Defilements
Dhammapada ilustration “conquer of oneself”, and the end of defilements
The untrained mind is prey to many mental states (defilements) that sully its natural radiance. These include the various forms of greed, jealousy, anger, hatred and animosity, dullness and agitation, complacency, confusion, arrogance, contempt and conceit, and blind attachment to views and beliefs. Fortunately, none of these mental states is ‘hard-wired’ into the mind; every one may be eliminated through practice of the Eightfold Path. These negative, harmful mental states are called “kilesa” in the Pali language, usually rendered in English as “defilements”
In this [FAQ about Buddhism] the term “toxic mental states” has been preferred to “defilement”. The reasons for this somewhat unorthodox rendering are that firstly, defilement is generally perceived to be irreversible but kilesa are not; secondly, because toxic is a familiar and powerful contemporary word that illuminates heedless attitudes towards kilesa, and thirdly, because it admits of gradation: we can speak of something as being mildly and something else as seriously toxic.
More questions and answers HERE.
Source:
- Without and Within – Ajahn Jayasaro
Ryokan Says
There’s a long list which define many defilements, in general terms we can define them like Ajahn Jayasaro did in this FAQ. If we want to look further on this defilements we can take has a reference the Abhidhamma.
The first three that we are going to mention here are define has akusala-mula or unwholesome roots, their opposites are the wholesome roots or kusala-mula; the presence of this roots influence in how we think and therefore our speak and actions, conditioning our future experience (karma). They are has follow:
1.lobha (greed)
2.dosa (hate)
3.moha (delusion)
4.mana (conceit)
5.micchaditthi (wrong views)
6.vicikiccha (doubt)
7.thinam (torpor)
8.uddhaccam (restlessness)
9.ahirikam (shamelessness)
10.abittaoan (recklessness)
We give priority to pali names, the translations can vary in functions of traditions or texts, the three roots are considered has three fetter factors to cycle of samsara; lobha, dosa and moha, in this sense we translate them has attachment, aversion and ignorance, repectively.
~Ryokan