The Thousand Five Hundred Defilements (1)
From TheBuddhism.Net
Most of the defilements we accumulate are not from our actions & talk; but from our thoughts & wishes.
The three main roots of sin are greed, hatred & ignorance (Lobha, dwesha & Moha), which lead to sinful thoughts.
As two persons do not see eye to eye, the appearance of these thoughts would vary according to the place, situation and the person, even if the thought is the same.
This diversity has made it possible to count 1500 defilements which are caused by the three main roots of sin. If we can understand this situation at least to some extent, we would be able to live a life free of attachments.
Getting rid of these defilements restrains one’s mind. It opens the path to insight.
The 1500 Defilements:
Single defilements – 73
Double defilements – 36
Triple defilements – 109
Quadruple defilements – 56
Petuple defilements – 75
Hextuple defilements – 84
Septuple defilements – 64
Octuple defilements – 81
Nonuple defilements – 70
Decuple defilements – 62
These 755 defilements are born in the being, in the Past & would be in theFuture, totaling to 1510 defilements which are commonly called as 1500 Defilements.
The 73 Single Defilements :
- Being racial
- Being caste conscious
- Pride about one’s health
- Youngsters making fun at the old people instead of respecting them.
- Proud of life, thinking that one would live longer than the others. These people would do anything to live another day in this world.
- Extensive pride of having a good income for one’s self, belittling those who are less fortunate.
- Extensive pride of having comforts in life, humbling those who are less fortunate.
- Extensive pride of having honor & prestige, humiliating others who are unprivileged.
- Extensive pride of having leadership wherever one goes thinking himself to be superior than the rest.
- Extensive pride of having human resources. These people do lot of sin because of the power & strength of their associates.
- Extensive pride of having wealth in life, degrading those who are less fortunate. These people break all the five precepts and do not listen to anybody’s advice.
- Extensive pride of having beauty and esteem.
- Extensive pride of being an academic degrading others who have a lesser education than oneself.
- Extensive pride of knowing how to behave properly and deal with different situations belittling those who are unable to do so. Such ignorants are incalculable in this world.
- Extensive pride of knowing about olden times. Most of the Aged and the Historians have this defilement.
- Extensive pride of living on begged alms (by the monks) which had been highly praised by our Great Buddha, criticizing those who do not do so.
- Extensive pride of not being condemned by others.
- Extensive pride of having fine traits and characteristics.
- Extensive pride of having aptitude & outstanding ability.
- Extensive pride of being the person in charge.
- Extensive pride of one’s virtue.
- Extensive pride of one’s concentration, condemning others who cannot concentrate.
- Extensive pride of having lot of skills belittling others who are not skillful.
- Extensive pride of having a good height belittling others who are short.
- Extensive pride of having a handsome personality belittling others who are not so.
- Extensive pride of having a graceful anatomy.
- Extensive pride of having a perfect body structure.
- Elevating oneself to a pinnacle with extreme pride. These do not know the difference between the right and the wrong or what to do and not do, leading to lot of evil deeds.
- Acting without sense leading to misconduct. These people are more inclined towards sensual desires. They do not even attend to religious affairs properly.
- Being rigid. Such people are inflexible and unyielding. Never listen to advice.
- Being competitive with everything others do. These people try to do everything more superior than the rest even in religious matters.
- Not satisfied with what one has and desires things belonging to others.
- Go in search of more and more in greed.
- Trying to make an impression with qualities one does not possess. These show others that they are benevolent and virtuous.
- Lust. This is a very dangerous defilement. Those who are full of lust would do any great sin to fulfill their lowly desires. This leads to murders and suicides.
- Greed for food and clothing. These jostle & scuffle or, humbly wait in expectation for tasty food and clothes.
- Desire to adorn oneself with fine clothing & jewels, and decorate one’s houses and belongings. In the process, defilements develop.
- Not respecting & obeying elders.
- Distaste for religious observances such as meditation and monastic life.
- Lethargy for meritorious deeds such as meditation and religious practices & duties.
- Idleness.
- Languor due to overeating.
- Sluggishness of the mind.
- Some monks deceive others by showing tactfully that they live a moderate life / that they have attained some stage of Enlightenment in order to get more comforts from the devotees.
- Some monks deceive others by talking diplomatically in order to get more comforts from the devotees. They pet the children of the devotees in order to get into their good books.
- Some monks ask for things in a roundabout way hoodwinking the devotees.
- Some monks verbally abuse and condemn those who do not give alms and get what they want from them.
- Some monks give others the alms they get, in order to acquire better things.
- The notion of superiority.
- The impression that oneself is equal to the cream of the crop.
- The notion of inferiority.
- The notion of supremacy.
- Extensive pride thinking that one is equal to other eminent persons in wealth, entourage, virtue, cast, creed & race.
- Inferiority Complex of the rulers or heads of States, thinking that he is substandard to other rulers or heads of States.
- Extensive pride of thinking that oneself is superior to his equals.
- Extensive pride of thinking that oneself is equal to those who have the same wealth, entourage, virtue, cast, creed & race.
