2) Sutta Selections

1. Pubbakārī
   1. AN 2.119 Hard to Find
      -Click for Sutta-
      “Monks, these two people are hard to find in the world. Which two? The one who is first to do a kindness, and the one who is grateful for a kindness done and feels obligated to repay it. These two people are hard to find in the world.”
   2. AN 2.32 Not Easy to Repay
      -Click for Excerpt-
      “I tell you, monks, there are two people who are not easy to repay. Which two? Your mother and father. Even if you were to carry your mother on one shoulder and your father on the other shoulder for 100 years … you would not in that way pay or repay your parents. If you were to establish your mother and father in absolute sovereignty over this great earth, abounding in the seven treasures, you would not in that way pay or repay your parents. Why is that? Mother and father do much for their children. They care for them, they nourish them, they introduce them to this world. But anyone who rouses his unbelieving mother and father, settles and establishes them in conviction; rouses his unvirtuous mother and father, settles and establishes them in virtue; rouses his stingy mother and father, settles and establishes them in generosity; rouses his foolish mother and father, settles and establishes them in discernment: To this extent one pays and repays one’s mother and father.”
   3. AN 4.63 “First Teachers”
      -Click for Excerpt-
      “‘Brahmā’ is a term for your parents. First teachers’ is a term for your parents. Old deities’ is a term for your parents. ‘Worthy of an offering dedicated to the gods’ is a term for your parents. Why is that? Parents are very helpful to their children, they raise them, nurture them, and show them the world.”
2. Kataññūkatavedī
   1. Sn 2.4 The Highest Blessings
      -Click for Excerpt-
      “Providing for mother and father’s support, and cherishing family … offering help to relatives and kin … respectfulness, and being of humble ways, contentment and gratitude: These are the highest blessings.”
   2. AN 2.31 Gratitude
      -Click for Excerpt-
      “Now what is the level of a person of no integrity? A person of no integrity is ungrateful and unthankful. This ingratitude, this lack of thankfulness, is advocated by rude people. It is entirely on the level of people of no integrity. A person of integrity is grateful and thankful. This gratitude, this thankfulness, is advocated by civil people. It is entirely on the level of people of integrity.”

• According to AN 2.119, what two types of people are hard to find in the world?
  “Two people are hard to find in the world. Which two? (1) The one who is first to do a kindness, and (2) the one who is grateful for a kindness done and feels obligated to repay it.”
• According to AN 2.32, what two people are not easy to repay?
  “I tell you, monks, there are two people who are not easy to repay. Which two? Your mother and father.”
• But, according to AN 2.32, what are four ways that it is possible to repay those two people who are not easy to repay?
  “Anyone who (1) rouses his unbelieving mother and father, settles and establishes them in conviction; (2) rouses his unvirtuous mother and father, settles and establishes them in virtue; (3) rouses his stingy mother and father, settles and establishes them in generosity; (4) rouses his foolish mother and father, settles and establishes them in discernment: To this extent one pays and repays one’s mother and father.”
• Name two of the various ways of expressing gratitude listed in the Discourse on the Highest Blessings?
  ”Providing for mother and father’s support, and cherishing family … offering help to relatives and kin … respectfulness, and being of humble ways, contentment and gratitude: These are the highest blessings.”
• What are two features of a person on the ‘level of people of integrity’ listed at AN 2.31?
  ”A person of integrity is (1) grateful and (2) thankful. This gratitude, this thankfulness, is advocated by civil people. It is entirely on the level of people of integrity.”

3) Ancient Commentary

1. Pubbakārī
   1. AN-a 2.120
      -Click for Excerpt-
      “Pubbakārī means: the doer of service/support first”
2. Kataññūkatavedī
   1. KN-a 5 Maṅgalasuttavaṇṇanā
      -Click for Excerpt-
      “Gratitude is recognizing, and repeatedly recollecting, the help given by anyone, whether little or much … Hence gratitude should also be understood as recollection of the helpfulness of merits. This is called a blessing because it is a cause for such excellent achievements as being considered praiseworthy by good people.” (Bodhi)
   2. AN-a 2.120
      -Click for Excerpt-
      “One is called ‘grateful and appreciative (Kataññūkatavedī)’ because, having understood that which has been done (for him), one is a doer thereafter. The original giver acts perceiving ‘I give a debt.’ Afterward, the doer acts perceiving ‘I am causing the debt to wear away.’”

