The Buddhist ethical criteria of wholesome and unwholesome.

An ethical system is connecting with the behavior as right and wrong good and bad. The behavior in human society mostly is leading to immoral way because human’s mind is delight in the evil action. To knowing it, the Buddhist ethical system contains an explanation of good and bad behavior for living in the moral way. There are three basic factors in Buddhist ethical system namely (1) Free will. (2) Rebirth. (3) Moral Causation.

Regarding to the factors of Buddhist ethical system, one has chance to analysis and emphasize. Buddhist ethical system is a requirement for the attainment of Nibbana by spiritual morality. To get this spiritual morality, one must be self welfare first and then help other. There are four kinds of person in Buddhist ethical system. (1) Person who does not act with self welfare. (2) Person who engages in altruism action but not self welfare. (3) The person who engages in self welfare but not altruism. (4) Person who engages in actions of both self welfare and altruism. Buddhism accept that the person who acts in both altruism and self welfare choose the best.

For the sake of both altruism and self welfare, in the Anumana Sutta it is mentioned that there are two ways of inference. (1)  Inference about one self by means of other and (2) inference of other by means of one self. Of them, the first is said that “If a person engages in wrong doing such a person is unpleasant to me and I am also evil. In the power if evil thoughts I become unpleasant to other person and they also dislike me”. The second is said that “I like to live a long time and I like to enjoyable life but I dislike suffering. If I deprive a life if another who likes to live long without dying and suffering, it is disagreeable to such person”.

In Ambalatthika Rahulavada Sutta of M.N, then it is mentioned a principle to decide wholesome and unwholesome action. According to that Sutta, one should reflect when one thinks of committing action with the body, word and mind. Again when one has committed an action one has to reflect on action of doing. If one see it is harmful to oneself and other, one should considered it as unwholesome and should not do. If action appears as good for both, one should do it. It is the best way to follower the factors in the Buddhist ethical criteria of wholesome and unwholesome actions.