View source for Philosophy:Nekkhamma

{{Short description|Buddhist philosophical concept}}
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'''''Nekkhamma''''' ({{script|Brah|𑀦𑁂𑀓𑁆𑀔𑀫𑁆𑀫}}; {{lang-sa|नैष्क्राम्य|naiṣkrāmya}}) is a Pāli word generally translated as "renunciation" or "the pleasure of renunciation" while also conveying more specifically "giving up the world and leading a holy life" or "freedom from lust, craving and [[Social:Desire|desires]]."<ref>Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 377, [https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.2:1:692.pali entry for "Nekkhamma"] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/2012.07.07-141638/http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.2:1:692.pali |date=2012-07-07 }} (retrieved 2008-04-12).  Rhys Davids & Stede speculate that the [[Social:Sanskrit|Sanskrit]] term with which ''nekkhamma'' is associated is either:
:* ''nai{{IAST|ṣ}}kramya'' &mdash; "inactivity, abstinence or exemption from acts and their consequences" ([http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/cgi-bin/serveimg.pl?file=/scans/MWScan/MWScanjpg/mw0570-naipAtya.jpg Monier Williams, 1964, p. 570, entry for "Naish"])
:* ''nai{{IAST|ṣ}}kāmya'' &mdash; "suppression of desire, profound contemplation" ([http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/cgi-bin/serveimg.pl?file=/scans/MWScan/MWScanjpg/mw0570-naipAtya.jpg ''ibid''.]).</ref>  In [[Religion:Buddhism|Buddhism]]'s [[Philosophy:Noble Eightfold Path|Noble Eightfold Path]], ''nekkhamma'' is the first practice associated with "Right Intention."  In the [[Philosophy:Theravada|Theravada]] list of ten perfections, ''nekkhamma'' is the third practice of "perfection." It involves [[Philosophy:Detachment|non-attachment]] (detachment).

==In the Pali literature==

===Renunciation as right intention===
In the Pali Canon, in a discourse in which the [[Biography:Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] describes antecedents precipitating his [[Philosophy:Bodhi|Awakening]], the Buddha divided his thoughts between those that impair discernment, cause affliction and deter one from Nirvana on the one hand, and those that have the opposite effect.<ref>''Dvedhavitakka Sutta'' (MN 19) [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.019.than.html (Thanissaro, 1997).]</ref>  In the former category, he included thoughts permeated with sensuality, ill-will and harmfulness; in the latter, thoughts permeated with renunciation, non-ill will and harmlessness:
:"Whatever a monk keeps pursuing with his thinking & pondering, that becomes the inclination of his awareness. If a monk keeps pursuing thinking imbued with renunciation, abandoning thinking imbued with sensuality, his mind is bent by that thinking imbued with renunciation. If a monk keeps pursuing thinking imbued with non-ill will, abandoning thinking imbued with ill will, his mind is bent by that thinking imbued with non-ill will. If a monk keeps pursuing thinking imbued with harmlessness, abandoning thinking imbued with harmfulness, his mind is bent by that thinking imbued with harmlessness."<ref>[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.019.than.html Thanissaro (1997).]  Those familiar with the [[Religion:Dhammapada|Dhammapada]] will recognize this passage bears a resemblance to the opening passages of that text.</ref>  
These latter three types of thought content &mdash; renunciation, non-ill will and harmlessness &mdash; comprise the traditional triadic definition of the [[Philosophy:Noble Eightfold Path|Noble Eightfold Path]]'s notion of "Right Intention" ([[Social:Pali|Pali]]: {{IAST|''sammā-saṅkappa''}}; [[Social:Sanskrit|Skt.]]: ''{{IAST|samyak-saṃkalpa}}'').<ref>[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn45/sn45.008.than.html Thanissaro (1996).]</ref>  For each of the former types of thought content &mdash; sensuality, ill will and harmfulness &mdash; the Buddha stated: 
:"Whenever thinking imbued with sensuality [or ill will or harmfulness] had arisen, I simply abandoned it, destroyed it, dispelled it, wiped it out of existence."<ref>Thanissaro (1997).</ref>

===Renunciation vs. sensuality===
Elsewhere in the Canon,<ref>For instance, in the ''Nissaraniya Sutta'' (AN 5.200) [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an05/an05.200.than.html (Thanissaro, 2000).]</ref> the Buddha more finely juxtaposes the pursuit of thoughts regarding sensuality (''kāma'') and those regarding renunciation (''nekkhamma''):<ref>Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 377, [https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.2:1:692.pali entry for "Nekkhamma" (retrieved 2 Jul 2007)] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/2012.07.07-141638/http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.2:1:692.pali |date=7 July 2012 }}, suggests that the connection between sensuality and renunciation is underscored by alliterative word play (between ''kāma'' and ''nekkhamma'') in the Canon.</ref>
:"There is the case where the mind of a monk, when attending to sensual pleasures, doesn't leap up at sensual pleasures, doesn't grow confident, steadfast, or released in sensual pleasures. But when attending to renunciation, his mind leaps up at renunciation, grows confident, steadfast, & released in renunciation. When his mind is rightly-gone, rightly developed, has rightly risen above, gained release, and become disjoined from sensual pleasures, then whatever fermentations, torments, & fevers there are that arise in dependence on sensuality, he is released from them. He does not experience that feeling. This is expounded as the escape from sensual pleasures."<ref>[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an05/an05.200.than.html Thanissaro (2000).]</ref>

