Robin Beck

The Root Causes of Crime and Violence?

On Bonno soku Bodai
Ki to Revitalization
Bonno or Klesha
Buddhism & Positive Thinking

This is still being revised. A few things shall be adjusted.

"And what, friends, is the unwholesome ...? Killing living beings is unwholesome; taking what is not given is unwholesome; misconduct in sensual pleasures is unwholesome; false speech is unwholesome; malicious speech is unwholesome; harsh speech is unwholesome; gossip is unwholesome; covetousness is unwholesome; ill will is unwholesome; wrong view is unwholesome. This is called the unwholesome. ... "And what is the root of the unwholesome? Greed is a root of the unwholesome; hate is a root of the unwholesome; delusion is a root of the unwholesome. This is called the root of the unwholesome." -- the Buddha from the Sammaditthi Sutta 4.5.

The principle expounded by the Buddha in the above cited passages is the "Three Unhealthy Roots," or Akusala Mula. Mula means root; while Akusala is variously translated as Unwholesome, Unskillful, Unintelligent, Malcontented, Non-beneficial, Harmful. and Evil. He apparently saw these three basic afflictions, Avarice/Greed; Hatred/Anger, and Delusion/Ignorance as the roots of crime and violence. Moreover, what I really like, he evidently saw crime and violence as unskilful action, resulting from an uncultivated mind. People are not intrinsically good or evil; we all have delusive inclinations.

The Three Roots are also known as the Three Fires and Three Poisons. While there is some variation in terms, these all refer to the three main undelrying kilesa/klesha. The Sanskrit word Klesha, or Kilesa in Pali, was translated into Chinese as 煩悩, read as Bonno in Sino-Japanese. The original meaning of Bonno was something like "troublesome attitude;" though it has sadly come to mean "earthly desires," or even lust, in the modern parlance.

Klesha is most commonly translated into English as defilement. Other translations include afflictions, emotional obscurations, fires, evil passions, desires, illusions, and impurities. While these are primarily emotional afflictions, the lists do include illusions of thought. There are many lists, and not all agree, some list 4, 5, or 6 primary Klesha, from which all secondary afflicted attitudes are derived. Right now, I see "afflictions of perception" as a decent definition of Klesha.

I combed through a lot of sources and came up with this, which is newly revised:

Trsna; Tanha: Craving; Gluttony. Literally, hunger & thirst
Upadana {clinging}
Raga: Passsion, Emotion.
Lobha: Avarice, Materialistic Greed.
Kama: Sensual Lust.
Irsya: Envy. Coveting what others have.
Matsarya: Stinginess; miserliness, jealousy.

Atrapa/Anapatrapya/Anottappa: No conscience
Ahrikya Shamelessness.
Maya: Deceit, Duplicity, Fraudulence.
Asatya: Guile, Cunning.

Mana: Pride, Arrogance; measuring one's worth against that of others.
Mada: Conceit, Egoism, Self-infatuation, Hubris. atmasneha
Mraksha: Concealment.
Dambha: Hypocrisy
Garva: Arrogance, Haughtiness, Vanity.
Pramada: Arrogance, Impudence, Carelessness, Recklessness

Arati: Aversion.
Dvesa; Dosa: Hatred.
Pratigha: Anger, Displeasure, Repugnance
Upahana: Resentment.
Pradasa: Spite, Vindictiveness, Vexation.
Byapada: Enmity, Malice, Ill-will.
Manyu: Grudge
Asuya: Malice, Malevolence.
Krodha: Fury, Wrath, Rage.
Jighansa: Treachery, Vengefulness, desire to kill.
Vihimsa: Violence, Harmfulness.

Moha: Bewilderment, Confusion.
Avidya; Avija: Ignorance.
Vicikitsa: Skepticism, Doubt
Ashraddha: Mistrust; Faithlessness

Drsti; Dhitti: Opinion, Perspective, Viewpoint.
Mudhi: Stupidity.
Styana: Torpor, Mental Obscuration.
Silabbataparamasa: Superstition

Kausidya: Lethargy, Indolence.
Thina: Slothfulness; Lazy Nature.
Middha: Drowsiness.
Musitasmrtita: Heedlessness, not Mindful.
Viksepa: Distraction.
Auddhatya; Uddhava: Restlessness, Dis-ease.
Kukkucca: Anxiety.
Asamprajanya Thoughtlessness

By the way, there aren't really 108 distinct Bonno. IIRC, in that scheme, there are 5 delusive inclinations, and 5 illusions of thought. These sort of repeat over and over in various contexts, with some being shed along the way. Then, there are 10 subordinate Kleshas that are tacked on at the end.

“The Roots of Violence: Wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice, politics without principles.” -- Ghandi

"The tree of violence is rooted in social injustice based on inequality in race, class, gender, and sexual orientation." -- Paul Kivel

"Poverty no more causes crime than wealth causes virtue." -- William F. Vallicella {I think}

"Liberals (and here I use the word in its North American sense – as a euphemism for socialists), answer that the reason for crime is « child poverty » and « discrimination ». Kids who come from « disadvantaged backgrounds » are pre-disposed to anti-social behaviours. The answer therefore is the same one that liberals always have to any problem: get the government to spend more of other people’s money on it. Welfare, subsidized daycare. You name it." -- David MacRae

"The root causes of crime are well documented and researched. Crime is primarily the outcome of multiple adverse social, economic, cultural and family conditions. To prevent crime it is important to have an understanding of its roots. ... Social root causes of crime are: inequality, not sharing power, lack of support to families and neighborhoods, real or perceived inaccessibility to services, lack of leadership in communities, low value placed on children and individual well-being, the overexposure to television as a means of recreation." -- Community Safety and Crime Prevention Council {CS&CPC} Statement on the Root Causes of Crime approved in 1996

"The Root Cause of Juvenile Crime and Violence Is Poverty." -- unknown

“The root cause of crime is lack of moral character." -- Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson

"Poverty is not the root cause of crime." -- Rush Limbaugh

"I suggest that poverty is the key root cause. In particular, the extraordinary (and growing) gap between the richest and poorest in our society. Poverty does more [to] limit your economic possibilities. It also limits your opportunities, and the opportunities you can envision for yourself. Poverty disenfranchises by emphasizing class differences, and this disenfranchisement is more destruction than the fact of being poor. ... If we want to do something concrete about crime, then poverty must be addressed." -- David Empey

Posted by rbeck at May 29, 2007 05:41 AM