D.C. Wijeratna wrote thus at 09:52 AM 16-03-09:

>There are no exact equivalents in English or in any other language for the
>range of emotions expressed in the Pali Canon.

I fully agree with you on that. It's a perennial issue in translation, esp. when it comes to mental states.

>Traditionally, �hiri� and
>�ottappa� are interpreted as: shame of wrong-doing; fear of wrong doing.

True.

>Really, these are the two fundamental motivations to avoid wrong-doing,
>especially so in a time when a Buddha is not living.

I hear you. I'm just not so sure of that.

In practice, I find shame and fear to arise from sakkaayaditthi. Furthermore, they don't work very well in my spiritual development. OTOH, understanding the causes (as far down as I can) has been a far more effective and lasting solution.

So, with such repeated empirical examples of this in my life, I begin to wonder if the orthodox interpretations of hiri and ottappa are correct.

kb