Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The Five Chronic and the Five Acute Afflictions (五鈍使與五利使)
Date:July.29. 2015
“Living beings create deluded karma in ignorance. Greed, anger, delusion, arrogance and doubt are the five chronic afflictions. The view of self, extreme views, deviant views, stubborn views and view of deviant precepts are the five acute afflictions. Being deluded and going against the principles comes from the chronic and acute afflictions.”
Sentient beings’ ignorance gives rise to delusion. We all know how delusion leads to confusion. We are confused about what we should do in life and about how to live as a good person, so we have created much karma. We create karma because of these certain kinds of afflictions. What are these kinds of afflictions? The first kind is greed, followed by anger, delusion, arrogance and doubt.
Our greed is connected to our external conditions. When forms appear in front of us, forms of every description, in addition to seeing many things we want to have, we also see faces that we do not want to see. For instance, we may see someone we do not like. When that person is in front of us, we will feel very afflicted. Or, perhaps someone we really want to be with appears right in front of us; a thought will also arise in reaction to that. In the state of liking or disliking something, thoughts of delusion arise. These thoughts of delusion trigger our arrogance and pride. When it comes to other people, how do we get something done? How do we work together? How do we interact with each other?
As we work with people in these ways, delusions arise, as do doubts and ignorance. These five afflictions inside our minds are also known as the “five chronic agents.” Afflictions are also called “agents,” so these are also the “five chronic afflictions”.
“Agents” are what drive us. We humans are very easily enticed by things in our external conditions. They drive us to be greedy. They drive us to be angry. They drive our minds to give rise to delusions. They drive us to become arrogant. They drive us to have doubts, etc. So, the “five chronic agents” are also known as the “five chronic afflictions.”
As we go about our lives every day, these afflictions are ever-present, so we must take precautions against them. The Twelve Links of Cyclic Existence also began with the arising of a single ignorant thought, and many disasters in the world happen because we are deluded and go against the principles. As our delusions and ignorance begin to stir, we give rise to the five chronic and the five acute afflictions.
The five acute afflictions arise once we are born into this body. It is because of this body that we began to get greedy for many inappropriate things. In terms of spiritual practice, they lead us to walk a deviant path. These are the five acute afflictions.
As for the five chronic afflictions, after the initial [afflictions] arise, they accumulate endlessly as we endlessly act on them. Look at the many people who are lost in this world and the major disasters they create. See how they are deluded and go against principles.
Delusion is ignorance, which leads them to go against principles. In this deluded state, they endlessly create karma. [This is what we have seen] through our many years of charity work. More than 20 years ago, we began doing [international relief work] in Ethiopia.Then we went to Afghanistan, Kosovo, Rwanda and Chechnya.We also worked in Azerbaijan, then Pakistan.Most recently we have seen the events in Syria, Iraq and Ukraine.All of these have suffered manmade calamities.
The one that made the deepest impression on me was Rwande.Things were so tragic!So horrible!People were forced to flee from these calamities, and in their fight, how they had to live was even worse off than animals.
Rwanda had always been very poor, so why did the people there have to fight against each other like this?[This harmed] so many innocent people.
I can still remember those events quite clearly.
Due to the struggle for domination, people create many disasters.This is the confusion of being deluded and going against the principles; it is ignorance.
This is the five acute afflictions triggering the five chronic afflictions.When the ten afflictions come together, we go against proper ways of living.The views of self, extreme views, deviant views, stubborn views and so on are all agents that drive our greed, anger, delusion, ignorance and doubt.
We want to take things from others.We want to be in charge.If people do not listen to us, we will do such and such.Thus we create much karma.
We can see this in the era we live in right now.
When the Buddha was in the world, He saw that this was the way people were.At that time 2500 years ago, people were probably more pure and innocent, but similar kinds of things still happened.
The Buddha, in His wisdom, knew that in the future when the Five Turbidities intensified, these manmade calamities would be even more severe.
Therefore, the Buddha established many ways to help us.
The previous passage mentioned “500 people” as an analogy for the Five Vehicles that the Buddha taught according to the capabilities of sentient beings.
The Human, Heavenly Being, Hearer, Pratyekabuddha and Bodhisattva Vehicles that leads to the attainment of Buddhahood and supreme, universal and prefect enlightenment are the various methods He used to guide us.
