[mudozvonf]

"The Buddha Himself however, gave great importance to them. He praised them very highly by calling them the protectors of the world, the things which uphold and protect human beings and society from disintergration, chaos or anarchy. So long as we are unenlightened, we retain our selfish desires. We are not able to let them go, but although we cling to them tenaciously, we can at least make the resolution based upon reflection and understanding, that at least we will not inflict our imperfections upon others. We will not act, or speak in ways which are fuelled by the defilements. We won't allow ourselves to cause pain, or distress to others, society or the natural world. Now there are times when we wish we hadn't made those resolutions, when the desire is very strong and the mind, agitated. In that state of unrest, what tends to arise is a sort of over-ride mechanism. There is a whisper in the mind, a kindly whisper;- "This isn't a good thing to do, this isn't right," and then the over-ride mechanism is something like, "Shut up, I'm busy now." or "It doesn't matter, don't make a fuss, just don't think about it." Some way of negating, putting down, disregarding what we call the prick of conscience arises, and it is here that we can break our precepts, afterwards feeling remorse- even self-aversion at considering ourselves to be so bad and so on. So the reason that the Buddha gave such a central importance to Hiri and Ottappa is because they are that voice that says.." it's not proper, it's not right", the voice that says "if you do this then that will happen and that's going to be very unpleasant for ourselves and for others"...

Hiri and Ottappa are sankharas. They are conditioned phenomena, which means that they can be developed or they can be neglected and ignored, but the more we strengthen our reflection upon them through understanding and constant repetition, the greater is our resistance to craving. This is victory over oneself. The Buddha said victory over ten thousand enemies is not as great as a victory over oneself, which means the victory of wholesome over unwholesome Dhammas. So Hiri and Ottappa, when we have developed them well can stand forth and counter the stream of craving; save us from doing, saying, or even indulging mentally in that which is harmful to us.


Hiri, that sense of shame or conscience is really a shrinking away from that which is inappropriate, the corollary of which is, that we should always consider the significance and appropriateness of our actions. We might consider that on a number of different levels such as what is appropriate on a wider scale, what is appropriate for us as human beings, what's appropriate in our relationships with others? What sort of principles are proper and correct, noble principles? How should we act towards the natural world,- the environment? We might look at the appropriateness of personal relationships towards mother, father, sister, brother, spouse, workmates and so on. We really need to consider what principles should underlie our conduct towards all these people, and as Buddhists, what is appropriate behaviour, speech, and thought?