知らず知らずのうちに
Without realizing it
2026-04-12
People who do not know the Buddhist path (sentient beings) are bound by the yoke of good and evil, and without realizing it, they end up heading toward states that are not truly ones of happiness.
Which means, good actions become the cause of merit, while bad actions become karma that leads one to unfortunate realms.
Here, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the difficulty for many sentient beings lies in the fact that they know only good and evil.
Just, only those who are truly wise seek a goodness in goodness that is beyond the duality of good and evil, walk the path, gradually accumulate merit, and eventually reach the imperishable Nirvāṇa.
Of course, no one is born knowing the existence of this single path, and it can be said that even giving rise to the motivation to break free from the yoke of good and evil is itself difficult.
Then, how is it that the wise come to know this and resolve to walk the path?
It is because they sincerely wish for true happiness, reflect deeply, and as a result, come to realize that the worldly framework of good and evil is not the path that leads to it.
At the same time, they also understand that asceticism and self-mortification are not the path either.
Such a wise person, without even aware of it, comes to walk the Middle Way, accumulates merit that transcends ordinary virtue, and as their clear knowing becomes ever more refined, they distinctly discover this single path. Firming their steps upon it, they proceed straight toward Nirvāṇa and finally reach to there.
Moreover, while the yoke of good and evil is bound up with joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure, the path that seeks the goodness beyond good and evil leads away from these and toward tranquility.
Beyond that, the conditions for awakening arise, and one ultimately attains awakening (= liberation).
Regarding this peaceful state, the Buddha taught as follows:
837 The Master said, “Māgaṇḍiya, there is no notion in me that ‘I proclaim this.’ For, having clearly understood attachment to things as attachment, and having seen the error (fault) in various views, without clinging to them, I have, through reflection, realized inner peace.”
838 Māgaṇḍiya said, “Venerable Sir, you teach that you have ‘realized inner peace’ without clinging to established doctrines of speculative views. How, then, do the wise explain this principle?”
839 The Master replied, “Māgaṇḍiya, I do not teach that one can become purified through doctrine, through learning, or through observance of precepts and moral discipline. Nor do I teach that one can become purified without doctrine, without learning, or without observing precepts and moral discipline. Having abandoned these, without clinging, without attachment, being at peace, one should not wish for continuing existence in delusion. (This is inner peace.)
840 Māgaṇḍiya said, “If one teaches that ‘one cannot become purified through doctrine, through learning, through knowledge, or through observance of precepts and moral discipline,’ and also teaches that ‘one cannot become purified without doctrine, without learning, without knowledge, or without observing precepts and moral discipline,’ then I think such a teaching is foolish. Some people believe that one can become purified through doctrine.”
841 The Master replied, “Māgaṇḍiya, because you seek based on your (own) doctrine, you have fallen into confusion regarding what you are attached to. You do not even have the faintest conception of this (inner peace). Therefore, you regard (the truth I teach) as ‘foolish.’” (The Buddha’s Words: Sutta Nipāta, Chapter 4: The Chapter of Eights, 9: Māgaṇḍiya, translated by Hajime Nakamura, Iwanami-Bunko.)
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