Review (Click text for answer)

• According AN-a 2.120, what is the definition of pubbakārī?
  “the doer of service/support first”
• Based on your own reasoning, what might that definition of pubbakārī at AN-a 2.120 actually mean?
  Suggestion: Definitions of terms from the Pali Canonical literature are often terse and, more often than not, play on the component sounds of words in suggesting their meaning and in deriving their etymology. This is the case here as well. Both the word “doer” (kāraka) and “service/support” (upakāra) play on the latter part of the original word “doer” (kārī). What is implied by this definition is a person who does a good deed unprovoked. That is, someone who does a generous act without first having been the recipient of any specific gain.
• What is the definition of gratitude (kataññū) given at Maṅgalasuttavaṇṇanā?
  “Gratitude is recognizing, and repeatedly recollecting, the help given by anyone, whether little or much … Hence gratitude should also be understood as recollection of the helpfulness of merits. This is called a blessing because it is a cause for such excellent achievements as being considered praiseworthy by good people.”

4) Modern Commentary

1. Pubbakārī
   1. Ajahn Sumedho “Gratitude to Parents”
      -Click for Excerpt-
      “’In five ways one should minister to one’s parents: (thingking:) Having supported me, (1) I shall support them; (2) I shall do their duties; (3) I shall keep up the honour and the traditions of my family; (4) I shall make myself worthy of my heritage; (5) I shall make offerings dedicating the goodness of my practice to my parents after their death.’ (DN 31) These words of the Buddha give expression in terms of observance to the feeling of loyalty and gratitude that a clear-minded person may have with regards to their parents. That this is not necessarily the case is a sad reflection on either the quality of our parents or the attitude of neglect that the society or the individual has towards these powerfully influential people. Even as adults we often respond to situations in ways that are attributable to parental influence – for good or for ill. It is an area to acknowledge and explore.”
   2. Ajahn Amaro “Who Will Feed the Mice”
      -Click for Excerpt-
      “And now my mother is 82 years old and her body seems to be reaching its limit. How does one hold that? How does one use the practice to relate to the situation — to bring balance to the heart and to be of benefit to her and to others?”
2. Kataññūkatavedī
   1. Compiled Talks “Gratitude”
      -Click for Excerpt-
      “We all survive and find comfort in life with the support of the knowledge and skills, mindfulness and wisdom, of countless others. Without their help we would all perish as soon as we leave our mother’s womb. We’d have no food to eat, clothes to wear or house to live in. Our parents, whose faces we have never even seen before, give us life and all the things we need to make us healthy and strong. For our clothes and living places, and all the various skills we learn, we are entirely indebted to others. From the first moments in our mothers womb, all of us have a debt of gratitude owed to innumerable others – no need to mention our parents and all our teachers, to whom the sense of gratitude we should feel is incalculable.” (Ajahn Liam Thitadhammo)
   2. Ajahn Thanissaro “The Lessons of Gratitude”
      -Click for Excerpt-
      “Kindness and gratitude are virtues you can cultivate, but they have to be cultivated together. Each needs the other to be genuine — a point that becomes obvious when you think about the three things most likely to make gratitude heartfelt: (1) You’ve actually benefitted from another person’s actions.(2) You trust the motives behind those actions. (3) You sense that the other person had to go out of his or her way to provide that benefit.”

Review (Click text for answer)

• Why does Ajahn Sumedho quote DN 31 with its list of the five ways one should ‘minister to one’s parents’?
  Ajahn Sumedho says this list represents the ‘observance to the feeling of loyalty and gratitude that a clear-minded person may have with regards to their parents.’
• In his article ‘Who Will Feed the Mice’, what are the underlying questions Ajahn Amaro asks himself regarding a child’s relationship with their parents?
  Suggestion: Ajahn Amaro asks himself: “How does one hold [the condition of having aging parents]? How does one use the practice to relate to the situation — to bring balance to the heart and to be of benefit to her and to others?”
• Along with the broad gratitude Ajahn Liam suggests we should engender towards ‘countless others’, what are the two groups of people singled out for special focus to whom “the sense of gratitude we should feel is incalculable’?
  Ajahn Liam suggests we have especial gratitude for (1) our parents, and (2) our teachers.
• What does Ajahn Thanissaro say are the ‘three things most likely to make gratitude heartfelt’?
  Ajahn Thanissaro says “the three things most likely to make gratitude heartfelt: (1) You’ve actually benefitted from another person’s actions.(2) You trust the motives behind those actions. (3) You sense that the other person had to go out of his or her way to provide that benefit.”