This part of the sutra states, “there were 500 people living inside.”The Five Destinies coexist here, in this burning house of the Three Realms.
The next part begins to draw analogies between human nature and the nature of birds and beasts to show that they are actually not that different.
Next it states, “There were kites, owls, hawks, and vultures, crows, magpies, pigeons and doves.”This is the section on the birds and beasts.
First, He describes the birds.We can understand them simply as an analogy for pride, the affliction of arrogance.
Whether flying birds or walking beasts, we know roughly what they look like.Arrogance causes sentient beings to hold themselves high and take others lightly.They feel they are high up and look known on others.Thus the analogy of birds is given.
We were just talking about greed, anger, ignorance and arrogance.Indeed, having arrogance is akin to being a bird.The way birds live is that they fly in the sky.From high in the air, they look down at everything below.We are under the trees; they are on top of them.We walk upon the ground; they fly high in the sky.
This is an analogy for how we can feel high and mighty, very arrogant.
So, birds are an analogy for the agent of arrogance, the affliction of arrogance in sentient beings.
We should ask ourselves, “Are we arrogant?”
If we are arrogant, then we realize, “Wow! We are just like those birds!”When we think of ourselves as high and mighty, we “hold ourselves high and take others lightly.”We have a high opinion of ourselves and look down on other people.Arrogant people “feel they are high up and look down on others.”They look down as if from a lofty place, just like a bird.
We can list out the different kinds of arrogance.
There are actually eight kinds of pride and seven kinds of arrogance.When we break it down, we have eight kinds of pride and seven kinds of arrogance.So, we talk about the “eight kinds of pride and seven kinds of arrogance.”
Indeed, our high opinion of ourselves creates afflictions.
The eight kinds of arrogance:
Arrogance is being arrogant of abilities or prideful of possessions.
This air of arrogance is like how birds fly high and look down on everything.
Thus in the Sutra on Manjusri’s Question,the eight kinds of pride are likened to eight kinds of birds.
If we are arrogant, we think, “I am so talented”, “I am so capable”, “I am so famous”, “I am so wealthy”, “I am so smart” and so on. We do not have a high opinion of others at all. We may think highly of ourselves; “I am so knowledgeable. You had no schooling; what do you know”? This is how people think. I believe that we have all have had thoughts like these. We think that we know so many things and that other people know nothing at all. This looking down upon others makes us like the birds.
At Manjusri Bodhisattva’s request, the Buddha compared the eight kinds of pride to eight kinds of birds. He used birds as analogy for people’s pride.
If we have the “arrogance of strength”, we are like a kite.
First, the arrogance of strength is like a kite: Those who believe their own strength is great while others are weak are like kites. They see themselves as strong and others as weak, thus they have the arrogance of strength.
This kind of bird is very strong. Birds can be very large, and they can also be quite small. There are birds that have great strength, and birds that are quite weak. This kind of bird has great strength, so he bullies and picks on weaker birds. As a bird, he already feels high and mighty, and with his large size, he picks on other birds as well. Birds and humans are similar in this way, in that the strong pick on the weak. The second kind is the owl. The owl is quite commanding, quite dominating.
Second, the arrogance of class is like and owl: those who believe their own heritage is great and are arrogant towards others are like owls, an unfilial species of birds that [abuse] their mothers. Thus arrogance of class is likened to owls.
Those who are formidable think, “I am so strong”. Humans are like this, and birds are like this too. They conceitedly think, “I am so great, I am so strong, I am…”. Humans are like this; the strong abuse the weak. This is how humans behave, and birds are like this too. But this type of bird, besides being strong and dominating, besides being arrogant, can also be unfilial to his parents. This type of bird can be quite arrogant indeed.
We see examples of this among people, too. Parents work hard to raise their kids. Even though they did not have much schooling, they raised their children to be a great success. However, the children think, “I’m so successful, but my parents are uneducated; I feel so ashamed of them”. They are afraid people will find out that their parents are uneducated and that this will reflect poorly on them, etc. So, they do not practice filial piety. This is how humans behave, and birds are like this too.
The third kind is the “arrogance of wealth, which is like the hawk”.
Third, the arrogance of wealth is like a hawk: Those who believe they are rich and possess wealth and are arrogant towards others are like hawks who use their strength to control and oppress other birds. Thus the arrogance of wealth is liked to hawks.