===Renunciation as a bodhisatta practice===
As indicated above, in a Pali discourse, the Buddha identified renunciation as part of his path to Awakening.  In the Buddhavamsa, Jataka tales and exegetical literature, renunciation is codified as the third of ten practices of "perfection" (''pāramī'').<ref>Buddhavamsa, chapter 2.  For an on-line regarding the Buddhavamsa and ''parami'', see [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/wheel409.html Bodhi (2005).] In terms of other examples in the Pali literature, Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 454, [https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.2:1:2679.pali entry for "Pāramī,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/2012.06.29-172506/http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.2:1:2679.pali |date=2012-06-29 }} (retrieved 2 Jul 2007) cites Jataka i.73 and [[Religion:Dhammapada|Dhammapada]]-Atthakatha i.84. Bodhi (2005) also mentions Acariya Dhammapala's treatise in the Cariyapitaka-Atthakatha and the Brahmajala Sutta subcommentary (''tika'').</ref>

==Contemporary elaborations==

===Renunciation's benefit===
Bodhi (1999) elaborates on the various and ultimate benefits of Buddhist renunciation:
:"Contemplating the ''[[Philosophy:Dukkha|dukkha]]'' inherent in desire is one way to incline the mind to renunciation. Another way is to contemplate directly the benefits flowing from renunciation. To move from desire to renunciation is not, as might be imagined, to move from happiness to grief, from abundance to destitution. It is to pass from gross, entangling pleasures to an exalted happiness and peace, from a condition of servitude to one of self-mastery. Desire ultimately breeds fear and sorrow, but renunciation gives fearlessness and joy. It promotes the accomplishment of all three stages of the [[Philosophy:Threefold Training|threefold training]]: it purifies conduct, aids concentration, and nourishes the seed of [[Philosophy:Wisdom in Buddhism|wisdom]]. The entire course of practice from start to finish can in fact be seen as an evolving process of renunciation culminating in [[Philosophy:Nirvana|Nibbana]] [Pali; Skt: Nirvana] as the ultimate stage of relinquishment, 'the relinquishing of all foundations of existence' (''sabb'upadhipatinissagga'')."<ref>[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/waytoend.html#ch3 Bodhi (1999), ch. 3.]</ref>

==See also==
{{refbegin|2}}
* [[Philosophy:Four Noble Truths|Four Noble Truths]]
* [[Philosophy:Noble Eightfold Path|Noble Eightfold Path]]
* Bodhipakkhiya dhamma (Qualities conducive to Enlightenment)
* [[Philosophy:Upādāna|Upādāna]] (attachment/clinging)
* Pāramī (Buddhist Perfections)
** [[Philosophy:Wisdom in Buddhism|Pañña]] (wisdom)
** [[Philosophy:Sacca|Sacca]] (truth)
** [[Philosophy:Adhiṭṭhāna|Adhiṭṭhāna]] (resolute determination)
** Dāna (generosity)
** [[Philosophy:Passaddhi|Passaddhi]] (tranquillity)
** [[Philosophy:Upekṣā|Upekkhā]] (equanimity)
** Khanti (patience)
** [[Philosophy:Maitrī|Metta]] (loving-kindness)
** [[Philosophy:Vīrya|Vīrya]] (diligence)

{{refend}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==Sources==
* Bodhi, Bhikkhu (ed.) (1978, 2005). ''A Treatise on the Paramis: From the Commentary to the Cariyapitaka by Acariya Dhammapala'' (The Wheel, No. 409/411). Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society. Retrieved 30 Jun 2007 from "Access to Insight" at http://accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/wheel409.html.
* Bodhi, Bhikkhu (1984, 1999). ''The Noble Eightfold Path: The Way to the End of Suffering'' (The Wheel, No. 308/311). Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society. Retrieved from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/waytoend.html.
* Monier-Williams, Monier (1899, 1964). ''A Sanskrit-English Dictionary''. London: Oxford University Press.  {{ISBN|0-19-864308-X}}.  Retrieved 2008-04-12 from "Cologne University" at http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/index.php?sfx=pdf.
* Rhys Davids, T.W. & William Stede (eds.) (1921-5). ''The Pali Text Society’s Pali–English Dictionary''. Chipstead: [[Organization:Pali Text Society|Pali Text Society]]. A general on-line search engine for the PED is available at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/.
* Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1996). ''Magga-vibhanga Sutta: An Analysis of the Path'' (SN 45.8). Retrieved 2 Jul 2007 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn45/sn45.008.than.html.
* Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1997). ''Dvedhavitakka Sutta: Two Sorts of Thinking'' (MN 19). Retrieved 2 Jul 2007 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.019.than.html.
* Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (2000). ''Nissaraniya Sutta: Leading to Escape'' (AN 5.200). Retrieved 2 Jul 2007 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an05/an05.200.than.html.

==External links==
* [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/candy.html Trading Candy for Gold: Renunciation as a Skill] by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
* [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/prince/bl036.html Renunciation by T Prince]
* [https://media.amaravati.org/dhamma-books/less-is-more Less is More] by Ajahn Amaro (2020)


[[Category:Buddhist philosophical concepts]]

{{Sourceattribution|Nekkhamma}}