Skip to content
Brickwall Unlimited

What Drives Harm—and What Ends It

AN 3.69, the Akusalamūla Sutta — set 2, The Basic Diagnosis and the Path

Reading time: about 7 min · 1,217 words

Skip to the translation

Before you read

This teaching follows harmful behavior back to three ordinary causes: greed, aversion, and delusion. It does not leave them as ideas. It shows what they look like when they take over—abusing power, denying what is true, and living in a state of strain.

The second half gives the opposites: non-greed, non-aversion, and clarity. Here "clarity" translates a Pali word that literally means "non-delusion." The final image is practical and physical: freedom requires pulling the roots out so completely that the choking vines cannot grow back.

The text also makes a claim about what follows death. You do not need to settle that claim before testing its central observation: these roots produce either suffering or ease here and now.

Translation

Three Roots of Harm

"Bhikkhus, there are three roots of what is unwholesome.

Which three?

Greed is a root of what is unwholesome. Aversion is a root of what is unwholesome. Delusion is a root of what is unwholesome.

Greed itself is unwholesome. Whatever a greedy person does through body, speech, or mind is also unwholesome.

Overwhelmed by greed, with the heart taken over by it, a person may unjustly make someone else suffer. They may attack them, imprison them, take their property, condemn them, or drive them away, thinking, 'I have power, and I want power.' All of that is unwholesome.

In this way, many harmful, unwholesome qualities arise. Greed is their source, greed is their origin; they are born from greed, and greed produces them.

Aversion itself is unwholesome. Whatever a person acting from aversion does through body, speech, or mind is also unwholesome.

Overwhelmed by aversion, with the heart taken over by it, a person may unjustly make someone else suffer. They may attack them, imprison them, take their property, condemn them, or drive them away, thinking, 'I have power, and I want power.' All of that is unwholesome.

In this way, many harmful, unwholesome qualities arise. Aversion is their source, aversion is their origin; they are born from aversion, and aversion produces them.

Delusion itself is unwholesome. Whatever a person acting from delusion does through body, speech, or mind is also unwholesome.

Overwhelmed by delusion, with the heart taken over by it, a person may unjustly make someone else suffer. They may attack them, imprison them, take their property, condemn them, or drive them away, thinking, 'I have power, and I want power.' All of that is unwholesome.

In this way, many harmful, unwholesome qualities arise. Delusion is their source, delusion is their origin; they are born from delusion, and delusion produces them.

What Being Taken Over Looks Like

A person like this speaks at the wrong time, falsely, harmfully, against the Dhamma, and against the training.

Why are they described this way?

Because they unjustly make someone else suffer. They may attack them, imprison them, take their property, condemn them, or drive them away, thinking, 'I have power, and I want power.'

When told something true, they deny it and will not admit it. When told something untrue, they make no effort to sort it out by saying, 'That is incorrect. That is not true.'

That is why they are said to speak at the wrong time, falsely, harmfully, against the Dhamma, and against the training.

Overwhelmed by harmful, unwholesome qualities born of greed, with the heart taken over by them, such a person lives in suffering here and now—troubled, distressed, and feverish. After death, a bad destination can be expected.

The same is true of qualities born of aversion and delusion.

Suppose a large forest tree were smothered and wrapped in three choking vines. The tree would come to ruin and destruction. In the same way, a person overwhelmed by harmful, unwholesome qualities born of greed, aversion, and delusion lives in suffering here and now—troubled, distressed, and feverish. After death, a bad destination can be expected.

These are the three roots of what is unwholesome.

Three Roots of Well-Being

There are three roots of what is wholesome.

Which three?

Non-greed is a root of what is wholesome. Non-aversion is a root of what is wholesome. Clarity is a root of what is wholesome.

Non-greed itself is wholesome. Whatever a person free of greed does through body, speech, or mind is also wholesome.

Not overwhelmed by greed, with the heart no longer taken over by it, a person does not unjustly make someone else suffer. They do not attack them, imprison them, take their property, condemn them, or drive them away, thinking, 'I have power, and I want power.' That is wholesome.

In this way, many wholesome qualities arise. Non-greed is their source, non-greed is their origin; they are born from non-greed, and non-greed produces them.

Non-aversion itself is wholesome. Whatever a person free of aversion does through body, speech, or mind is also wholesome.

