Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Bad deeds arise from greed, hate, delusion, irrational application of mind, and a wrongly directed mind; good deeds arise from their five opposites — contentment, love, understanding, rational application of mind, and a rightly directed mind — and without all ten, neither immoral nor moral conduct would ever be seen in the world.
The classic three roots, expanded to five
The first three items on each side — greed, hate, delusion versus their positive counterparts — are the three unwholesome and wholesome roots met repeatedly elsewhere in this project; this discourse adds two further causes on each side, both about how the mind attends to its object: irrational or rational application of mind, and a wrongly or rightly directed mind.
A tidy symmetry
Unlike many of this chapter's lists, this one closes with an explicit logical claim rather than a bare listing: if these ten things did not exist in the world, neither immoral nor moral conduct would ever appear — the causes are offered as jointly necessary and sufficient, not merely descriptive.
Key terms
The text
The cause of bad deeds
§1At one time the Buddha was staying near Vesālī, at the Great Wood, in the hall with the peaked roof. Then Mahāli the Licchavi went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to him: “What is the cause, sir, what is the reason for doing bad deeds, for performing bad deeds?” “Greed is a cause, Mahāli, greed is a reason for doing bad deeds, for performing bad deeds. Hate is a cause of bad deeds … Delusion is a cause of bad deeds … Irrational application of mind gives rise to bad deeds … A wrongly directed mind is a cause of bad deeds … This is the cause, Mahāli, this is the reason for doing bad deeds, for performing bad deeds.”
The cause of good deeds
§2“What is the cause, sir, what is the reason for doing good deeds, for performing good deeds?” “Contentment is a cause, Mahāli, contentment is a reason for doing good deeds, for performing good deeds. Love is a cause of good deeds … Understanding is a cause of good deeds … Rational application of mind gives rise to good deeds … A rightly directed mind is a cause of good deeds … This is the cause, Mahāli, this is the reason for doing good deeds, for performing good deeds. If these ten things were not found in the world, we wouldn’t see either unprincipled and immoral conduct, or principled and moral conduct. But since these ten things are found in the world, we see both unprincipled and immoral conduct, and principled and moral conduct.”
Self-check quiz
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