5) Relevant Dhamma Talks

1. Pubbakārī
   1. Ajahn Cattamalo “Gratitude to Parents”
   2. Ajahn Nissarano “Gratitude to Our Parents”
2. Kataññūkatavedī
   1. Ajahn Brahm “Thanks a Lot for Gratitude”
   2. Bhante Buddharakkhita “Giving and Gratitude”

6) External Links

1. Pubbakārī
   1. Wikipedia – Filial Piety in Buddhism
2. Kataññūkatavedī/Gratitude (trigger warning: non-Buddhist content)
   
   1. Wikipedia – Gratitude
   2. Wikiversity – Gratitude

2) Sutta Selections

1. Kusala
   1. MN 9 One of Right View – Knowing the Wholesome (Kusala)
      -Click for Excerpt-
      “When, friends, a noble disciple understands … the wholesome, the root of the wholesome, in that way he is one of right view, whose view is straight, who has perfect confidence in the Dhamma, and has arrived at this true Dhamma. And what is the wholesome? Abstention from killing living beings is wholesome; abstention from taking what is not given is wholesome; abstention from misconduct in sensual pleasures is wholesome; abstention from false speech is wholesome; abstention from malicious speech is wholesome; abstention from harsh speech is wholesome; abstention from gossip is wholesome; non-covetousness 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-hate is a root of the wholesome; non-delusion is a root of the wholesome. This is called the root of the wholesome.”
   2. AN 2.19 Develop What is Skillful (Kusala)!
      -Click for Excerpt-
      “Develop what is skillful, monks. It is possible to develop what is skillful. If it were not possible to develop what is skillful, I would not say to you, ‘Develop what is skillful.’ But because it is possible to develop what is skillful, I say to you, ‘Develop what is skillful.’ If this development of what is skillful were conducive to harm and pain, I would not say to you, ‘Develop what is skillful.’ But because this development of what is skillful is conducive to benefit and pleasure, I say to you, ‘Develop what is skillful.'”
2. Akusala
   1. MN 9 One of Right View – Knowing the Unwholesome
      -Click for Excerpt-
      “When, friends, a noble disciple understands the unwholesome, the root of the unwholesome … in that way he is one of right view, whose view is straight, who has perfect confidence in the Dhamma, and has arrived at this true Dhamma. And what, friends, is the unwholesome, what is the root of the unwholesome, what is the wholesome, what is the root of the wholesome? Killing living beings is unwholesome; taking what is not given is unwholesome; misconduct in sensual pleasures is unwholesome; false speech is unwholesome; malicious speech is unwholesome; harsh speech is unwholesome; gossip is unwholesome; covetousness 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; hate is a root of the unwholesome; delusion is a root of the unwholesome. This is called the root of the unwholesome.”
   2. AN 2.19 Abandon What is Unskillful (Akusala)!
      -Click for Excerpt-
      “Abandon what is unskillful, monks. It is possible to abandon what is unskillful. If it were not possible to abandon what is unskillful, I would not say to you, ‘Abandon what is unskillful.’ But because it is possible to abandon what is unskillful, I say to you, ‘Abandon what is unskillful.’ If this abandoning of what is unskillful were conducive to harm and pain, I would not say to you, ‘Abandon what is unskillful.’ But because this abandoning of what is unskillful is conducive to benefit and pleasure, I say to you, ‘Abandon what is unskillful.”

Review (Click text for answer)

