Anusaya Sutta (AN 7.11) : The Seven Underlying Akusala Tendencies

 

Buddha said, “Abandon what is not skillful. One can abandon what is unskillful. If it were not possible, I would not ask you to do it.” — AN 2.19

(“Akusalaṁ, bhikkhave, pajahatha. Sakkā, bhikkhave, akusalaṁ pajahituṁ. No cedaṁ, bhikkhave, sakkā abhavissa akusalaṁ pajahituṁ, nāhaṁ evaṁ vadeyyaṁ:)

Three levels of Kilesa

1. Anusaya (sleeping/latent)

2. Pariyutthana (arising/stage of manifestation)

3. Vitikkama (doing askuala/transgression)

“Monks, there are these Seven Underlying Akusala Tendencies. Which seven? (Sattime, bhikkhave, anusayā. Katame satta)

“(1) The Underlying Akusala Tendency of sensual lust. (Kāmarāgānusayo)

“(2) The Underlying Akusala Tendency of aversion. (paṭighānusayo)

“(3) The Underlying Akusala Tendency of views. (diṭṭhānusayo)

“(4) The Underlying Akusala Tendency of doubts. (vicikicchānusayo)

“(5) The Underlying Akusala Tendency of conceit. (mānānusayo)

“(6) The Underlying Akusala Tendency of passion for becoming. (bhavarāgānusayo)

“(7) The Underlying Akusala Tendency of ignorance. (avijjānusayo)

- Cetana Sutta (SN 12.38)

" Monastics, what one intends, what one plans, what one has an underlying tendency for, that becomes an object for the establishing of consciousness …

Monastics, if one does not intend and does not plan, yet one has an underlying tendency, then that becomes an object for the establishing of consciousness …

Monastics, if one does not intend and does not plan, and one does not have an underlying tendency, then there is no object for the establishing of consciousness …"

According to the second of these three alternatives, consciousness can take as its object what one just has an underlying tendency for. This much suffices, without any need for active intention and planning. The indication given in this way reflects the nature of the underlying tendencies as something latent or subliminal in the mind. Even without the activation of intentions and planning, an underlying tendency can nevertheless impact consciousness.

- According to the Greater Discourse to Māluṅkyaputta, the Mahāmāluṅkya-sutta (MN 64) already mentioned above, the underlying tendencies are even present in an infant. In the case of the underlying tendency to sensual lust, the relevant passage explains:

"A young innocent baby-boy lying on his back does not have [a notion of] ‘sensuality’, so how could he give rise to sensual lust in relation to sensual [objects]? Yet, underlying him is the underlying tendency to sensual lust."

- The Underlying Tendencies and Insight (Anusaya Pahana Sutta SN 33.58)

A discourse in the Saṃyutta-nikāya (SN 35.58) connects the overcoming of the underlying tendencies to the cultivation of insight. In the case of visual experiences, this takes the following form:

"Monastic, on knowing and seeing the eye as impermanent, the underlying tendencies are abandoned. On knowing and seeing forms as impermanent, the underlying tendencies are abandoned. On knowing and seeing eye-consciousness as impermanent, the underlying tendencies are abandoned … On knowing and seeing as impermanent whatever has arisen in dependence on eye-contact and is felt as pleasant, painful, and neutral, the underlying tendencies are abandoned."

According to this passage, the overcoming of the underlying tendencies requires establishing insight into impermanence. Such insight involves an appreciation of the changing nature of every dimension of what is being experienced. In the case of visual experience, this includes the sense, its object, the corresponding type of consciousness and other facets of that experience, in particular its hedonic tonality in terms of the three types of feeling. It appears to be such comprehensive appreciation of impermanence that helps to prevent immediate reaction to the feeling tone of that visual experience.

In this way, the instinctive mode of reacting to feeling by wanting what is pleasant, pushing away what is unpleasant, and ignoring what is neutral can be countered. Seen as impermanent, feelings are divested of a considerable part of their reactive potential. Given that they will change anyway, the apparent need to take action becomes diminished. Such insight counters the impact of the underlying tendencies, which otherwise operate outside the range of our conscious control. By learning to withstand the instinctive push to react on the spot, the ability of these three underlying tendencies to trigger unskillful reactivity in response to the three types of feelings can be gradually undermined.

The key element in this respect appears to be a slowing down of mental reactivity. Instead of reacting on the spot, sufficient time is allowed for the complete picture of the situation to emerge, in particular for the crucial insight into the impermanent nature of all aspects of the present experience to have its full impact. From this more informed vantage point of observation, it becomes possible to diminish and eventually overcome the reactivity triggered by the underlying tendencies in relation to the three types of feeling.