2.3

“Bhikkhus, there are these two things that cause regret (torment, cause remorse). What are the two? Here, bhikkhus, a certain person has engaged in bodily misconduct but has not engaged in good bodily conduct; has engaged in verbal misconduct but has not engaged in good verbal conduct; has engaged in mental misconduct but has not engaged in good mental conduct. He regrets, ‘I have engaged in bodily misconduct’; he regrets, ‘I have not engaged in good bodily conduct’; he regrets, ‘I have engaged in verbal misconduct’; he regrets, ‘I have not engaged in good verbal conduct’; he regrets, ‘I have engaged in mental misconduct’; he regrets, ‘I have not engaged in good mental conduct.’ These, indeed, bhikkhus, are the two things that cause regret.”

2.4

“Bhikkhus, there are these two things that do not cause regret. What are the two? Here, bhikkhus, a certain person has engaged in good bodily conduct but has not engaged in bodily misconduct; has engaged in good verbal conduct but has not engaged in verbal misconduct; has engaged in good mental conduct but has not engaged in mental misconduct. He does not regret, ‘I have engaged in good bodily conduct’; he does not regret, ‘I have not engaged in bodily misconduct’; he does not regret, ‘I have engaged in good verbal conduct’; he does not regret, ‘I have not engaged in verbal misconduct’; he does not regret, ‘I have engaged in good mental conduct’; he does not regret, ‘I have not engaged in mental misconduct.’ These, indeed, bhikkhus, are the two things that do not cause regret.”

Related Teachings:

Fear arises from harm (Snp 4.15) - The Buddha shares in poignant terms his observations on the agitation all beings experience which led to his urgency to awaken. He then shares on the path to awakening and describes the dwelling of an awakened being.

Six Directions: A teaching on purifying ethical conduct (DN 31) - The Buddha encounters a young man who honors his dead parents by performing rituals. The Buddha recasts the meaningless rites in terms of virtuous conduct. This is one of the most detailed discourses on ethics for lay people.

The path naturally flows for an ethical person (AN 11.2) - A virtuous person need not make a wish; it is natural for the path to flow on.

Way of Practice for cultivating Right Action (From MN 61) - The Buddha teaches Rāhula on how one cultivates the wisdom of non-harm by reflecting on one’s bodily, verbal and mental actions prior to the action, while doing the action and after having done the action.

Doer of good deeds rejoices here and after death (DhP 15, 16)