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3. A world in turmoil

(1) The Origin of Conflict

The brahmin Ārāmadaṇḍa approached the Venerable Mahākaccāna, 1 exchanged friendly greetings with him, and asked him: “Why is it, Master Kaccāna, that khattiyas fight with khattiyas, brahmins with brahmins, and householders with householders?”

“It is, brahmin, because of attachment to sensual pleasures, adherence to sensual pleasures, fixation on sensual pleasures, addiction to sensual pleasures, obsession with sensual pleasures, holding firmly to sensual pleasures that khattiyas fight with khattiyas, brahmins with brahmins, and householders with householders.”

“Why is it, Master Kaccāna, that ascetics fight with ascetics?”

“It is, brahmin, because of attachment to views, adherence to views, fixation on views, addiction to views, obsession with views, holding firmly to views that ascetics fight with ascetics.”

(AN 2: iv, 6, abridged; I 66)

(2) Why Do Beings Live in Hate?

2.1. Sakka, ruler of the devas, 2 asked the Blessed One: “Beings wish to live without hate, harming, hostility, or enmity; they wish to live in peace. Yet they live in hate, harming one another, hostile, and as enemies. By what fetters are they bound, sir, that they live in such a way?”

[The Blessed One said:] “Ruler of the devas, it is the bonds of envy and niggardliness that bind beings so that, although they wish to live without hate, hostility, or enmity, and to live in peace, yet they live in hate, harming one another, hostile, and as enemies.”

This was the Blessed One’s reply, and Sakka, delighted, exclaimed: “So it is, Blessed One! So it is, Fortunate One! Through the Blessed One’s answer I have overcome my doubt and gotten rid of uncertainty.” 2.2. Then Sakka, having expressed his appreciation, asked another question: “But, sir, what gives rise to envy and niggardliness, what is their origin, how are they born, how do they arise? When what is present do they arise, and when what is absent do they not arise?”

“Envy and niggardliness, ruler of the devas, arise from liking and disliking; this is their origin, this is how they are born, how they arise. When these are present, they arise, when these are absent, they do not arise.”

“But, sir, what gives rise to liking and disliking…?”—“They arise, ruler of the devas, from desire.…”—“And what gives rise to desire…?” —“It arises, ruler of the devas, from thinking. When the mind thinks about something, desire arises; when the mind thinks of nothing, desire does not arise.”

“But, sir, what gives rise to thinking…?”

“Thinking, ruler of the devas, arises from elaborated perceptions and notions. 3 When elaborated perceptions and notions are present, thinking arises. When elaborated perceptions and notions are absent, thinking does not arise.”

(from DN 21: Sakkapañha Sutta; II 276–77)

(3) The Dark Chain of Causation

“Thus, Ānanda, in dependence upon feeling there is craving; in dependence upon craving there is pursuit; in dependence upon pursuit there is gain; in dependence upon gain there is decision-making; in dependence upon decision-making there is desire and lust; in dependence upon desire and lust there is attachment; in dependence upon attachment there is possessiveness; in dependence upon possessiveness there is niggardliness; in dependence upon niggardliness there is defensiveness; and because of defensiveness, various evil unwholesome things originate—the taking up of clubs and weapons, conflicts, quarrels, and disputes, insults, slander, and falsehood.” 4

(from DN 15: Mahānidāna Sutta; II 58)

(4) The Roots of Violence and Oppression

“Greed, hatred, and delusion of every kind are unwholesome. 5 Whatever action a greedy, hating, and deluded person heaps up—by deeds, words, or thoughts—that too is unwholesome. Whatever suffering such a person, overpowered by greed, hatred, and delusion, his thoughts controlled by them, inflicts under false pretexts upon another—by killing, imprisonment, confiscation of property, false accusations, or expulsion—being prompted in this by the thought, ‘I have power and I want power,’ all this is unwholesome too.”

(from AN 3:69; I 201–2)

Footnotes

  1. Mahākaccāna was the disciple who excelled in giving detailed analyses of the Buddha’s brief statements. For an account of his life and teachings, see Nyanaponika and Hecker, Great Disciples of the Buddha , chapter 6. ↩

  2. Sakka, the ruler of the devas in the Tāvatiṃsa heaven, was a follower of the Buddha. See SN chapter 11. ↩

  3. Papañcasaññāsaṅkhā. The meaning of this obscure compound is not elucidated in the Nikāyas. The term seems to refer to perceptions and ideas that have become “infected” by subjective biases, “elaborated” by the tendencies to craving, conceit, and distorted views. According to the commentaries, craving, conceit, and views are the three factors responsible for conceptual elaboration (papañca ). A detailed study of the expression is Ñāṇananda, Concept and Reality in Early Buddhist Thought. ↩

  4. Sv: Pursuit (pariyesanā ) is the pursuit of objects such as visible forms, etc., and gain (lābha ) is the gaining of such objects. Decision-making (vinicchaya ) is deciding how much to keep for oneself and how much to give to others; how much to use and how much to store, etc. ↩

  5. Greed, hatred, and delusion (lobha , dosa , moha ) are the three “unwholesome roots”—the root causes of all mental defilements and unwholesome actions; see p. 146. ↩

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