• According to MN 9, what ten actions constitute ‘the wholesome’?
  “(1) Abstention from killing living beings is wholesome; (2) abstention from taking what is not given is wholesome; (3) abstention from misconduct in sensual pleasures is wholesome; (4) abstention from false speech is wholesome; (5) abstention from malicious speech is wholesome; (6) abstention from harsh speech is wholesome; (7) abstention from gossip is wholesome; (8) non-covetousness is wholesome; (9) non-ill will is wholesome; (10) right view is wholesome. This is called the wholesome.”
• What patterns do you see in that list of ten wholesome actions?
  Suggestion: The first three actions (numbers (1)-(3)) involve ethics of the body and, as we will see in the later section on the Eightfold Path, constitute the definition of Right Action. The next four actions (numbers (4)-(7)) involve ethics of speech and constitute the definition of Right Speech in the Eightfold Path. The final three actions (numbers (8)-(10)) represent ethics of the mind and constitute the Path factors of Right Resolve and Right View.
• According to MN 9, what three mindstates constitute ‘the root of the wholesome’?
  “(1) Non-greed is a root of the wholesome; (2) non-hate is a root of the wholesome; (3) non-delusion is a root of the wholesome. This is called the root of the wholesome.”
• Is it possible to develop what is skillful/wholesome (kusala)?
  Yes! “It is possible to develop what is skillful. If it were not possible to develop what is skillful, I would not say to you, ‘Develop what is skillful.’ But because it is possible to develop what is skillful, I say to you, ‘Develop what is skillful.’”
• What are the two reasons the Buddha gives for saying that 'It is possible to develop what is skillful/wholesome (kusala)'?
  The Buddha says “it is possible to develop the skillful” because (1) “it is possible to develop what is skillful”, and (2) “this development of what is skillful is conducive to benefit and pleasure.”
• According to MN 9, what ten actions constitute ‘the unwholesome’?
  “(1) Killing living beings is unwholesome; (2) taking what is not given is unwholesome; (3) misconduct in sensual pleasures is unwholesome; (4) false speech is unwholesome; (5) malicious speech is unwholesome; (6) harsh speech is unwholesome; (7) gossip is unwholesome; (8) covetousness is unwholesome; (9) ill will is unwholesome; (10) wrong view is unwholesome. This is called the unwholesome.”
• According to MN 9, what three mindstates constitute ‘the root of the unwholesome’?
  “(1) greed is a root of the unwholesome; (2) hate is a root of the unwholesome; (3) delusion is a root of the unwholesome. This is called the root of the unwholesome.”

3) Ancient Commentary

1. Kusala
   1. MN-a 9 The Wholesome Courses of Action(Kusala)
      -Click for Excerpt-
      “Abstention from killing living beings is wholesome, etc.: Here “killing living beings,” etc. have the same meaning as aforesaid. It crushes the hostile, thus it is abstention; the meaning is that it abandons the hostile … But as to the meaning, abstention is refraining associated with wholesome consciousness. What is stated thus: “For one refraining from killing living beings, that which is on that occasion the leaving off, the refraining”, that is the refraining associated with wholesome consciousness. As to kind, it is threefold: refraining in the presence of opportunity, refraining because of an undertaking, and refraining because of eradication (of defilements).”
   2. MN-a 9 The Wholesome Roots(Kusala)
      -Click for Excerpt-
      “Non-greed is a root of the wholesome, etc.: Non-greed is not greed; this is a term for the state that is opposed to greed. The same method applies in the case of non-hate and non-delusion. Among these, non-greed is itself wholesome; and it is a root of these wholesome (courses of kamma) beginning with abstention from killing living beings, for some in the sense that it is an associated originative cause and for some in the sense that it is a decisive support condition. Thus it is a wholesome root. The same method applies to the state of being wholesome roots in the cases of non-hate and non-delusion. “
2. Akusala
   1. MN-a 9 The Unwholesome Courses of Action
      -Click for Excerpt-
      “As regards the passage beginning “killing living beings is unwholesome”, “unwholesome” should be understood by way of the occurrence of unwholesomeness, or as what is opposed to the wholesome … As to characteristic, it is blameworthy and has painful result, or it is defiled. This, in the first place, is the comment upon the general terms here.”
   2. MN-a 9 The Unwholesome Roots
      -Click for Excerpt-
      “Greed is a root of the unwholesome, etc.: It is greedy, thus it is greed; it offends against (it hates), thus it is hate; it deludes, thus it is delusion. Among these, greed is itself unwholesome in the sense that it is blameworthy and has painful results; and it is a root of these unwholesome (deeds) beginning with killing living beings, for some in the sense that it is an associated originative cause, for some in the sense that it is a decisive support condition. Thus it is an unwholesome root. This too is said: “One who is lustful, friends, overwhelmed and with mind obsessed by lust, kills a living being”. The same method applies to the state of being unwholesome roots in the cases of hate and delusion.”

Review (Click text for answer)

• According MN-a 9, what are the three types of refraining which constitute the restraint involved in refraining from unwholesome conduct?
  “(1) refraining in the presence of opportunity; (2) refraining because of an undertaking, and (3) refraining because of eradication (of defilements).”
• What are the two reasons given at MN-a 9 for why ‘non-greed’ is a wholesome root in refraining from unwholesome action?
  In certain cases, “non-greed” is a cause for restraint: (1) ”in the sense that it is an associated originative cause and (2) for some [cases] in the sense that it is a decisive support condition.”
• According to MN-a 9, what is the characteristic of the unwholesome?
  “As to characteristic, it is blameworthy and has painful result, or it is defiled.”
• What are the three psychological motives given at MN-a 9 for why people kill, steal, commit sexual misconduct, and lie?
  “(1) One who is lustful, friends, overwhelmed and with mind obsessed by lust, kills a living being” etc.; (2) One who is hateful overwhelmed and with mind obsessed by hate, kills a living being, etc.; (3) One who is deluded overwhelmed and with mind obsessed by delusion, kills a living being, etc.

