Brahma Net Sutra Talks

The Brahmajāla Sutta is the first of 34 sutta in the Dīgha Nikāya (the Long Discourses of the Buddha), the first of the five nikāya, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of (Theravada) Buddhism. The name means Raft (jāla-made.of inflatable cow or buffalo skins tied to a wooden platform used to convey people from one shore to the other) of Brahmā. The sutta is also called Atthajala (Raft of Essence), Dhammajala, (Raft of the Dhamma), Ditthijala (Raft of Views), Anuttarasangama Vijaya (Incomparable Victory in Battle). The word "net" is a mistranslation. The words of the Revered Buddha are clear when he describes the Dhamma as teachings that take one to the safe shore (of eternity)

The sutta discusses two main topics: the elaboration of the "Ten Precepts" (Cula-sila) and the "Middle Precepts" (Majjhima-sila). Cula-sila deals with the Ten Precepts to be practiced by devout Buddhists, while Majjhima-sila gives a detailed description of the practice of the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth precepts, together with a further delineation of virtuous practices and abstentions.

The second and third parts of the sutta discuss the 62 beliefs (ditthi) which are clung to by ascetics in India. These are divided into: 18 beliefs related to the past (pubbantanuditthino), and 44 beliefs about the future (aparantakappika).

Many of these beliefs are still relevant in the modern world and thus the sutta provides Buddhist scholars with much information to ponder about the Buddha's teachings.

The elaboration of these beliefs is very detailed, focusing on how the beliefs (faiths) come to be and the way they are described and declared. The elaboration ends with the Buddha's statement about the "danger of clinging to these beliefs", as they are still influenced by desire (lobha), hatred (dosa), and ignorance (avijjā) that its faithful followers will not end in the final liberation but still in the cycle of samsara. Believers of these faiths are compared to small fish in a pond which will be captured by a fine net no matter how much they want to escape, while those who see reality as it is are beyond the net of samsara.

From Brahmajāla_Sutta on Wikipedia