(1)
The
Origin of Conflict
The brahmin Ārāmadaṇḍa
approached the Venerable Mahākaccāna, 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.”
(2) Why Do Beings Live in Hate?
Sakka, ruler of the
devas,13 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.”
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?”
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.”
“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.14 When elaborated
perceptions and notions are present, thinking arises. When elaborated
perceptions and notions are absent, thinking does not arise.”
(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) The Roots of Violence and Oppression
“Greed, hatred, and
delusion of every kind are unwholesome.16 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.”