Summary of the Buddha's Sutta 63 (Culamalunkya Sutta) of the Majjhima Nikaya

The Culamalunkya Sutta of the Majjhima Nikaya opens with Malunkyaputta sitting alone in meditation, distracted from his practice by philosophical questions. It occurs to him that the Buddha has never declared the answers to these questions concerning the nature of the universe, the soul, and the existence of the Tathagata after death. Bothered by the Buddha's silence on these issues, he visits him that evening and threatens him with an ultimatum. If the Blessed One declares the answers, he'll lead the holy life under him. If not, he'll leave the order and return to his former life.

In response, the Buddha calmly asks, 'Did I ever tell you to lead the holy life under me by promising answers to these questions?'

'No, venerable sir,' Malunkyaputta replies.

'Did you ever tell me that you would lead the holy life under me if I answered these questions?'

'No, venerable sir,' Malunkyaputta replies again.

The Buddha then addresses why he is silent in response to metaphysical questions by telling a short parable about a man wounded by a poisonous arrow. A surgeon is sent to treat him, and the man refuses to let him pull out the arrow until he knows which caste his assailant belongs to, his name, his clan, how tall he is, what color skin he has, which town he lives in, what kind of bow it was, what material it's made of, what type of shaft it had, what kind of feathers it had, and what kind of arrow it was. This is clearly ridiculous. Not only will the wounded man never know the answers to these questions, but he'll end up dying in the meantime. Similarly, if anyone decides not to lead the holy life under the Buddha until he answers these speculative questions, the answers will still remain undeclared and the person is still going to die.

The Buddhist approach to all questions, then, should be primarily utilitarian. The adoption of a metaphysical view does absolutely nothing to alleviate suffering; there will still be birth, aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair. However, similar to the surgeon in the parable, the Buddha's function is therapeutic. His teachings are practical, not philosophical; he has "prescribed" the method that leads to the elimination of suffering.

The Buddha concludes the discourse by telling Malunkyaputta to remember those things that has left undeclared, and those things that he has declared. He has not declared a position on questions concerning the nature of the universe, the soul, or the existence of the Tathagata after death. This does not simply mean that he doesn't know the answers, though. Rather, the answers are completely irrelevant to his teachings. In a radical departure from most world religions, he claims that metaphysical speculation "does not belong to the fundamentals of the holy life."

His silence can be interpreted as a pedagogical device to show that, ultimately, Malunkyaputta is asking the wrong question. The formulation of such abstract questions reveals more about the nature of our own minds than it does about any external, objective reality. Essentially, philosophical speculation can be viewed as an attempt to assert our self over a world that we can define, order, and control. Our incessant search to know the answers is considered pathological, since it's yet another example of the "thirst" that leads to suffering. Simply providing an answer or stating a position does not extinguish this thirst; rather, it will only lead to more questions, and the cycle will continue.

Like any good physician, the Buddha gives instructions on how to break this cycle by providing a diagnosis and a cure. He reminds Malunkyaputta of the things he has declared: The Four Noble Truths of Dukkha, Samudaya, Nirodha, and Magga. He explains that the reason he has declared these is "because it is beneficial, it belongs to the fundamentals of the holy life, it leads to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbana." In other words, his teachings do not deal with unanswerable questions, but with what is functional and useful here-and-now. He gives instructions that will contribute to the cessation of suffering, and all other questions should be discarded. By delineating what he will teach and what he will not teach, this sutta can be viewed as the epistemological foundation of Theravadin Buddhist philosophy.