The Four Types of Individuals (1)

Venerable Sāriputta explained this teaching when Venerable Mahā Moggallāna and other monks requested to hear the Dhamma. The Noble Elder taught: "There are four types of people in the world." 1. The individual who has defilements (kilesa) but does not know that they exist. 2. The individual who has defilements and knows that they exist. 3. The individual who has few defilements but does not know that they are absent. 4. The individual who knows that defilements are utterly absent and free from impurity. Then, Venerable Mahā Moggallāna asked, "Venerable Sir, please explain the meaning of each one individually." Venerable Sāriputta clarified: The First Individual: The person who has impure defilements but does not know they exist is an inferior individual. The Second Individual: The person who knows that the impure defilements and mental impurities exist is a superior individual. The Third Individual: This person has few defilements. Although they lack defilements in a specific sense (not eradicated by the Path), they lie dormant. They have a small amount but are unaware of this absence. This person is also an inferior individual. The Fourth Individual: The person who knows that defilements are absent is a superior individual. Thus, among these four, there are two inferior individuals and two superior individuals. The first and third are inferior; the second and fourth are superior. Explanation of the First (Inferior) Individual: The first individual, possessing impure defilements yet unaware of their existence, feels no desire to cleanse or purify themselves. Because they have defilements but don't know it, they only accumulate more impurities. They constantly engage in actions rooted in greed (lobha), hatred (dosa), and delusion (moha). Since they were already impure and unaware of it, their subsequent actions only increase the defilements. They strive to concoct more impurities. Unaware that their deeds are wrong, they perform dirty actions while regarding themselves as virtuous. Consequently, they only do what is unwholesome. They roll in filth, engage in deceit, crookedness, and actions leading to ruin, merely piling impurity upon impurity. Therefore, they are classified as inferior. Analogy: For example, someone buys a tarnished bronze bowl. Upon bringing it home, they don't clean it but place it in a dirty spot. Consequently, the bowl becomes increasingly filthy. It was already dirty when bought, and after bringing it home, instead of using it, they stash it away in a filthy corner, making it too soiled to use. Similarly, an individual who has defilements but is unaware of their existence will not practice vipassanā (insight meditation). They become increasingly foolish. Just as they were already burdened with the impurities of an ordinary worldling (puthujjana), like the bowl bought dirty and left in filth until unusable, this increasingly foolish person becomes useless in human society. Therefore, ordinary worldlings inherently possess the impurity of defilements. If they do not wash them away with the water of Dhamma – vipassanā – the impurities will only increase. An individual unaware of their existing defilements, who fails to purify them through bodily, verbal, and mental actions, will go to the lower realms (apāya) upon death. When they practice meditation, their inherent defilements gradually diminish. Only vipassanā wisdom can cleanse defilements completely. For someone unaware of their existing impurities, the effort to purify themselves never arises. They only accumulate more defilements. Consequently, they die filled with these impurities and unwholesome mental states. Therefore, such an individual is classified as inferior. (To be continued...) Venerable Dr. Ashin Parami See also: http://myakyunthar.blogspot.com/?m=1