Not overwhelmed by aversion, with the heart no longer taken over by it, a person does not unjustly make someone else suffer. They do not attack them, imprison them, take their property, condemn them, or drive them away, thinking, 'I have power, and I want power.' That is wholesome.

In this way, many wholesome qualities arise. Non-aversion is their source, non-aversion is their origin; they are born from non-aversion, and non-aversion produces them.

Clarity itself is wholesome. Whatever a person free of delusion does through body, speech, or mind is also wholesome.

Not overwhelmed by delusion, with the heart no longer taken over by it, a person does not unjustly make someone else suffer. They do not attack them, imprison them, take their property, condemn them, or drive them away, thinking, 'I have power, and I want power.' That is wholesome.

In this way, many wholesome qualities arise. Clarity is their source, clarity is their origin; they are born from clarity, and clarity produces them.

What Clarity Makes Possible

A person like this speaks at the right time, truthfully, beneficially, in line with the Dhamma, and in line with the training.

Why are they described this way?

Because they do not unjustly make someone else suffer. They do not attack them, imprison them, take their property, condemn them, or drive them away, thinking, 'I have power, and I want power.'

When told something true, they admit it and do not deny it. When told something untrue, they make an effort to sort it out by saying, 'That is incorrect. That is not true.'

That is why they are said to speak at the right time, beneficially, in line with the Dhamma, and in line with the training.

Pulling the Roots Out Completely

For such a person, the harmful, unwholesome qualities born of greed have been abandoned: cut off at the root, made like a palm stump, done away with, and unable to arise in the future.

They live at ease here and now—untroubled, undistressed, and unfeverish. They reach complete quenching here and now.

The same is true of the harmful, unwholesome qualities born of aversion and delusion.

Suppose a large forest tree were smothered and wrapped in three choking vines. A person comes along with a spade and basket. They cut each vine at its root, dig around it, and pull out every root, even the smallest strand.

Then they cut the vines into pieces, split the pieces, shred them into splinters, dry the splinters in the wind and sun, burn them, reduce them to ashes, and scatter the ashes in a strong wind or wash them away in a swift river.

Those vines have been cut off at the root, made like palm stumps, done away with, and made unable to grow again.

In the same way, the harmful, unwholesome qualities born of greed, aversion, and delusion have been abandoned: cut off at the root, made like palm stumps, done away with, and unable to arise in the future.

Such a person lives at ease here and now—untroubled, undistressed, and unfeverish. They reach complete quenching here and now.

These are the three roots of what is wholesome."

The ninth discourse is finished.

Words used in this translation (13)
aversion
One of the three "roots" behind unwholesome action, alongside greed and delusion -- the pushback against what's unwanted or unpleasant.
bhikkhus
Buddhist monks -- those who have left household life to practise full time. The Buddha's usual way of addressing the assembly, roughly "friends" in force.
body
The physical body, as distinct from speech and the mental side of experience.
clarity
This project's rendering of "amoha," literally "non-delusion" -- seeing without the confusion and distortion that drive harmful action.
complete quenching
The complete going out of greed, aversion, and delusion. In AN 3.69 and SN 1.1 it describes something a person reaches while alive, not death.
delusion
One of the three "roots" behind unwholesome action, alongside greed and aversion -- the confusion that keeps you from seeing what's actually happening.
Dhamma
The Buddha's teaching taken as a whole -- both what he taught and the way things actually are, which the teaching describes.
greed
One of the three "roots" behind unwholesome action, alongside aversion and delusion -- the acquisitive pull toward what looks satisfying.
heart
This project's rendering of "citta": the feeling side of mind. It takes on moods, wants, leans, and reacts. Practice can gladden, steady, train, and release it. Some call it the "heart-mind" or "feeling mind". Here "heart" does not mean only emotion, or the physical organ.
non-aversion
The absence of hostility and of the reflex to push away what you do not want. One of the three roots of wholesome action.
non-greed
The absence of the grasping pull that wants to acquire, possess, or consume. One of the three roots of wholesome action.
unwholesome
This project's rendering of "akusala". Roughly: mentally and ethically harmful. It is blameworthy, leads to harm, and people with good judgment criticize it.
wholesome
This project's rendering of "kusala". Roughly: mentally and ethically healthy. It is blameless, leads to well-being, and people with good judgment praise it.
Source and corrections