4) Modern Commentary

1. Pubbakārī
   1. Ajahn Sumedho “Gratitude to Parents”
      -Click for Excerpt-
      “’In five ways one should minister to one’s parents: (thingking:) Having supported me, (1) I shall support them; (2) I shall do their duties; (3) I shall keep up the honour and the traditions of my family; (4) I shall make myself worthy of my heritage; (5) I shall make offerings dedicating the goodness of my practice to my parents after their death.’ (DN 31) These words of the Buddha give expression in terms of observance to the feeling of loyalty and gratitude that a clear-minded person may have with regards to their parents. That this is not necessarily the case is a sad reflection on either the quality of our parents or the attitude of neglect that the society or the individual has towards these powerfully influential people. Even as adults we often respond to situations in ways that are attributable to parental influence – for good or for ill. It is an area to acknowledge and explore.”
   2. Ajahn Amaro “Who Will Feed the Mice”
      -Click for Excerpt-
      “And now my mother is 82 years old and her body seems to be reaching its limit. How does one hold that? How does one use the practice to relate to the situation — to bring balance to the heart and to be of benefit to her and to others?”
2. Kataññūkatavedī
   1. Compiled Talks “Gratitude”
      -Click for Excerpt-
      “We all survive and find comfort in life with the support of the knowledge and skills, mindfulness and wisdom, of countless others. Without their help we would all perish as soon as we leave our mother’s womb. We’d have no food to eat, clothes to wear or house to live in. Our parents, whose faces we have never even seen before, give us life and all the things we need to make us healthy and strong. For our clothes and living places, and all the various skills we learn, we are entirely indebted to others. From the first moments in our mothers womb, all of us have a debt of gratitude owed to innumerable others – no need to mention our parents and all our teachers, to whom the sense of gratitude we should feel is incalculable.” (Ajahn Liam Thitadhammo)
   2. Ajahn Thanissaro “The Lessons of Gratitude”
      -Click for Excerpt-
      “Kindness and gratitude are virtues you can cultivate, but they have to be cultivated together. Each needs the other to be genuine — a point that becomes obvious when you think about the three things most likely to make gratitude heartfelt: (1) You’ve actually benefitted from another person’s actions.(2) You trust the motives behind those actions. (3) You sense that the other person had to go out of his or her way to provide that benefit.”

Review (Click text for answer)

• Why does Ajahn Sumedho quote DN 31 with its list of the five ways one should ‘minister to one’s parents’?
  Ajahn Sumedho says this list represents the ‘observance to the feeling of loyalty and gratitude that a clear-minded person may have with regards to their parents.’
• In his article ‘Who Will Feed the Mice’, what are the underlying questions Ajahn Amaro asks himself regarding a child’s relationship with their parents?
  Suggestion: Ajahn Amaro asks himself: “How does one hold [the condition of having aging parents]? How does one use the practice to relate to the situation — to bring balance to the heart and to be of benefit to her and to others?”
• Along with the broad gratitude Ajahn Liam suggests we should engender towards ‘countless others’, what are the two groups of people singled out for special focus to whom “the sense of gratitude we should feel is incalculable’?
  Ajahn Liam suggests we have especial gratitude for (1) our parents, and (2) our teachers.
• What does Ajahn Thanissaro say are the ‘three things most likely to make gratitude heartfelt’?
  Ajahn Thanissaro says “the three things most likely to make gratitude heartfelt: (1) You’ve actually benefitted from another person’s actions.(2) You trust the motives behind those actions. (3) You sense that the other person had to go out of his or her way to provide that benefit.”

5) Relevant Dhamma Talks

1. Pubbakārī
   1. Ajahn Cattamalo “Gratitude to Parents”
   2. Ajahn Nissarano “Gratitude to Our Parents”
2. Kataññūkatavedī
   1. Ajahn Brahm “Thanks a Lot for Gratitude”
   2. Bhante Buddharakkhita “Giving and Gratitude”

6) External Links

1. Pubbakārī
   1. Wikipedia – Filial Piety in Buddhism
2. Kataññūkatavedī/Gratitude (trigger warning: non-Buddhist content)
   
   1. Wikipedia – Gratitude
   2. Wikiversity – Gratitude