Kilesa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Translations of kilesa |
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|---|---|
| English: | defilement, poison |
| Pali: | kilesa |
| Sanskrit: | kleśa, klesha |
| Buddhism Glossary |
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In Buddhism, kilesa (Pali; Sanskrit: kleśa or klesha) is typically translated as "defilement", "hindrance", "corruption", "obscuration" or "poison". These are mental states which temporarily cloud the mind's nature and manifest in various forms as unskillful actions of body, speech and mind.
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[edit] Pali literature
In the Pali Canon's discourses (sutta), kilesa is often associated with the various passions that defile bodily and mental states. In the Pali Canon's Abhidhamma and post-canonical Pali literature, ten defilements are identified, the first three of which are considered to be the "roots" of suffering.
[edit] Defilement in the Sutta Pitaka
In the Pali Canon's Sutta Pitaka, kilesa is frequently associated with craving (taṇhā) and lust (rāga).[1] For instance, the Samyutta Nikaya includes a collection of ten discourses (SN 27, Kilesa-saṃyutta) that state that any association of "desire-passion" (chanda-rāgo) with the body or mind[2] is a "defilement of mind" (cittasse'so upakkileso).[3]
[edit] Ten defilements of the Abhidhamma
While the Sutta Pitaka does not offer a list of kilesa, the Abhidhamma Pitaka's Dhammasangani (Dhs. 1229ff.) and Vibhanga (Vbh. XII) as well as in the post-canonical Visuddhimagga (Vsm. XXII 49, 65) enumerate ten defilements (dasa kilesa-vatthūni) as follows:
- greed (Pali: lobha)
- hate (dosa)
- delusion (moha)
- conceit (māna)
- wrong views (diṭṭhi)
- doubt (vicikicchā)
- torpor (thīnaṃ)
- restlessness (uddhaccaṃ)
- shamelessness (ahirikaṃ)
- recklessness (anottappaṃ)[4]
[edit] "Round of defilements" in the Visuddhimagga
In the 5th c. CE commentarial Visuddhimagga, in its discussion of "Dependent Origination" (Pali: paticca-samuppada) (Vsm. XVII), it presents different expository methods for understanding this teaching's twelve factors (nidana). One method (Vsm. XVII, 298) divides the twelve factors into three "rounds" (vaṭṭa): the "round of defilements" (kilesa-vaṭṭa); the "round of kamma" (kamma-vaṭṭa); and, the "round of results" (vipāka-vaṭṭa). In this framework, the round of defilements consists of ignorance (avijjā), craving (taṇhā) and clinging (ūpādānā).[5]
Elsewhere in the Visuddhimagga (Vsm. XXII, 88), in the context of the four noble persons (ariya-puggala, see Four stages of enlightenment), the text refers to a precursor to the attainment of nibbana as being the complete eradication of "the defilements that are the root of the round" (vaṭṭa-mūla-kilesā).[6]
[edit] Three roots
In Pali literature, the first three kilesa in the aforementioned tenfold list (lobha dosa moha) are known as the "unwholesome roots" (akusala-mūla); and, their opposite (alobha adosa amoha) are the three "wholesome roots" (kusala-mūla). The presence of such a root during a mental, verbal or bodily action conditions future states of consciousness and associated mental factors (see Karma (Buddhism)).[7]
[edit] Mahayana and other literature
[edit] Three Poisons
[edit] The mula kleśa of the Twelve Nidānas
- ignorance (Sanskrit: Avidyā; Tibetan: ma rig pa)
- attachment (Sanskrit: Upādāna; Tibetan: len pa)
- craving (Sanskrit: Tṛṣṇā; Tibetan: sred pa)
These three mula kleśa of Mahayana Buddhism are rendered into English as the 'Three Poisons' and are symbolized by the Gankyil.
These three kilesas specifically refer to the subtle movement of mind (Sanskrit: citta) when it initially encounters a mental object (In Buddhist conceptions of the mind, 'mental object' refers to any object which the mind perceives, be it a thought, emotion or object perceived by the physical senses.). If the mind initially reacts by moving towards the mental object, seeking it out, or attaching to it, the experience and results will be tinged by the lobha kilesa. Unpleasant objects or experiences are often met by aversion, or the mind moving away from the object, which is the root for hatred and anger to arise in relation to the object.
Other enumerations of the three principal kinds of kilesa (Sanskrit: mula kleśa; "root obscurations") are:
- lobha (Pali): holds the semantic field of "greed", "lust" (Sanskrit: rāga), "attachment".
