How To Lead an Ethical Life
Nottingham, England, May 25, 2008
Transcribed, translated in parts, and lightly edited
by Alexander Berzin
Self-Interest versus Interest in Others as Bases for an Ethical Life
The essence of Buddhism is: if we can help others then we need to do that; if we cannot, then at least restrain from harming others. That”s the essence of leading an ethical life.
Every action comes from a motivation. If we harm others, that”s from a motivation; and if we help others, that also comes from a motivation. So, for helping others, for serving others, we need a certain motivation. For that, we need certain concepts. Why do we help and why do we not harm
For example, when we are just about to harm somebody, we would have some type of awareness and that would cause us to refrain. That means we need some sort of determination [not to cause harm.] One corner of our mind wants to harm somebody, but because of a certain state of mind, another part of our mind says that this wrong, this is not right. Because we see that it”s wrong, then we develop willpower and we refrain. In terms of both choices [to cause harm or to refrain from so doing,] we need to have an awareness that certain actions are going to have long-term consequences. As human beings we have the intelligence to see long-term consequences. Then, when we see them, we can, on an immediate level, restrain ourselves.
There are two different approaches we can take here. With the first, we think in terms of the interest of ourselves and then if we can help, we do so; and if we can”t help, then we refrain [from causing any harm]. The other approach is to think in terms of the interests of others and likewise, if we can help, we help; and if not, then we refrain [from causing harm]. In terms of refraining from harming others, the thought: “If I do this, I will face negative consequences including legal consequences” and so restraining ourselves because of that reason is refraining because of the reason of self-interest. Now, in terms of the thinking of others as our reason, we would think: “Others are just like me. They don”t want suffering and pain; therefore, I will restrain myself from harming them.”
When we train [our minds], first we think in terms of self-interest and then we strongly think of others. In terms of effectiveness, strongly thinking of others is more powerful. In terms of pratimoksha – the vows of inpidual liberation, the vinaya tradition of monasic training – the primary basis is thinking of our own self-interest and, because of that, we refrain from causing harm. That”s because we are aiming for liberation. In terms of bodhisattva practice, the main reason to refrain from harming others is consideration of others” interests. Perhaps the second one, refraining from causing harm and helping others on the basis of altruism, has a connection with the universal responsibility that I speak about so often.
Our Basic Nature as Human Beings
Generally, we humans are social animals. No matter who it is, his or her survival depends on the rest of humanity. Since inpidual survival and well-being depends on all of society, the need to think of the well-being of others and being concerned about it derive from our own fundamental nature. If we look at baboons, for example, the elder one takes full responsibility for the herd. While others are feeding, one older male baboon is always to the side, watching. The stronger one helps to take care of the rest of the group for the sake of the society.
In prehistoric times, we human beings had no education or technology. Basic human society was simple: everybody worked together and shared together. The communists say that this was original communism: everybody working and enjoying together. Then, eventually,…
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