Question

In the Sutta called "The Great Forty", the Buddha talks about the Noble Eightfold Path, and he explains what right view is and wrong view, what right thought is and wrong thought is etc. But he doesn't explain what wrong effort, wrong mindfulness and wrong concentration are. Is it to use effort, mindfulness and concentration for an unskillful action?

Answer

I think this might mean: Is it considered wrong effort for it to be used in an unskillful action, is it considered wrong mindfulness to use it for an unskillful action, is it considered wrong concentration to use it for an unskillful action? Personally I don't know from the scriptures what's listed, when he actually did go into the details of wrong and right regarding effort, mindfulness and concentration.

However, generally as to Right Effort, he talked about the Four Great Efforts. Remember those? The effort to prevent, the effort to let go, the effort to develop, and the effort to maintain. Within Right Mindfulness, he talked about the Satipattana Sutta, the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. With concentration, in some places he talked about developing super concentration as to absorbed states. But in the Sutta that this person is referring to, he's actually explaining Right Concentration in quite a different way. It's not exactly clear that we can freeze what Right Concentration actually would be called, as far as the other Suttas go.

And as to "wrong" of these three, it certainly would seem to me that it's true that it would be something in which we use our mindfulness, concentration and effort but it was taking us in a wrong direction. A clear example of someone who's got wrong concentration, wrong mindfulness and wrong effort is a thief. If there's a thief in the middle of London right now who hasn't been caught in 10 years, I think they've got better concentration and mindfulness than most of you, but it's wrong!

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