- Inferiority Complex of oneself thinking that he is lesser to his equals.
- Extensive pride of those who are in low positions thinking that one is superior to his equals. Servants or employees who are trusted & favoured by their masters have this attitude.
- The pride a low born person has thinking that he is equal to other low born people.
- The pride a low born person has thinking that he is low born.
- Those who do not know the nature of the five aggregates which constitute the human being misbelieve that one, all or few of them represent ‘I’, ‘mine’ or a ‘person’. Comparing “I’ or ‘mine’ to others when there is no such thing and categorize one as superior, inferior or equal to others is a defilement, as well as a foolishness.
- Think one as the most superior and the rest inferior.
- A person who has been thinking him to be equal to others becomes extensively proud later, thinking that he is superior to others.
- Inferiority Complex of oneself thinking that he is lesser to others.
- Delusion one has regarding his condition thinking that he has attained one of the four stages of Enlightenment.
- Thinking about the five aggregates or about one as ‘I’ or ‘mine’.
- The extensive pride one has regarding his proficiency in sinful deeds like killing, adultery, cheating, slandering, …….. etc.
- The covetous & ambitious thoughts regarding relatives like “That family is rich”, “this family is poor”, “That family is declining”, “this family is succeeding”, “must find a job for him”, “must find a marriage partner for her” and so on.
- The thoughts born regarding the richness or the poverty of one’s colony or the village one lives.
- There are some people who try to attain immortality by physically suffering / causing pain to their bodies to eliminate the past sins. Such deeds out of wrong belief cause defilements.
- Monks participating in laymen’s affairs such as weddings, parties, house – warmings, buying of land & vehicles, building of houses,……….etc which cause compassionate desire. (monks preaching & teaching Dhamma to laymen, make laymen meditate,…..etc which are done out of pure compassion are not defilements)
- Desire for attention, respect, fame & glory.
- The wrong thought, wishing for others to consider one as equal in every aspect.
To be continued….
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Source: http://www.thebuddhism.net/sermons-videos/the-thousand-five-hundred-defilements/the-thousand-five-hundred-defilements-part-1/
I feel this is exactly why we need to hold vows so as a means of preventing us from harming others. Our minds is very tricky and full of justifications. If we can bully others into submission we would not bat an eye when we do it.
The root of the problem i fell is the 3 poisons hence overcoming the three poisons we overcome all our defilements.
We are creating defilement everyday! Out of the 73, I think most of us have done and are still doing more than half of them. It is important to train our mind so that we are aware of our mind and stop these thoughts from arising.
I think if we start to look at just the positive qualities of a person, we will be able to slowly avoid creating defilement.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this list. It is very good reference point for checking my mind to identify and become aware of the negative mindset and thinking I am always holding to.
What is very surprising to me is even thinking one is inferior or equal to someone else is a pride. Is the reason behind thinking one is inferior is since one is already inferior one doesn’t need to change and it become an excuse not to do anything about it and leaving responsibilities to other. I am unsure what does thinking one as equal to another is a pride as well. At the end of these thoughts it all lead to self? Therefore these thoughts are basically still focus on oneself but not what I can do for others, my main motivation?
Thats very insightful Swee Keong yeah if we admit ourselves that we are not as good it gives us a leeway to fail that if we try and fail later I told you so. Perhaps thinking of ourselves as an equal, if that is not the real case then we are just deluding ourselves.
Woah! This is a mammoth task of detailing every single form of defilements that us humans could be having. I think how we feel when we read it could be very telling of the type of defilements we have. Are we feeling guilty when we read some or are we thinking of specific people in our lives? It is always better to be introspective and not use the Dharma to judge others. These defilements are what keeps us from happiness and achieving success in our spiritual practice. This list becomes a sort of updating mind training text not unlike Wheel of Sharp Weapons and the like.
After reading over this articles many times over, it is still a new discovery to read again and again. Our minds are indeed so powerful and can lead us to our downfall. From the list, I am most fearful of the one on the sluggishness of the mind. For it is the mind that controls our speech and action. But how does one control the mind?
Great extensive list of the various defilements that we posses and yet most of the time we are almost ignorant towards it. This list is a great way for us to check ourselves, no more excuses! Because it’s so clearly stated out here that we can’t say ‘but I didn’t know about that’. Let’s just say its an idiot proof list.
The defilements that is addressed here, from what I see it is mainly antidotes to counter one’s ego. People from all walks of life must read this and have a better understanding about how we sometimes treat others around us. It is truly something we must always contemplate on and apply to ourselves so that we can be the one to create a harmonious surrounding.
OK… i just have one thing to say – everyone MUST read this, self-contemplate and stop these defilements. They are amazingly insightful and attitudes/actions/thoughts to avoid. I like what they say about The notion of superiority, The impression that oneself is equal to the cream of the crop., The notion of inferiority and The notion of supremacy. Many people think that it is okay to feel inferior but here it IS a defilement. So many of these defilements are wake up calls… and this is just part 1!! Thanks for this!