Unwholesome ☁️ dark

19 discourses
Synonyms: blameworthy, unhealthy, unskillful, unbeneficial, karmically unprofitable, Leads to:{suffering} Pāli term: akusala Opposite:

In The Path of Dhamma (Dhammapada)

DhammaPada verses 76-89 share on associating with a wise person, characteristics of such a person, the importance of joy in the Dhamma, the benefits of renunciation, and the qualities of a well cultivated mind.

Dhammapada verses 157-166 emphasize self-discipline, personal responsibility, and inner mastery. A wise person must first establish themselves properly before guiding others, as self-mastery is difficult but essential. Purity and impurity are personal matters, and one should prioritize their own spiritual welfare over external concerns, for no one can purify another.

Dhammapada verses 235-255 emphasize on the urgency of striving swiftly, not being negligent, discerning gradually, stains of various qualities. A contrast is drawn on the lives of one who is shameless and one with a sense of right and wrong, on finding the faults of others and one’s own, and on the path of the Tathāgatas.

In As It Was Said (Itivuttaka)

A person who has not done good, has not done what is wholesome, has not protected others from fear, but has done evil, cruelty, and misdeeds, feels remorse.

The Buddha lists the three roots of the unwholesome - greed, aversion, and delusion, and explain their effect on the mind with a simile.

The Buddha explains how Devadatta, overcome by evil desires, bad friendship, and abandoning the training, arrived at a state of prolonged suffering. Though once esteemed, his envy led to ruin. The wise should associate with those whose path leads to the end of suffering.

In Middle Length Discourses (Majjhima Nikāya)

The Buddha explains to the brahmin householders of Sālā the causes of rebirth in states of loss or in good destinations, emphasizing the importance of ethical and wholesome conduct. He outlines ten kinds of misconduct and ten kinds of wholesome conduct, illustrating how these actions lead to different outcomes after death.

The Buddha explains how even small attachments can be strong fetters if not relinquished, using similes of a quail and an elephant, and contrasts between the poor and wealthy. He describes four types of practitioners based on their response to attachment and mindfulness. The discourse also presents gradual refinement of meditative attainments from the first jhāna to the cessation of perception and feeling.

When his foster mother, Mahāpajāpati Gotamī, offers a robe to the Buddha, he encourages her to offer it to the Saṅgha instead. He then classifies offerings directed to individuals, contrasts them with those directed to the Saṅgha, and explains four kinds of offering purification.

In Linked Discourses (Saṃyutta Nikāya)

A radiant deity tempts young Samiddhi to enjoy sensual pleasures. The Buddha later reveals that true liberation transcends identity and craving, and is only found by those who let go of even the need to describe themselves.

In Numerical Discourses (Aṅguttara Nikāya)

The Buddha explains the importance of developing a radiant mind, a mind of loving-kindness and the consequences of negligence, diligence, and laziness.

The Buddha describes three types of people - the blind, the one-eyed, and the two-eyed.

The venerable Nandaka teaches Sāḷha and his friend about how to independently verify the unwholesome and wholesome mental qualities.

The Buddha explains the three unwholesome roots and the three wholesome roots.

What are the causes for the arising of kamma? The Buddha explains that greed, aversion, and delusion are the roots of unwholesome kamma, leading to painful results, and leading to further kamma. In contrast, non-greed, non-aversion, and non-delusion are the roots of wholesome kamma, leading to pleasant results and to the cessation of kamma.

The Buddha describes the four qualities that distinguish a person of integrity from one lacking in integrity.

The Buddha describes the four kinds of kamma (actions) and their results in brief.

The Buddha describes the four kinds of kamma (actions) and their results in detail.

The Buddha explains how to cultivate recollection of death so that it is of great fruit and great benefit, and leads to the deathless.

CC0 License Button