🌱Day 87: 🌱Three Ways the Mind Becomes Impure: Reflections on the Cunda Sutta (AN 10.176) | Study Notes from BMV Monday Sutta Study with Bhante Dr. G. Chandima

🧠 Three Ways the Mind Becomes Pure (Tividhaṃ Manasā Soceyyaṃ)

From the Cunda Sutta (AN 10.176)

The Buddha explains to Cunda how a person becomes pure in mind in three specific ways:

1. 🛑 No Covetousness/ No Personalized Craving – (An-abhijjhālu hoti)

"Idha, Cunda, ekacco an-abhijjhālu hoti, yaṃ taṃ parassa para-vittūpakaraṇaṃ taṃ an-abhijjhitā hoti: ‘aho vata yaṃ parassa taṃ mamassā’ti."

🔹 The person does not covet what belongs to others (para-vitta-upakaraṇa).
🔹 They do not think: “Oh, may what is another’s become mine!”
🔹 This reflects mental restraint from craving material possessions or achievements of others and practicing to renounce as necessary. (nekkhamma)

Modern ways people become covetous

Social Media Envy – Scrolling through curated feeds and wishing to have the looks, lifestyle, or possessions of influencers and friends.

Consumer Culture Pressure – Constant exposure to targeted ads triggers the urge to “upgrade” gadgets, clothes, cars, and homes to match others.

Workplace Rivalry – Desiring a colleague’s position, recognition, or salary instead of focusing on one’s own growth.

Relationship Comparison – Comparing one’s partner, family, or social circle to others and wanting what they have.

Status Symbol Obsession – Wanting branded items, luxury trips, or memberships simply because someone else has them.

Property & Asset Envy – Seeing others’ real estate, investments, or inheritance and wishing it were yours.

Academic & Professional Jealousy – Craving the credentials, awards, or intellectual achievements of peers.

Body Image & Beauty Envy – Desiring another person’s physical features, fitness level, or cosmetic enhancements.

Experience Chasing – Wanting to replicate others’ travel, dining, or leisure activities out of fear of missing out (FOMO).

Creative & Talent Envy – Coveting another’s artistic skill, public influence, or unique abilities rather than nurturing your own.

2. 💖 No Ill-Will/No Dosa with Intent – (Abyāpanna-citto hoti)

‘ime sattā haññantu vā bajjhantu vā ucchijjantu vā vinassantu vā mā vā ahesu ’nti."

haññantu – be killed
Wishing or intending for beings to be put to death.

bajjhantu – be captured
Desiring that beings be bound, imprisoned, or taken captive.

ucchijjantu – be annihilated
Hoping for the complete eradication or extermination of beings so they no longer exist.

vinassantu – be destroyed
Wishing for beings to be ruined, perish, or come to utter ruin.

mā vā ahesuṁ – may they not exist
Desiring that beings never come into existence at all.

“Abyāpanna-citto hoti appaduṭṭha-mana-saṅkappo: ‘ime sattā averā hontu abyāpajjā anīghā sukhī attānaṃ pariharantū’ti.”

averā hontu – may they be free from enmity/hatred

abyāpajjā – free from affliction/harm

anīghā – free from trouble/distress

sukhī attānaṃ pariharantū – may they look after themselves / take care of themselves happily

🔹 The person has no enmity or hatred in their thoughts.
🔹 They generate pure and harmless intentions (appaduṭṭha-mana-saṅkappa).
🔹 They reflect with universal mettā:
“May these beings be free from hostility, free from mental suffering, without distress, and may they care for themselves in happiness.”
🔹 This is an expression of mettā (loving-kindness) and compassionate mindfulness.

Modern ways people are generating ill-will

Online Comment Wars – Attacking strangers or acquaintances through harsh words on social media, driven by political, religious, or personal disagreements.

Cancel Culture Extremes – Not just holding people accountable, but wishing for their career, reputation, or life to be ruined.

Road Rage – Harbouring violent thoughts toward other drivers over traffic incidents.

Silent Resentment at Work – Secretly hoping a colleague fails, loses their job, or is humiliated in front of others.

Family Feuds – Holding grudges for years, wishing certain relatives would “get what they deserve.”

Romantic Revenge Fantasies – Wanting an ex-partner to suffer emotionally, socially, or financially.

Political Hostility – Wishing harm upon entire groups or leaders simply for holding opposing views.

Jealousy-Driven Malice – Hoping that someone more successful or attractive will lose what they have.

Cultural or Religious Prejudice – Wanting certain ethnic, cultural, or religious groups to be suppressed or eradicated.

Sports & Competition Hatred – Wanting an opposing team, athlete, or performer to fail miserably—sometimes even hoping for injury.

3. 🔍 Right View – (Sammādiṭṭhiko hoti a-viparīta-dassano)

“Sammādiṭṭhiko hoti a-viparīta-dassano: atthi dinnaṃ, atthi yiṭṭhaṃ, atthi hutaṃ, atthi sukaṭa-dukkaṭānaṃ kammānaṃ phalaṃ vipāko, atthi ayaṃ loko, atthi paro loko, atthi mātā, atthi pitā, atthi sattā opapātikā, atthi loke samaṇa-brāhmaṇā sammaggatā sammā-paṭipannā ye imañca lokaṃ parañca lokaṃ sayaṃ abhiññā sacchikatvā pavedenti.”

