A Study of Moral Consciousness: Wholesome and Unwholesome States

Based on the Noble Eightfold Path (Ariya Aṭṭhaṅgika Magga), this study explores moral consciousness using the Buddhist paradigm of wholesome (kusala) and unwholesome (akusala) states. The Noble Eightfold Path provides a comprehensive method of ethical, mental, and intellectual expansion through eight factors: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. Traditionally, these eight factors are arranged as the threefold training of moral discipline (sīla), mental concentration (samādhi), and wisdom (paññā). Moral discipline, comprising right speech, right action, and right livelihood, restrains unwholesome physical and verbal actions and establishes the foundation for moral conduct. Mental concentration, consisting of right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration, cultivates mental discipline and strengthens the mind against the arising of unwholesome states. Wisdom, symbolised by right view and right intention, helps the practitioner discern between wholesome and unwholesome mental states and advances awareness of the nature of reality. The study also examines how the main sources of unwholesome consciousness are greed (lobha), hatred (dosa), and delusion (moha), whereas the main sources of wholesome consciousness are non-greed, non-hatred, and non-delusion. It makes the case that the Noble Eightfold Path offers a comprehensive strategy for controlling, weakening, and eventually defeating impurities via moral behaviour, wisdom, and mental development. Therefore, the Noble Eightfold Path’s cultivation of moral discipline, mental concentration, and wisdom represents a progressive process of mental growth and moral purity.

Unwholesome, Wholesome, Moral, Concentration, Wisdom, Noble Eightfold Path.

1. Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Translated by Robert C. Bartlett and Susan D. Collins. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2011. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Bodhi, Bhikkhu, trans. The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Aṅguttara Nikāya. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2012. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Bodhi, Bhikkhu. The Noble Eightfold Path: The Way to the End of Suffering. 2nd rev. ed. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society, 1994. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Buddhaghosa. The Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga). Translated by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society, 1991. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Cozort, Daniel, & Shields, James Mark (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Buddhist Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Garfield, Jay L. Buddhist Ethics: A Philosophical Exploration. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Gethin, Rupert. The Foundations of Buddhism. Oxford: Oxford University Press,1998. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Govinda, Anagarika. The Psychological Attitude of Early Buddhist Philosophy and Its Systematic Representation According to the Abhidhamma Tradition. London: Rider, 1969. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Harvey, Peter. An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics: Foundations, Values and Issues. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Hiriyanna, M. Outlines of Indian Philosophy. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1993. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Karunadasa, Y. Early Buddhist Teachings: The Middle Position in Theory and Practice. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 2015. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Keown, Damien. Buddhist Ethics: A Very Short Introduction (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Ñāṇamoli, Bhikkhu, trans. The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya. Edited by Bhikkhu Bodhi. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1995. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Ñāṇamoli, Bhikkhu, trans. The Path of Discrimination (Paṭisambhidāmagga). 2nd ed. Oxford: Pali Text Society, 1997. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Nyanaponika Thera. The Vision of Dhamma: Buddhist Writings of Nyanaponika Thera. Edited by Bhikkhu Bodhi. London: Rider, 1986. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Payutto, P. A. Good, Evil and Beyond: Kamma in the Buddha’s Teaching. Translated by Bruce Evans. Bangkok: Buddhadhamma Foundation, 1993. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Rahula, Walpola. What the Buddha Taught. London: Gordon Fraser, 1974. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Saddhatissa, H. Buddhist Ethics: Essence of Buddhism. London: Allen & Unwin, 1970. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Tin, Maung, trans. The Expositor (Atthasālinī). Part I. London: Pali Text Society. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. Walshe, Maurice, trans. The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1995. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• Aristotelian Ethics and Moral Development: A Critical Evaluation
• Decolonising Africa’s Higher Education against violence and social injustices.
• The African Child as a Technological Citizen
• Mathematics as Ontological–Cognitive Participation: Reconstructing Ethical and Metaphysical Foundations within a Humanized Mathematical Universe
• Reason–Emotion Integration in the Context of Artificial Intelligence: The Implications of Aristotle’s Conception of Happiness for Youth Moral Education