Behaviour determines the state
of all beings!
The young brahmins
Vāsettha
and Bhāradvāja
once asked Blessed
Buddha:
What makes a brahmin a brahmin? Whereto the Blessed One
responded:
Not by pure descent from seven
generations of ancestors does one become
a brahmin, and neither by family
descent
does one become a non-brahmin.
By action one becomes a brahmin. By action one also becomes a non-brahmin.
By action one becomes a farmer. By action one becomes a craftsman.
By action one becomes a merchant. By action one
becomes a servant.
By action one becomes a thief too. By action one becomes a killer too.
By action one becomes a priest. By action one becomes even a king.
Knowing the fruit of causal effects of any action,
the wise gains complete
understanding of conditional origination and sees this action as it really
is!
By action is all phenomena determined, by action the world goes on, and by
action the people go on. Beings are bounded, conditioned & created by their
behaviour! By self-taming, by self-control, &
by living the Noble life, only by
this
supremely pure state does one becomes a
brahmin. Whoever is endowed
with the three knowledges (te-vijja), at peace,
with renewed existence all
destroyed,
Vāsettha,
such one is like the gods
Brahma
and
Sakka to those
who really know! The two brahmins
Vāsettha
&
Bhāradvāja then
exclaimed:
Wonderful, venerable
Gotama!
We hereby accept the venerable
Gotama,
the
Dhamma, and the Bhikkhu
Sangha as our
refuge. May the Venerable
Gotama
accept us as lay disciples who have taken
refuge as long as this
life lasts...
Sutta-Nipāta verses
650-656 Edited excerpt.
More on Intentional Action = Intention =
Kamma (Sanskrit=Karma):
Invariable Fact,
Kamma_is_intention,
Kamma_&_Fruit,
The_5_Destinations,
Intention_is_Kamma,
Asymmetry,
Kamma_and_Rebirth,
Buddha_on_Kamma,
What is Right Action?,
Kamma_is_improvable,
Good_Action_dilutes_Evil_Kamma,
Good_Action_enhances_other_Good_Kamma,
Inevitable_Consequences,
Evil_Kamma_enhances_other_Evil_Kamma,
Rebirth_and_Kamma,
Impossible,
Kamma_leading_to_short_&_long_life,
Kamma_leading_to_Health_&_Sickness
Kamma_leading_to_Low_or_High_Birth,
Kamma_leading_to_Wealth_or_Poverty
Kamma_leading_to_Beauty_&_Ugliness,
Kamma_leading_to_Power_or_Disrespect
Kamma_leading_to_Stupidity_or_Intelligence,
Effect_of_Action_(kamma)_is_Delayed
The_Mirror,
Creating_Future
