I've often seen this given as a (basic?) definition of 'wrong view' in various suttas:
The meaning of 'there is no fruit or result of good or bad actions' is quite clear from the translation. In case anyone else has ever wondered what it means by 'there is nothing given, nothing offered, nothing sacrificed', or 'no this world, no next world' (I was a little unsure) I found this:And what is wrong view? 'There is nothing given, nothing offered, nothing sacrificed. There is no fruit or result of good or bad actions. There is no this world, no next world, no mother, no father, no spontaneously reborn beings; no brahmans or contemplatives who, faring rightly & practicing rightly, proclaim this world & the next after having directly known & realized it for themselves.' This is wrong view.
So it seems that something got lost in translation (for me anyway). I had always wondered if 'there is no this world, no next world' was referring to someone who thinks that everything we see is just an illusion, that there isn't any point in doing good things because there is no moral order to anything - that literally 'there is nothing' - and other such nihilistic ideas. But apparently it simply refers to the view that 'there is no life after death' (quite a common view nowadays, ironically).Thanissaro Bhikkhu wrote:This is the materialist view espoused by Ajita Kesakambalin (DN 2), who maintained that there was no birth after death and that actions bore no results. "Nothing given" means that the act of generosity bears no karmic fruit. "No this world, no next world" means that there is no life after death. "No spontaneously reborn beings" means that there are no inhabitants of heaven or hell. http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .html#fn-3
So could someone please clarify one last thing: 'no mother, no father'...? Clearly we all came from our parents so what exactly does a micchāditthiko claim here?
Kind regards
manas