Sambodhi 2014 Vol 37

Author(s): J B Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 46

38 Yajneshwar S. Shastri SAMBODHI leaving life with pure intentions. It does not believe in God and his grace. There is no place for worship of God or creator but believes in individual effort to gain enlightenment. The goal of Buddhism is for a person to achieve enlightenment, where the mind reaches a certain level or plane where it achieves total freedom. Just study of even five precepts, makes clear that Buddha tried to teach idea of generosity, morality and meditation in simple way that lay men can easily follow. The basic wrong idea of life is clinging to the sense of 'I' and 'mine. It manifests externally as selfishness and possessiveness. The first level of Buddhist practice entails undermining our foolishness by countering its expressions by developing a generous heart. Lord Buddha speaks of three kinds of giving wisely and selflessly : the giving material things to those deserving of it i.e. alms to the poor, food to mendicant monks; the giving of forgiveness to those who have wronged us; and finally the giving of truth, gladly sharing any wordly knowledge or spiritual understanding that we have acquired. The kind of generosity apart from eroding selfish concern, gives a joy and lightness to the mind. It also creates bonds of love and friendship within a society. The Three Roots of Evil. In Buddhism, the distinction between what is good and what is bad is very simple. It hinges on the intention or motivation from which an action originates. The Buddha taught that there are three fundamental motivations or root causes of unwholesome actions : greed [lobha), hate [dvesa] and delusion (moha). Greed, hatred and delusion are called the three roots of evil or three poisons, which are the primary source of all evil deeds. It is the three poisons that create all bad karma, resulting in all kinds of suffering in accordance with the Principle of Cause and Effect. These three are also obstacles to the attainment of good karma. We have to abandon them by all means. The deed which is associated with greed/attachment, hatred/ill-will, delusion/stupidity is evil. Being motivated by greed can mean allowing one's actions to be rooted in longing for something or someone or in more strong desires like avarice or lust. This kind of motivation can also involve clinging to dogmatic views in a ways that are not uplifting for oneself or others. Being motivated by hatred can involve irritation with something or someone or strong feeling of aversion, anger or even wrath. Delusion as a motivation