Causes of Conflict

Sutta discussion, February 2nd 2020
Location: Dhammakami Buddhist Society
Speaker: Bhante K Rathnasāra

The discussion for 2nd February’s Dhamma class was on the 37th Sutta from the Book of Twos in the Anguttara Nikāya. It does not have a specific name, and can be found under AN 2.37.

The sutta is a conversation between a Brahmin named Ārāmadaṇḍa and one of the Buddha’s foremost disciples, the venerable Mahākaccāna. Ārāmadaṇḍa asks Ven. Kaccāna the reasons for conflict between people. In the sutta people are referred to as Brahmins, Nobles, Householders, and Ascetics. This gives a glimpse into the main societal divisions of people in the Buddha’s time.

Ven Kaccāna answers that in the case of Brahmins, Nobles, and Householders, the cause of conflict between them is their attachment to, and desire for, sensual pleasures. In the case of Ascetics, who are supposed to have renounced sense pleasures, the cause of conflict for them is attachment to their views, opinions, and dogma. Ārāmadaṇḍa further asked if there is anyone who has gone beyond attachment to sense pleasures and views. Venerable Kaccāna replies by saying that the Buddha, the perfectly enlightened one, has gone beyond attachment to and desire for sensual pleasures, views, and opinions.

The sutta ends with Ārāmadaṇḍa taking refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha and pledging his lifelong allegiance to them.

Bhante Rathnasāra explained the meaning of the sutta in detail. I made notes of what he said in bullet points, and for the good of all I decided to write it in the form of this blog post.

The sutta is pretty straightforward in its meaning. Bhante went on to add that there are different forms of mental defilements that arise because of (clinging to) sensual pleasures and views, which are divided into four categories:

Kāmāsava: the defilement that arises from sensual pleasures
Bhavāsava: the defilement of that arises from a desire to keep existing
Diṭṭhāsava: the defilement that arises from (wrong) views
Avijjāsava: the defilement that arises from ignorance

I didn’t really understand the use of āsava in regards to Kāma (sensual pleasure), Bhava (becoming), Diṭṭhā (views), and Avijjā (ignorance). Āsava means pollutant, so I was wondering what the word pollutant has to do with clinging and the four above-mentioned states. Later it was clarified that the existence of Kāma, Bhava, Diṭṭhā, and Avijjā are pollutants or defilements inherently, and they have the nature to induce clinging and grasping.

Bhante then explained each Āsava in depth:

Kāmāsava, the defilement that is sensual pleasure, is so deeply rooted in the mind, that people often spend their entire lives chasing after it or struggling to overcome it. The trouble with sense pleasures is that they provide a degree of satisfaction initially. The catch lies in the after-effect. The pleasure is fleeting, but we spend so much time chasing after that, repeatedly trying new ways to sustain the high. This makes us slaves to our desires because we must keep working to satisfy it. The craving for sense pleasures can never be fully satisfied. The Buddha thus advises the spiritual aspirant to abandon the desire for sensual pleasures as the pleasure they provide cannot be sustained. The happiness derived from the renunciation of craving for Kāma leads to contentment and is much more sublime and wholesome.

Bhavāsava is the desire for continuing existence, and this is a mental defilement according to the Buddha. Humans have a desire to lengthen their existence by some form, or to be reborn again. There is so much research going into increasing lifespan. People rush to preserve their legacy by having children, grandchildren, and so on. All this stems from an inherent desire for continuation. The Buddha cautions that this is an obstacle to the path of true freedom: enlightenment.

The desire to exist results in one of two beliefs: The belief in an eternal soul which will be reborn; or a belief that death is the end and there is nothing beyond death. The trouble with both views is that they encourage people to cling to sensual pleasures, if they are not wise enough to know better. A belief in an eternal soul will make people desire good rebirth, and that in itself creates craving, clinging for further birth, because they don’t believe they can break out of the cycle of birth and death (jāti-jarā-maraṇa). It also makes them desire rebirth in realms that are pleasurable (and this is a form of desire for sensual pleasures). A nihilistic viewpoint on the other hand can lead to hedonism (#yolo) and excessive indulgence in sense pleasures because of the erroneous belief that we will eventually die, so might as well get the most experiences during life. The Buddha says both beliefs are erroneous because life does not end with death: there is rebirth. But we also have the ability to end the cycle of births and deaths.

Diṭṭhāsava, where our beliefs and viewpoints themselves are defilements. This is a difficult concept to understand, because even the Buddha’s Dhamma can be considered a view. But the Dhamma is called Sammādiṭṭhi or Right View, because it shows people a way out of all other āsavas. The Dhamma shows us a way to completely break the cycle of rebirth and suffering, hence it is called the correct view or belief. All other beliefs or views lead to suffering because we cling to them, we use them to define ourselves, and they can be a hindrance to liberation. They may also be erroneous, hence leading us further into delusion. Thus, the Buddha advises letting go of all wrong views, and using the Dhamma as the guiding beacon.

Avijjāsava is pretty easy to understand. Our ignorance is itself a defilement. We are so caught up in saṁsāra that we fail to realize that there is something beyond the pleasures and sufferings of cyclic existence. We are prisoners of our ignorance, because ignorance is the root cause of all our suffering. Ignorance can be removed by understanding the 4 Noble Truths (Suffering, Cause of Suffering, End of Suffering, and the Path to the End of Suffering). When this is realized, ignorance is cut away and we see things as they are. We see how detrimental it is to cling to sensual pleasures, views, and everything else.

This sutta was interesting because it is so deceptively simple, like a lot of the Buddha’s teachings. Although the teacher in this case was one of the Buddha’s direct disciples, rather than the Buddha himself, the ideas originated with the Buddha. The cause of conflict between householders and ascetics can be narrowed down to attachment to sensual pleasures and views, respectively. Delving deeper, we can see there are different factors which cause suffering: such as our propensity to cling to sensual pleasures, desire for existence, viewpoints, and ignorance. Renouncing these and realizing the 4 Noble Truths will lead us out of suffering and rebirth.