Manifestations of Sloth, Manifestations of Anger, Manifestations of Greed, Manifestations of Alcoholism

This "fifth evil" was originally summarized by classical Buddhist commentators in the Five Evils chapter as the pleasure of drinking. But if we look closely at this long passage, its scope is much broader. Perhaps because alcohol can cloud the mind, the discussion expands from there, focusing mainly on the evils that arise in the mind. Here it describes twelve manifestations of evil in the minds of ordinary beings bound by karma. These descriptions are extremely detailed.

The Buddha told the assembly: what is the fifth evil? It is the manifestation of "sloth" that comes first among the people living in this world filled with all suffering—sloth and laziness. Hence it is called "wandering in idleness and sloth, unwilling to do good, or cultivate one's person and rectify one's conduct." This "wandering in idleness" refers to hesitating and refusing to move forward. His laziness means he has no motivation or drive; he wants to act but can't follow through. This is what "wandering in idleness" means.

This pattern of behavior comes from the innate tendency toward sloth and laziness that he—like all sentient beings—is born with.

Why must a person, whether pursuing worldly endeavors or the path of liberation, set their will, have ideals, and have goals? Working steadily toward that goal with perseverance—dripping water wears through stone—this kind of conduct can transcend sloth and laziness.

But ordinary people lack this kind of willpower and sense of purpose, so they easily grow slothful and undisciplined. Once sloth and indulgence arise, they trigger many seeds of affliction and evil karma. Lacking a proper life goal, a person won't "do good." Why won't they do good? Because doing good requires the strong motivation that comes from belief in cause and effect. If they don't believe in cause and effect, getting them to do good is almost impossible. Doing evil is easy; doing good is like rowing against the current, like pushing a boulder uphill.

So once the affliction of indulgence takes hold, they naturally won't do good, nor will they "cultivate their person" with filial piety, fraternal love, loyalty, trustworthiness, propriety, righteousness, integrity, or a sense of shame, nor will they rectify their conduct. They can't even maintain the five human relationships at home. So the second manifestation is anger and wrath.

A person's character shows itself most clearly in the family. At home, they don't care about their parents, spouse, or dependents, and can't get along with them. They're indifferent to the hunger, cold, and hardship their family members endure. Wrapped up in their own laziness, self-interest, and selfishness, they care nothing for others. Because they can't cultivate their person or rectify their conduct, they don't engage in proper work, they love ease and hate effort, and they can hardly build a livelihood. Their parents, of course, worry deeply, and admonish them: "You need to start a family, build a career, find a good and stable job so you can stand on your own two feet in society." They teach them how to be a good person, how to handle affairs. This is the "admonition" parents offer out of compassion.

But such a person not only refuses to listen—they get angry. When parents speak, they don't want to hear it, so they "glower in anger and answer," fixing their parents with furious eyes. When their parents talk to them, they fly into a rage. This is unfilial! The love parents have for their children is utterly selfless and leaves nothing out. The grace of a parent's love for their children is beyond what even heaven and earth can match. If you can't be bothered to repay your parents when you're right beside them, and instead "glower in anger and answer" them, you commit a grave sin of unfiliality. And at home, their words and deeds are deeply at odds with the family, turning the household into complete chaos.

"Defying and rebelling" means going against the family's will in everything; whatever anyone says, they don't want to hear, even arguing the opposite and doing the reverse. Unfilial to parents, unfraternal to siblings, caring nothing for others—this is "defying and rebelling." So their relationship with their parents becomes like that of sworn enemies, and the parents, utterly heartbroken by such a son, often lament that it would have been better never to have given birth to him—"better to have no son at all."

Why do sages place such great importance on family ethics? The family is a harbor in social life, a place where one finds peace of mind and establishes one's purpose.

If the family falls apart, suffering becomes unbearable. At work, in society, one may have to wear a false mask; coming home, you long to show your true face, but the household itself is in turmoil. This is the suffering of such afflicted beings. This is his manifestation of anger.

The third is the manifestation of greed: "taking and giving without restraint, disliked by everyone, repaying kindness with ingratitude, breaking faith and righteousness, with no heart of repayment." He squanders the family's money without a thought. Normally, managing a household means living within your means, sizing up your income and living accordingly. But he pays no attention to any of that, living only for today—"taking and giving without restraint." This leaves the family unable to make ends meet, hardly able to survive, so his family grows to hate and fear him.

When he runs out of money, he borrows from one relative, then another. People lend to him out of consideration for family ties, of course. But once they lend, he never repays. When you press him for the money back, he says, "I haven't got any money, but I've got one life to give!" At that point, people give up, and everyone grows to despise him. This person "repays kindness with ingratitude." He turns his back on parents, teachers, and friends who have shown him kindness and helped him, never repaying them. He "breaks faith and righteousness," violating all the bonds of love and duty owed to his six close relatives.

In short, he lives his life completely upside down. Toward those he should be grateful to, and the debts he owes, he has no thought of repayment. He just squanders, muddling through each day, until his fate becomes one of poverty and ruin. Sunk in poverty, he makes no effort to pull himself up—he doesn't even consider, "How can I rebuild the family business? What kind of career should I pursue? How can I work hard enough to stand firm in society and set my parents' minds at ease?" So he "sinks into poverty and want." He lets things take their course, unable to gather any more wealth.

When he can't get any more money, the pressure of survival forces him to find another way. But that way isn't a proper one. Before long, the behavior of a petty street thug begins to emerge.

"Obstructing and seizing, indulging and wandering, habitually taking what's not his, using it to sustain himself."

"Obstructing and seizing" means he interferes with others' legitimate business to line his own pockets—bullying market traders, monopolizing a territory, becoming a local petty boss. "You've got to accept my protection, you've got to pay me what I ask," he uses violence to seize others' property, making himself into a robber. When he uses these "obstructing and seizing" methods to get what he wants, ordinary decent folk fear such desperate, ruthless people. When they cross paths with him, they have no choice but to hand over a little.

Once he has it, he "indulges and wanders"—giving himself over to every vice, wine, sex, wealth, and rage, all five poisons in full play. The moment he has money, he splashes it out on high-end pleasures. "Wandering" means drifting about with nothing to do, always on the lookout for the next chance to grab. In this way, his nature becomes habit; he grows used to getting what he wants through unrighteous, improper, illegitimate means—profit without labor. This is the time-honored behavior of the street thug. He uses money obtained through unearned and dishonest means to live off others without lifting a finger.

It's as if people are handing him disaster relief—meeting his every need for food and clothing. This is his manifestation of greed. The next is his manifestation of alcoholism. "Being addicted to alcohol and fond of fine food" means obsessing over the wine cup, loving to drink, loving to eat delicacies. He has no restraint in his eating; normally three meals a day, he may eat five or six, plus late-night snacks.

As someone jokes: "Fasting until noon? What's that? I can only manage not eating after midnight." Such unrestrained eating and drinking is standard behavior for the self-indulgent. He thinks this is just how life should be: pursuing the pleasures of the palate.

A mind like this has no rational leash—it's completely unbridled, like a runaway horse. When this runaway horse bumps into anything, it lashes out with wild aggression.

On one hand, he's extremely domineering and overbearing, mistaking cruelty for strength; seeing that others fear him, he grows more and more arrogant. "Lashing out" means the moment he encounters anything, he immediately clashes—fists, knives, weapons, whatever's at hand. Such a person is extremely difficult to deal with, disrupts social order, and fills people with dread.