三毒:The Triple Poisons

 

三毒

 

通常三毒と言われる原語は三悪根で、貪瞋痴(lobha, dosa, moha)である。十二支縁起で苦の因:渇愛と輪廻の因:無明は二根と呼ばれ貪と痴に対応し、これに瞋恚を加えたものが三毒:三悪根としてよかろう。

 

十二支縁起は個人内部の苦・輪廻の直接縁起を説くもので瞋恚は含まれていないが、取(身の取得:我所有)が我他、差別、瞋恚の始まりとしてよい。故に瞋恚(怒)の原語dosaは根源にdo (two)を含むと思われる。

 

Dosaの梵語はdveṣa語根はdviṣとされるがパーリ語圏内ではmāna-sa (心の)teja-sa(光の)の様にdo-sa(二の:差別の)と感じられた可能性がある。動物・人間は動くと身体を感じ、自己同定・我見・我執・我慢・我利等の始まりである。

 

取の原語(upa-adana)は「近寄り取る」で燃料が火に近寄り取ると火になる(同定)であり、漢字の取は耳を掴む手で「牛耳る」(主権)の意味になり、我の同定と主権を表し普遍法縁起(相依・相対)に反する。

 

これは自我の始まりであり、集団としての自国の始まりであり、分別・差別・敵対・戦争等の始まりであり、特に集団業三毒による集団四苦(独裁・戦争・核・破局)は「国家と戦争の世紀」「地球問題群と破局」の終末危機を生み出している。

 

苦の根本である無明(a-vijja/a-vidya: video: 直証)は縁起(悟法)縁滅(涅槃)を体験・確信を持たないことを意味し、動物は行動を優先するので涅槃(止業)を体験するのは稀であり、自己保存本能(欲望)から生存・生成(生死)の輪廻に嵌る。

 

ブッダは恒常・主権の我(アートマン)の存在を普遍法・縁起により否定して、無常・苦(思い通りにならない)事から究極的真理として諸法(一切現象)無我を唱えた。世間的役割・責任を果たす自己と普遍法を二洲(依拠)として認めている。

 

ゴータマは苦・輪廻の解決の道を求め(求道者:菩薩)て出家し努力の結果縁起の普遍法に目覚めブッダ(覚者)となり、更に一切救済の為の菩薩として四諦・八聖道等の教法を共有する為に乞食しながら一所不住の遊行教化活動に一生を捧げた。

 

人類は生類の長い生存本能を受け継ぎ生存競争に共同生活・脳・手による象徴・道具:言語・科学・文化・技術・製造・文明等を発展させて覇権を握ったが、社会的役割・記憶・予測などで自我を強め自我・自国の利益追求が破局の危機を招いた。

 

自我・自国で我見・我利の三毒業を続ければ苦・輪廻は解決されないので個人・集団の苦・輪廻の解決が必須である。それには各人が業・三毒の由来・現実・解決の為に覚醒・活動をして自己・社会・環境を改善・解決に努力する必要がある。

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The Triple Poisons

 

Good morning!

The original Buddhist term commonly translated as the Triple Poisons is more precisely the Triple Unwholesome Roots (akusala-mūla): lobha (desire or greed), dosa (aversion or discrimination), and moha (delusion or nescience).

In the Twelvefold Dependent Co-origination, the cause of suffering is identified as craving (taṇhā) and the cause of saṃsāra as nescience (avijjā). These two are the Two Roots, corresponding respectively to lobha and moha. Adding dosa yields the Triple Poisons, or Triple Unwholesome Roots.

The Twelvefold Dependent Co-origination primarily explains the individual suffering and saṃsāra, thus dosa is not listed in it. However, upādāna (appropriation) of the body as “I” and “mine,” naturally gives rise to the distinction between self and other, thereby becoming the origin of discrimination and hatred. In this sense, dosa may be understood as arising from duality.

The Sanskrit form of dosa is dveṣa, derived from the verbal root dviṣ according to traditional philology. Yet within the Pāli-speaking tradition, it is conceivable that the word was perceived as do-sa, like mānasa (“of the mind”) or tejasa (“of light”). Thus, dosa may have suggested the state of two-ness—the discrimination between self and other. Whenever animals move, they become aware of the body, giving rise to self-identification, self-view, and self-interest.

The Pāli word upa-ādāna literally means “coming near to take.” Fuel that coming near to take fire becomes fire, just as we identify with the body as “I” and “mine.” The Chinese character 取 (“to take”) originally depicts a hand grasping an ear, signifying “control of it” or “exercising sovereignty.” Thus, upādāna represents the selfhood and sovereignty, in contrast to the universal Dharma of Dependent Co-origination, relatedness and relativity.

This marks the beginning of the ego-self, the beginning of attachment to one’s own state, and ultimately the beginning of discrimination, hostility, and war. Today, the collective karma of the Triple Poisons manifests itself in the Four Collective Sufferings—dictatorship, war, nuclear weapons, and global catastrophe—producing the Century of Nation-States and War and the Age of Global Problems and Catastrophe.

The fundamental root of suffering is nescience (a-vijjā; Sanskrit: a-vidyā, cf. a-video: witness)—the absence of direct realization of Dependent Co-origination (Dharma-awakening: bodhi), and Dependent Cessation (nirvāṇa). Because animals naturally prioritize action for survival, the direct experience of nirvāṇa—the cessation of karma—is exceedingly rare. Governed by the instinct for self-preservation, beings remain caught in the constant becoming, birth, and death.

The Buddha denied the existence of a permanent, sovereign self (ātman) on the basis of the universal Dharma of Dependent Co-origination. Because all conditioned things are impermanent and dis-satisfaction (duk-kha: wrong going), he taught the ultimate truth of non-self (an-attā). He, however, acknowledged both the conventional self that fulfills social roles and responsibilities and the universal Dharma as the Two Refuges (Two Islands) upon which we should rely.

Prince Gautama left home as a seeker of awakening (bodhisattva) in search of a solution to suffering and saṃsāra. Through striving he awakened to the Dharma of Dependent Co-origination and became the Buddha, the Awakened One. Thereafter, as a bodhisattva now for the liberation of all beings, he spent the rest of his life wandering without fixed abode, living on alms while sharing the Dharma—including the Four Holy Truths and the Holy Eightfold Path—with everyone.

Human beings inherited the long evolutionary history of survival instinct. Through cooperative living, increasingly sophisticated brains and hands, symbolism of language, science, culture, technology, manufacturing, and civilization, humanity became the dominant species on Earth. Yet these same capacities strengthened the sense of self through social identity, past memory, future fear, and self-interest. The pursuit of self and state advantage has now brought humanity to the brink of global catastrophe.

As long as individuals selves and states continue to act from the Triple Poisons through self-views and self-interest, suffering and saṃsāra cannot be overcome. Therefore, both individual and collective liberation are essential. Each of us must awaken to the origin, reality, and stilling of karma and the Triple Poisons, and actively work to transform ourselves, society, and the environment through wisdom and compassionate action.

Thank you.

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