Prepared by
John D. Hughes, Dip.App.Chem., T.T.T.C., GDAIE,
Anita Hughes, RN Div.1,
Evelin Halls, Dip.For.Lang.Corres.
Pennie White, B.A., Dip.Ed.
Abhidhamma Class No. 25, 10 December 2002
Abhidhamma Class No. 25 is a review of
Abhidhamma Classes 1, 2 and 3.
Ottappa- A sense of moral dread. Study notes from Abhidhamma class No. 24 will be read.
Glossary
ottappa (Pali language): moral dread, shame, fear of blame, fear to do evil.
Ottappa
A sense of moral dread
Ottappa (a sense of moral dread) is the fourth of the sobhana sadharana cetasika (beautiful mental concomitants).
Ottappa is moral dread or fear to do evil, because it is aware of the manifold evil consequences.
As hiri is different from ordinary shyness, ottappa is different from ordinary fear of an individual.
A Buddha Dhamma practitioner is not expected to be afraid of any individual, even a God, for Buddhism is not based on the fear of the unknown.
“To be in dread of what one ought to be in dread, to be in dread of performing evil and unwholesome things: This is called moral dread.” (Puggala-pannatti, paragraph 80 cited in Mon, 1995)
Ottappa opposes anottappa (lack of moral dread, recklessness), and drives away the latter.
Shame of evil (hiri) and fear of evil (ottappa) are the opposites of the second unwholesome cetasika (ahirika) and the third unwholesome cetasika (anottappa).
Hiri arises with respect to oneself whereas ottappa arises with respect to others.
Suppose there is an iron rod, one end of which is heated until red-hot and the other end smeared with filth. The filthy end one would not touch owing to disgust and the red hot end one would not touch owing to dread. Hiri is compared to the former instance and ottappa to the latter instance.
Hiri and ottappa differentiates human from beast, not to indulge in immoral acts such as sexual relations between mother and son or between father and daughter even at a time of very low civilisation.
‘Two lucid things... protect the world: moral shame and moral dread. If these two things were not to protect the world, then one would respect neither one’s mother, nor one’s mother’s sister, nor one’s brother’s wife, nor one’s teacher’s wife.........” (Anguttara Nikaya II 7)
So, hiri and ottappa are known as lokapala dhamma, that is, The Guardian of the Worlds.
Now virtue, so say those who know,
Itself as purity will show;
And for its proximate cause they tell
The pair, conscience and shame, as well.
(Buddhaghosa, nd, I 23, p. 9)
This virtue is manifested as the kinds of purity stated thus: ‘Bodily purity, verbal purity, mental purity’ (Anguttara Nikaya. i,271); it is manifested, comes to be apprehended, as a pure state.
But hiri and ottappa are said to be virtue’s proximate cause; its near reason, is the meaning.
The German word ‘Gewissen’ can be used as a translation of hiri and is a more accurate translation than any single English word as it specifically refers to the awareness of morality.
For when ‘Gewissen’ and shame are in existence, virtue arises and persists; and when they are not, virtue neither arises nor persists.
This is how virtue’s characteristic, function, manifestation, and proximate cause, should be understood.
Virtuous conduct should be understood as 15 things, that is to say:
1.restraint by virtue
2.guarding the doors of the sense faculties
3.knowledge of the right amount in eating
4.devotion to wakefulness
the seven good states:
1.faith
2.conscience
3.shame
4.learning
5.energy
6.mindfulness
7.understanding
and the four jhanas of the fine-material sphere:
1.First jhana moral consciousness together with initial application, sustained application, joy, bliss and one-pointedness
2.Second jhana moral consciousness together with sustained application, joy, bliss and one-pointedness
3.Third jhana moral consciousness together with joy, bliss and one-pointedness
4.Fourth jhana moral consciousness together with bliss and one-pointedness
For it is precisely by the means of these 15 things that a noble disciple conducts himself or herself, that he or she goes towards the deathless. That is why it is called ‘[virtuous] conduct’, according as it is said ‘Here, Mahanama, a noble disciple has virtue’ (Majjhima Nikaya.i,355), etc., the whole of which should be understood as it is given in the Middle Fifty [of the Majjhima Nikaya].
A possessor of ‘the seven’ has faith, conscience, shame, learning, energy, mindfulness, understanding (see Digha Nikaya. iii, 252).
References
Buddhaghosa, Bhadantacariya, [no date] “The Path of Purification Visuddhi Magga”, Singapore Buddhist Meditation Centre, Singapore, I 23, p 9, VII 31, p 214.
Mon, Dr. Mehm Tin (1995) “The Essence of Buddha Abhidhamma”, Mehm Tay Zar Mon, Yangon, pp 87-88.
Nyanatiloka (1991) Buddhist Dictionary, Singapore Buddhist Meditation Centre, p 113.