When this type of bird is born, he thinks that he is rich in many respects, so he is arrogant and bullies others, so he is arrogant and bullies others. He is haughty because of his strength and power. These are all the stronger birds. Their way of life is different, for they fly high and are strong and powerful.
Then there is the “arrogance of freedom”, which is like the vulture.
Fourth, arrogance of freedom is like a vulture: Those who believe they have grown great and do as they please, thus feel free and arrogant towards others. They are like vultures, who eat and live in mountain forests. They are free in going and staying, thus the arrogance of freedom is like a vulture.
The vulture is quite free and at ease. He feels that his lifestyle is superior to all other birds. The eyes of the vulture are quite beautiful. Actually all the birds feel that they can travel freely through the forests with great ease, so this is another reason they are haughty. Then there is “arrogance of lifespan”, which is like the crow.
Fifth, the arrogance of lifespan is like a crow: Those who believe their lifespan is long and are arrogant towards others are like the filial crows who feed their parents and have long lives. Thus, the arrogance of lifespan is like crow.
The crow’s lifespan is very long. Although the sound he makes is quite harsh, he has a long lifespan. The crow knows to repay his parents’ grace. Because of his long lifespan, as his parents grow old, he repays their kindness of raising him. This is a bird that knows filial piety, though he is arrogant about his lifespan.
Sixth is arrogance of intelligence, like a magpie.
Sixth, arrogance of intelligence is like a magpie: Those who believe their wit is sharp and understanding clear and are arrogant towards others are like magpies, the most intelligent birds.
They can bring good or ill luck; thus arrogance of intelligence is like a magpie.
This kind of bird thinks he is so smart, and that his understanding makes him close to human. Because he is so smart, he too has arrogance. People in ancient times, when they heard the calling of the magpie, though of it as an auspicious sign. Since this type of bird is clever and intelligent, he too has an arrogance.
The seventh kind is the “arrogance of doing good, which is like the pigeon.”
Seventh, arrogance of doing good is like a pigeon:
Those who believe they can do some good deeds and thus are arrogant towards people of virtue are like pigeons, who though dull, do not realize they are dull. Thus the arrogance of doing good is like a pigeon.
This kind of bird, the pigeon, can do good deeds and can carry messages. In ancient times, it was no convenient for people to send letters Carrier pigeons carried messages for people. Then there is the “arrogance of looks, likened to pigeons or doves.”
Eighth, the arrogance of looks is like a pigeon: Those who believe themselves beautiful and are arrogant towards others are like the many kinds of pigeons or doves.
They use their looks to get ahead, thus the arrogance of looks is like a pigeon.
This kind of bird feels approachable because of his beautiful coloring. A pigeon is quite gentle, but he too is arrogant about some things. These eight kinds of birds are arrogant and condescending in their own ways. In their relationships with other birds, they all bully one another. Each type of bird has a different tendency, so in this way they are similar to humans.
There are many different varieties; they have arrogance of strength, arrogance of class, arrogance of wealth, arrogance of freedom, arrogance of lifespan, arrogance of intelligence, arrogance of doing good and arrogance of looks. These are similar to the different kinds of birds.
Sometime we humans are quite similar to the birds and beasts. Whether they are flying birds or walking beasts, we humans have very similar tendencies to them. This is why the Buddha cited various birds as analogies for our human tendencies. So, not only do humans, birds and beasts live in the same world, our tendencies are quite similar. As the ancients said, “There is not much difference between man and beast.”
We should cherish this body because it allows us to live in this world, it allow us to listen to the Buddha-Dharma and it allows us to distinguish and choose between good and evil. We should choose the path of goodness.
First we must practice like the Hearers to listen to and understand the principles. After listening to teachings, we understand that we must eliminate ignorance and afflictions we must earnestly practice the Bodhisattva-path and actualize the Six Paramitas. Our goal is to advance to the state of Buddhahood.
So, there were the “500 people living inside.” This is all within the scope [of our lives], thus we should constantly be mindful.
The Buddha-Dharma is inseparable from the world.Things of various forms and colors in our surroundings are enticing to us. In our minds, the five chronic afflictions and the five acute afflictions arise from our physical existence as human beings. When our minds begin to develop the five chronic afflictions, or when the five acute afflictions are expressed through our behavior, we must carefully distinguish between them. So, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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