🔹 The person possesses right view (sammādiṭṭhi), with no distorted understanding (a-viparīta-dassana).
🔹 They acknowledge the following truths/perspectives:

There is giving/donations (atthi dinnaṃ)
There are formal religious offerings, possibly to deities, spirits, or ancestors (atthi yiṭṭhaṃ)
There are sacrifices (atthi hutaṃ)
There is the fruit and result (phala, vipāka) of wholesome and unwholesome kamma
There is this world (ayaṃ loko)
There is another world (paro loko)
There is a mother (atthi mātā)
There is a father (atthi pitā)
There are spontaneously born beings (opapātikā sattā)
There exist samanas and brahmins who have practiced rightly, known the two worlds by their own higher knowledge, and declared them. (atthi loke samaṇa-brāhmaṇā sammaggatā sammā-paṭipannā ye-imañca lokaṃ parañca lokaṃ sayaṃ abhiññā sacchikatvā pavedentī’ti)

Also, please take a look at the Right View poster I designed earlier. Click Here

Further Notes about Right View

Pubbaṅgama Sutta AN 10.121 Just as the light of dawn precedes the sunrise, so too right view precedes all wholesome states.

(Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, puratthimāya disāya pabhassaraṃ mahagghaṃ padīpaṃ ussukkaṃ jalehi. Evameva kho, bhikkhave, sammādiṭṭhi pubbaṅgamā sattānaṃ kusalesu dhammesu)

Sammādiṭṭhi Sutta MN 9 The sutta presents sixteen ways through which a practitioner may enter into Right View.

Venerable Sāriputta says:

“When a noble disciple understands these things, he has right view.” They are as follows:

1–2. Kamma and its Fruits (Action and Result)

Understanding wholesome actions (kusala kamma)
Understanding unwholesome actions (akusala kamma)

Knowing what types of actions lead to beneficial or harmful consequences.

3–4. Nutriment (Āhāra)

Understanding the four kinds of nutriment:

Physical food (kabalinkārāhāra)
Contact (phassa)
Mental volition (manosañcetanā)
Consciousness (viññāṇa)

Understanding the origin and cessation of nutriment

All beings are sustained by nutriment; understanding its conditioned nature helps develop right view.

5–6. The Four Noble Truths (Cattāri Ariyasaccāni)

Understanding suffering (dukkha)
Understanding the origin, cessation, and the path leading to cessation

Direct insight into the Four Noble Truths is the core of supramundane right view.

7–9. Taints or Defilements (Āsavā)

Understanding the taints (sensual desire, being, ignorance)
Understanding the origin of taints
Understanding the cessation of taints and the way leading to cessation

This reflects deeper insight into mental corruption and how to uproot it.

10–12. Knowledge of Ignorance (Avijjā)

Understanding ignorance
Understanding its origin
Understanding its cessation and the path to its cessation

Removing ignorance is critical to dismantling the cycle of saṃsāra.

13–16. Dependent Origination (Paṭiccasamuppāda)

Understanding aging and death
Understanding birth (as condition for aging and death)
Understanding the chain of causes: from formations (saṅkhārā) to consciousness, name-and-form, etc.
Understanding the cessation of the entire dependent arising

This is the most profound formulation of right view, culminating in the cessation of dukkha.

Ratana Sutta Sp 6 Right View as Entry to becoming a Sotapanna.

Modern Forms of Wrong View

1. Denial of Kamma and Its Fruits

Wrong view: Believing “Life is random—actions have no real moral consequence.”
Modern examples:
- Justifying cheating, lying, or harming because “everyone does it.
- Dismissing ethical living as irrelevant if no one is watching.

2. Rejection of Generosity’s Value

Wrong view: Thinking giving, donations, or acts of kindness are pointless.
Modern examples:
- “Charity is a scam—keep everything for yourself.”
- Viewing altruism only as a PR strategy, not a genuine virtue.

3. Materialist Nihilism

Wrong view: This life is all there is—there’s no afterlife or deeper dimension.
Modern examples:
- Living only for immediate pleasure, with no long-term moral compass.
- Mocking or rejecting any discussion of rebirth or spiritual realms.

4. Disrespect for Parents and Benefactors

Wrong view: Not recognizing the significance of parents or those who’ve nurtured and supported you.
Modern examples:
- Treating parents as burdens in old age.
- Erasing gratitude from the definition of success.

5. Denial of Noble Disciples

Wrong view: Believing enlightened beings or genuine spiritual teachers never existed or are irrelevant.
Modern examples:
- Labeling all monks, nuns, or teachers as hypocrites.
- Claiming there’s no such thing as awakening—it’s all myth.

6. Extreme Relativism

Wrong view: Thinking “There’s no right or wrong—everything is just personal opinion.”
Modern examples:
- Justifying harmful behavior as “my truth."
- Ignoring ethical standards because morality is seen as subjective.

Paṭisota

Search This Blog