Hiri and ottappa4/1/2023 In other words, there is no room for “white lies”. ‘I will not speak a lie, even for fun’ – this is how you must train yourself”. The Buddha said to his son, “Of anyone for whom there is no shame at intentional lying of him I say that there is no evil he cannot do. Just as a pig is not ashamed to roll in sewage, the mind is not disgusted with unwholesome actions, speech or thought. ![]() Just as Hiri and Ottappa arise in all wholesome mental states, Ahirika and Anottappa arise in all unwholesome states of mind.Īhirika (shamelessness / immodesty) has a characteristic of “no disgust over misconduct”, a function of “doing evil without shame”, a manifestation of “not shrinking away from evil” and a proximate cause of “lack of respect for self”. In addition to the answers above it might help to reflect on the opposites of Hiri and Ottappa ( Ahirika and Anottappa). Smeared with excrement, ottappa is like one's fear of grabbing it in Like one's disgust at grabbing the rod in the place where it is Acariya Buddhaghosa illustrates theĭifference between the two with the simile of an iron rod smeared withĮxcrement at one end and heated to a glow at the other end: hiri is Kammic results of evil deeds, the impediment to our desire for Moral transgression: blame and punishment by others, the painful The voice of conscience that warns us of the dire consequences of Ottappa, fear of wrongdoing, has an external orientation. Induces us to shrink from wrongdoing out of a feeling of personal Shame, has an internal reference it is rooted in self-respect and ![]() Individual characteristics and modes of operation. Of protecting the mind from moral defilement, they differ in their While moral shame and fear of wrongdoing are united in the common task Bhikkhu Bodhi wrote a good article on these two terms called The Guardians of the World. Many suttas speak of fear as unwholesome, and shame in the sense of remorse is mentioned as unwholesome in other Buddhist writings.įor this reason, the translator Ajahn Thanissaro prefers to translate these terms as conscience and concern. They definitely do not mean what is normally meant by the English words fear and shame. ![]() Hiri refers to the feeling of not wanting to do a bad deed because you know the deed itself is bad, and Ottappa refers to the feeling of not wanting to do an evil deed because you know that the consequences of it are bad. The Pali terms are Hiri and Ottappa, and they are hard to translate into English because they have no one-word equivalents.
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