Akusala citta and
akusala cetasika are akusala dhammas, dhammas which are unskilful, unprofitable,
unclean, impure. Do we realize when there is akusala citta? Whenever the
citta is not intent on wholesomeness, we act, speak or think with
akusala citta. We may not have unkind thoughts or thoughts of coarse desire,
but the cittas which think can still be akusala cittas; they are akusala
cittas whenever we do not think wholesome thoughts. We think time and again
of people, of things which have happened or will happen, and we should
find out for ourselves when thinking kusala and when akusala. When we are
"daydreaming", do we think wholesome thoughts? If that is not so, then
the cittas are akusala cittas.
By akusala one harms oneself, other people or both oneself and other people.
We may find it difficult to see that even when we do not harm or hurt others,
the citta can still be akusala. For example, when we like nature, there
is a degree of attachment and attachment is not kusala, it is different
from unselfishness. We may see the danger of akusala which is coarse, but
it is difficult to see the danger of akusala which is more subtle. However
through the study of the Dhamma we can acquire more understanding of akusala
dhammas and then we may begin to see the danger of all degrees of akusala.
When the citta is kusala, there is confidence in wholesomeness. Kusala
citta is pure and it is capable of producing a pleasant result. Whereas
akusala citta is impure and it leads to sorrow. At the moment of akusala
citta there is no confidence in wholesomeness, one does not see that akusala
citta is impure and harmful. For example, when we see a pleasant sight,
akusala cittas with attachment tend to arise. At such a moment there is
"unwise attention" to the object which is experienced; we are enslaved
to that object and do not see the danger of akusala. Thus we go on accumulating
more and more akusala.
If one has not listened to the Dhamma, one does not know exactly what is
kusala and what is akusala and thus there are many conditions for unwise
attention to the objects which are experienced through the five sense-doors
and through the mind door. Foolish friends are also a condition for akusala
cittas. The person who is inclined to akusala will associate with friends
who have similar inclinations. Thus he accumulates more and more vices
and then it is very difficult to turn to kusala and develop virtues.
Akusala citta is bound to arise more often than kusala citta because there
have been countless akusala cittas in the past and thus the conditions
for akusala have been accumulated. lf there is no development of right
understanding akusala cannot be eradicated and we will continue to accumulate
The Buddha reminded people of the ill effects of akusala. Akusala kamma
is capable of producing an unpleasant result in the form of rebirth or
in the form of unpleasant experiences through the senses in the course
of our life. Through the doing of evil deeds one acquires a bad name and
one loses one's friends. Moreover, the person who commits evil is not calm
when he faces death. We read in the Gradual Sayings(Book of the
Fours, the Fourth Fifty, chapter xix, 4, Fearless) that the brahmin Janussoni
said to the Buddha that he believed that everyone was afraid of death.
The Buddha thereupon spoke to Janussoni about four kinds of people who
are afraid of death and four who are not. We read that the Buddha said:
... In this
case, brahmin, a certain one is not freed from passions, not freed from
lusts, not freed from desire, affection, from thirst and fever, not freed
from craving. Then a grievous sickness afflicts such an one. Thus afflicted
by grievous sickness it occurs to him: Alas? The passions that l love will
leave me, or I shall leave the passions that l love. Thereupon he grieves
and wails, laments and beats the breast and falls into utter bewilderment.
This one, brahmin, being subject to death, is afraid, he falls a-trembling
at the thought of death.
The same is said about
the person who has omitted good deeds and committed evil, and about the
person who is full of doubts as to "true Dhamma". The opposite is true
of the people who do not have these vices. When a grievous sickness afflicts
them they are not afraid of death.
Again, brahmin, here a certain one who as regards body is not freed from
lusts... is not freed from craving. Then a grievous sickness afflicts him.
Thus afflicted it occurs to him: Alas! The body that l love will leave
me, or l shall leave the body that l love. Thereupon he grieves... and
falls into utter bewilderment. This one, brahmin, being subject to death
,is afraid, he falls a-trembling at the thought of death...
We make ourselves unhappy through unwholesome deeds, speech and thoughts,
and then we have no peace of mind. Akusala is a mental disease and this
is more grave than bodily disease.
Right understanding of the danger and ill effects of akusala can condition
kusala citta. But shortly after the kusala cittas have fallen away, akusala
cittas tend to arise again and at such moments we have no confidence in
wholesomeness. We may, for example speak harsh words to someone else and
when the moments of anger have fallen away, we cannot understand that we
behaved in such a bad way. We may wonder how we can be such different person
at different moments. in reality there is no self who is at one moment
kusala and at another moment akusala. There are different types of citta
which arise because of their own conditions. Sometimes kusala citta arises
but more often akusala citta arises. There is no seIf who can prevent the
arising of akusala citta.
