciple
Someone who has had the breakthrough into the path and so is no longer merely an ordinary person. It does not mean noble by birth, and does not require being a monastic.
noble eightfold path
The eight-part practice these texts teach: right view, right attitude, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right remembering, and right unification of mind.
non-aversion
The absence of hostility and of the reflex to push away what you do not want. One of the three roots of wholesome action.
non-greed
The absence of the grasping pull that wants to acquire, possess, or consume. One of the three roots of wholesome action.
outflow
This project's rendering of "āsava" -- a deep-running habit that keeps seeping out and driving behaviour. Often translated "taint" or "defilement."
outflows
This project's rendering of "āsavā" -- deep-running habits that keep seeping out and driving behaviour, classically sensuality, becoming, and ignorance. Often translated "taints" or "defilements."
putting things together
This project's rendering of "saṅkhāra": the ongoing activity of assembling experience, and also what that activity assembles. Context shows which of the two the text means. Other translations often say "formations" or "fabrications", which this project avoids as needlessly opaque.
quenching
An extinguishing image for dissatisfaction and its causes going out. Different Pali words use this image on different pages, so the exact scope comes from the sentence.
recognition
This project's rendering of "saññā" (often translated "perception") -- the mind's act of identifying and labeling what it encounters.
resistance
A reflexive pushing-away from what's unwanted, arising automatically in response to unpleasant feeling.
right action
Acting without harming -- a factor of the eightfold path.
right attitude
This project's rendering of the path factor usually translated "right intention" -- the underlying motivation a person brings to their actions.
right effort
Effort that is well aimed: heading off what is unhelpful and building up what helps -- a factor of the eightfold path.
right livelihood
Making a living in a way that does not depend on harming or deceiving anyone -- a factor of the eightfold path.
right remembering
This project's rendering of the path factor usually translated "right mindfulness" -- keeping what actually matters in view, moment to moment, rather than losing track of it.
right speech
Speech that is truthful, kind, timely, and worth saying -- a factor of the eightfold path.
right unification of mind
The path factor in which the mind gathers together and becomes unified, supported and directed by the rest of the noble path. The thinking mind and the heart work as one whole; nobody forces them into a trance.
right view
Seeing how experience and practice actually work -- the first factor of the eightfold path. "Right" here means well-aimed and accurate, not morally righteous.
six fields of experience
The six channels through which you experience anything at all: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, and thinking. Other translations often say "sense bases".
taking personally
This project's rendering of "upādāna" -- treating some piece of experience as "me" or "mine" and holding on to it. Usually translated "clinging" or "attachment."
underlying tendency
A reactive pattern that isn't necessarily active right now but is ready to reassert itself given the right conditions -- lying underneath rather than gone.
unwholesome
This project's rendering of "akusala". Roughly: mentally and ethically harmful. It is blameworthy, leads to harm, and people with good judgment criticize it.
wholesome
This project's rendering of "kusala". Roughly: mentally and ethically healthy. It is blameless, leads to well-being, and people with good judgment praise it.
wrong view
Seeing things in a way that misses how they actually work; the opposite of right view.
Source and corrections