Kim O'Hara wrote:Joe is ashamed of not supporting his local football team and not ashamed of beating a dog to death. He will certainly go to states of woe.
Fred is ashamed of beating a dog to death and not ashamed of not supporting his local football team. His moral perception is fine ... except that he did beat a dog to death. Sounds like he will be heading for states of woe too, doesn't it?
Oh, if Joe is not (that is: would not be) ashamed of beating a dog to death (even in the hypothetic), I am sure he would be much closer to going to states of woe than Fred.
Really, moral perception and conscience is crucial. So I think actually, the reverse formulation of the cited Dhammapada quote would be overall quite apt.
Here a good Sutta to reflect this, maybe:
Bija Sutta: The Seed
"When a person has right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration, right knowledge, & right release, whatever bodily deeds he undertakes in line with that view, whatever verbal deeds... whatever mental deeds he undertakes in line with that view, whatever intentions, whatever vows, whatever determinations, whatever fabrications, all lead to what is agreeable, pleasing, charming, profitable, & easeful. Why is that? Because the view is auspicious.
Shame is valuable in that it can motivate future good behaviour but it doesn't avert the kamma of past behaviour.
Shame is valuable, most important I think, in that it stops further bad behaviour, so there will be nothing more to be rightly ashamed of. With that, a learning process filled with joy in seeing the results how they actually come to be, is what motivates further good behaviour and progress.
Once one truly is "ashamed of what one should be ashamed of and not ashamed of what one should not be ashamed of" with full security, one would be a sotapanna, I think, "never again headed for states of woe".
So I think, in this sense, the reverse of the Dhammapada verse would be apt.
Another good sutta to reflect this:
Micchatta Sutta: Wrongness
"From wrongness comes failure, not success. And how is it, monks, that from wrongness comes failure, not success?
"In a person of wrong view, wrong resolve comes into being. In a person of wrong resolve, wrong speech. In a person of wrong speech, wrong action. In a person of wrong action, wrong livelihood. In a person of wrong livelihood, wrong effort. In a person of wrong effort, wrong mindfulness. In a person of wrong mindfulness, wrong concentration. In a person of wrong concentration, wrong knowledge. In a person of wrong knowledge, wrong release.
"This is how from wrongness comes failure, not success.
"From rightness comes success, not failure. And how is it, monks, that from rightness comes success, not failure?
"In a person of right view, right resolve comes into being. In a person of right resolve, right speech. In a person of right speech, right action. In a person of right action, right livelihood. In a person of right livelihood, right effort. In a person of right effort, right mindfulness. In a person of right mindfulness, right concentration. In a person of right concentration, right knowledge. In a person of right knowledge, right release. [1]
"This is how from rightness comes success, not failure."