Because of ignorance we take the satisfaction in pleasant experiences through
the senses for true happiness. Do we consider the enjoyment of pleasant
things the goal of our life? We tend to forget that pleasant things do
not last, that our body declines and that we are susceptible to sickness
and death. There is ignorance with each akusala citta. At such a moment
we do not know the danger of the accumulation of akusala.
If we do not develop right understanding of realities we live with our
dreams and illusions. We want happiness for ourselves and we are ignorant
of what is kusala and what is akusala. Thus there is bound to be decline
in good qualities. We read in the Gradual Sayings (Book of the Sixes, chapter
VIII, 10, Day and Night):
if a monk follows six things, come day come night, just a falling away
in right things maybe expected, not a growth. What six?
This sutta can remind
both monks and laypeople that if there is no mindfulness of the reality
appearing at this moment, no development of insight, there will be decline
in good qualities.
monks, a monk desires much, is fretful, discontented with this and that
requisite: robe, alms, lodging, medicaments- is without faith or virtue,
is indolent, forgetful in mindfulness and lacks insight.
if a monk follows these six, come day come night, just a falling away in
right things maybe expected, not a growth.
the opposite is true for a monk who is not like that. )
The Buddha, when he was still a bodhisatta, considered the satisfaction
in life, the misery and also the escape therefrom. We read in the Gradual
Sayings (Book of the Threes, Chapter XI, 101, Before) (1 There are three
akusala hetus and three Sobhana (beautiful) hetus which are the opposites
of the akusala hetus. A root or hetu is the foundation of the akusala citta
or the sobhana citta, just as the roots are the foundation of a tree.)
enlightenment, monks, when I was yet but a Bodhisat, this occurred to me:
What, I wonder, is the satisfaction in the world, what is the misery in
the world, what is the escape therefrom?
The "escape" can be realized
through the development of insight. Right understanding of realities eventually
leads to freedom from all akusala, to the end of all sorrow.
Then, monks, this occurred to me: That condition in the world owing to
which pleasure arises, owing to which arises happiness- that is the satisfaction
in the world. That impermanence, that suffering, that changeability in
the world,- that is the misery in the world. That restraint, that riddance
of desire and passion in the world- that is the escape therefrom...
The Abhidhamma teaches us in detail about all akusala dhammas. They are
not Iisted just to be read and memorized, they are realities of daily life
and they can be known as they are by being mindful of them. If we consider
akusala dhammas when they appear and begin to be mindful of them, we will
come to know also defilements which are more subtle. We will learn that
behaviour and speech we thought to be agreeable and pleasant are often
motivated by selfishness; this happens for example when we want to endear
ourselves to others in the expectation of some gain or favour from them.
Our actions and speech are more often motivated by akusala cittas than
by kusala cittas. Through the study of the Abhidhamma we learn about many
types of defilements which arise time and again in our daily fife. We learn
about our tendencies and inclinations to akusala which we did not know
Among the cetasikas which can accompany akusala cittas, there are three
which are unwholesome roots, akusala hetus. These hetus are the foundation
of the akusala citta. They are:
or greed, in Pali: lobha
Besides these roots there
are other akusala cetasikas which can accompany akusala citta, and each
of these has its own characteristic and function. There are twelve types
of akusala cittas and they are classified according to their roots. They
aversion or anger,
in Pali: dosa
ignorance, in Pali:
8 types of
citta rooted in attachment, lobha-mula-citta
The cittas rooted in attachment
have ignorance, moha, and attachment, lobha, as their roots; the cittas
rooted in aversion have moha and aversion, dosa, as their roots; the cittas
rooted in moha have moha as their only root. There is ignorance with each
2 types of citta rooted
in aversion, dosa-muIa-citta
2 types of citta rooted
in ignorance, moha-mula-citta (1 See Abhidhamma in Daily Life, Chapter
4, 6 and 7.)
Akusala cittas are accompanied by the "universals" and by the "particulars",
but not all particulars accompany every akusala citta. When the universals
and the particulars accompany akusala citta they are also akusala. There
are fourteen akusala cetasikas which can accompany only akusala citta,
but not all akusala cetasikas accompany each akusala citta. Some akusala
cetasikas accompany only certain types of akusala cittas. There are twelve
types of akusala citta, but there are many more varieties of them since
they are, at one time or other, accompanied by different cetasikas Moreover,
akusala cittas can have many different degrees of akusala. Akusala citta
may or may not have the intensity to motivate an unwholesome deed, akusala
There are four types of akusala cetasikas which have to arise with every
akusala citta. These cetasikas are:
One of these, ignorance,
is root, the other three are not roots These four types have to assist
each akusala citta in performing; its function. So long as these types
have not been eradicated akusala citta will arise. Only the arahat has
eradicated these four types, For him there are no more conditions for the
arising of akusala.