How can you use Q&A to gain good Karma and also aid to realize liberation
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How can you use Q&A to gain good Karma and also aid to realize liberation?
By reflecting on a few principles when asking & answering:
Asking & Answering
Notice in what category does the question lie in:
"There are these four ways of answering questions. Which four? There are questions that should be answered categorically [straightforwardly yes, no, this, that]. There are questions that should be answered with an analytical (qualified) answer [defining or redefining the terms]. There are questions that should be answered with a counter-question. There are questions that should be put aside. These are the four ways of answering questions."
-AN 4.42, Questions
And if the answers given are appropriate to that kind of question:
"Monks, it's through his way of participating in a discussion that a person can be known as fit to talk with or unfit to talk with. If a person, when asked a question, doesn't give a categorical answer to a question deserving a categorical answer, doesn't give an analytical (qualified) answer to a question deserving an analytical answer, doesn't give a counter-question to a question deserving a counter-question, doesn't put aside a question deserving to be put aside, then — that being the case — he is a person unfit to talk with. But if a person, when asked a question, gives a categorical answer to a question deserving a categorical answer, gives an analytical answer to a question deserving an analytical answer, gives a counter-question to a question deserving a counter-question, and puts aside a question deserving to be put aside, then — that being the case — he is a person fit to talk with.
-AN 3.67, Topics for Discussion (I recommend reading the entire discourse since it has additional valuable advice. You might also want to read Bhikkhu Bodhi's translation)
Notice that not all questions deserve an answer since they are off-topic or have implicit assumptions which makes them so. Here's an article regarding this kind of questions which I think is worth reading.
Asking
When asking, be aware of the motive behind your question:
Ven. Sariputta said: "All those who ask questions of another do so from any one of five motivations. Which five?
"One asks a question of another through stupidity & bewilderment. One asks a question of another through evil desires & overwhelmed with greed. One asks a question of another through contempt. One asks a question of another when desiring knowledge. Or one asks a question with this thought, 'If, when asked, he answers correctly, well & good. If not, then I will answer correctly [for him].'
"All those who ask questions of another do so from any one of these five motivations. And as for me, when I ask a question of another, it's with this thought: 'If, when asked, he answers correctly, well & good. If not, then I will answer correctly [for him].'
-AN 5.165, On Asking Questions
For a broader and more in-depth understanding of this topic, I recommend reading the related discourses which are mentioned at the end of the discourses linked above and a brilliant book written by Thanissaro Bhikkhu named Skill in Questions: How the Buddha Taught. It has many examples of Q&A's that fit the above categories.
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