- dosa: holds the semantic field of "hatred", "aversion".
- moha: holds the semantic field of "delusion", "sloth", "ignorance" (Sanskrit: Avidyā).
[edit] Five Poisons
The Five Poisons (Sanskrit: Pañca-kleśa; Tibetan: Japanese: go-shō).
The third śloka of Patañjali's Yogasūtra (a Hindu text) explicitly identifies the Pañca-kleśa:[8]
- अविद्यास्मितारागद्वेषाभिनिवेशाः पञ्च क्लेशाः॥३॥ [8]
- Avidyāsmitārāgadveṣābhiniveśāḥ pañca kleśāḥ//3// [8]
This may be rendered in English as:
Ignorance (in the form of a misapprehension about Reality) (ávidyā), egoism (in the form of an erroneous identification of the Self with the intellect) (asmitā), attachment (rāga), aversion (dveṣa) and fear of death (which is derived from clinging ignorantly to life) --abhiniveśa-- (abhiniveśāḥ) are the five (pañca) Kleśa-s or Afflictions (kleśāḥ)//3// [8]
The Five Disturbing Emotions
- Passion ( desire, greed, lust, etc.)
- Aggression (anger, hatred, resentment etc.)
- Ignorance (bewilderment, confusion, apathy etc.)
- Pride (wounded pride, low-self esteem etc.)
- Jealousy ( envy, paranoia etc.)
All Buddhist schools teach that through Tranquility (Samatha) meditation the kilesas are pacified, though not eradicated, and through Insight (Vipassana) the true nature of the kilesas and the mind itself is understood. When the empty nature of the Self and the Mind is fully understood, there is no longer a root for the disturbing emotions to be attached to, and the disturbing emotions lose their power to distract the mind.
[edit] Six Defilements of Vasubandhu
Vasubandhu articulates an array of Six Kilesha rendered in English as the 'Six Basic Defilements' or 'Six Primary Afflictions' within the Abhidharma-kośa[9]. Muller (2004: p.207) states that the Six Kleśa arise due to the "...reification of an 'imagined self' (Sanskrit: satkāya-dṛṣṭi)"[10]. The Six Kilesa are:
- greed (Sanskrit: rāga),
- hatred (Sanskrit: pratigha),
- ignorance (Sanskrit: avidyā),
- arrogance (Sanskrit: māna),
- doubt (Sanskrit: vicikitsā), and
- false views or opinionatedness (Sanskrit: dṛṣṭi).
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ See T.W. Rhys Davids & William Stede (1921-5), Pali-English Dictionary, Chipstead: Pali Text Society, pp. 216-7, entry for "Kilesa," retrieved 2008-02-09 from "University of Chicago" at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.1:1:579.pali.
- ^ In particular, this saṃyutta contextualizes kilesa vis-à-vis the six internal and external "sense bases" (ayatana) and their mental concomitants (the six classes of consciousness, contact, feeling and craving, see the section on the "six sextets"), the six primary "elements" (dhātu, cf. mahābhūta), and the five "aggregates" (khandha).
- ^ Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1994), Upakkilesa Samyutta: Defilements (SN 27.1-10), retrieved 2008-02-10 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn27/sn27.001-010.than.html.
- ^ Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-5), p. 217; and, Nyanatiloka Mahathera (1988), Buddhist Dictionary, Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, entry for "kilesa," retrieved 2008-02-09 from "BuddhaSasana" at http://www.budsas.org/ebud/bud-dict/dic3_k.htm.
- ^ Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli (trans.) (1991), The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga, BPS Pariyatti, p. 599.
- ^ Ñāṇamoli (1991), p. 715.
- ^ Nyanatiloka (1988), entry for "mūla," retrieved 2008-02-09 from "BuddhaSasana" at http://www.budsas.org/ebud/bud-dict/dic3_m.htm.
- ^ a b c d Patañjali (undated; author); Pradīpaka, Gabriel & Andrés Muni (translators) (2007). Yogasūtra. Source: [1] (accessed: November 23, 2007)
- ^ "Kleśa." A Dictionary of Buddhism. Oxford University Press, 2003, 2004. Source: [2] (accessed: January 5, 2008)
- ^ Muller, Charles (2004). The Yogācāra Two Hindrances and Their Reinterpretations in East Asia. Toyo Gakuen University. Source: [to be filled in when my internet connection is quicker!] (accessed: January 5, 2008)
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