Nekkhamma (𑀦𑁂𑀓𑁆𑀔𑀫𑁆𑀫;Sanskrit:नैष्क्राम्य,romanized: naiṣkrāmya) is aPāli 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 fromlust, craving anddesires."[1] InBuddhism'sNoble Eightfold Path,nekkhamma is the first practice associated with "Right Intention." In theTheravada list of tenperfections,nekkhamma is the third practice of "perfection." It involvesnon-attachment (detachment).
In thePali Canon, in a discourse in which theBuddha describes antecedents precipitating hisAwakening, 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.[2] 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."[3]
These latter three types of thought content — renunciation, non-ill will and harmlessness — comprise the traditional triadic definition of theNoble Eightfold Path's notion of "Right Intention" (Pali:sammā-saṅkappa;Skt.:samyak-saṃkalpa).[4] For each of the former types of thought content — sensuality, ill will and harmfulness — 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."[5]
Elsewhere in the Canon,[6] the Buddha more finely juxtaposes the pursuit of thoughts regarding sensuality (kāma) and those regarding renunciation (nekkhamma):[7]
"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."[8]
As indicated above, in a Pali discourse, the Buddha identified renunciation as part of his path to Awakening. In theBuddhavamsa,Jataka tales andexegetical literature, renunciation is codified as the third of ten practices of"perfection" (pāramī).[9]
Bodhi (1999) elaborates on the various and ultimate benefits of Buddhist renunciation:
"Contemplating thedukkha 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 thethreefold training: it purifiesconduct, aidsconcentration, and nourishes the seed ofwisdom. The entire course of practice from start to finish can in fact be seen as an evolving process of renunciation culminating inNibbana [Pali; Skt: Nirvana] as the ultimate stage of relinquishment, 'the relinquishing of all foundations of existence' (sabb'upadhipatinissagga)."[10]
^Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 377,entry for "Nekkhamma"Archived 2012-07-07 atarchive.today (retrieved 2008-04-12). Rhys Davids & Stede speculate that theSanskrit term with whichnekkhamma is associated is either:
^Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 377,entry for "Nekkhamma" (retrieved 2 Jul 2007)Archived 7 July 2012 atarchive.today, suggests that the connection between sensuality and renunciation is underscored by alliterative word play (betweenkāma andnekkhamma) in the Canon.
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" athttp://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/waytoend.html.
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