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Wanting in excess of your fair 
share 
[mahicchA] 
Lust 
[kAmarAga] 
Deviousness 
[mAyA] 
Grasping for the Sensual 
Realms 
[kAmarAga] 
Grasping for the Form 
Realms 
[rEparAga] 
Grasping for the Formless 
Realms 
[arEparAga] 
Vengefulness 
[byApAda] 
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Directed Anger 
[dosa] 
Undirected Anger 
[kodha] 
Irritability 
[pAEigha] 
Dislike 
[arati] 
Wrong View 
[micchA diEEhi] 
Delusion 
[moha] 
False View of Individuality 
[sakkayaditthi] 
Doubt 
[vicikicchA] 
Adherance to Superstitions 
[sElabbatapArAmasa] 
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Conceit 
[mAna] 
Absent-Mindedness 
[uddhacca] 
Ignorance 
[avijjA] 
Heavy 
Medium 
Subtle 
Greed Hatred Delusion 
TABLE 37.2 
Heavy, Medium & Subtle 
Defilements in the Three 
Defilement Groups 
414 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
towards Enlightened Living 
honest means you could save up to 
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buy it (such 
a feeling is not desiring for things 
in a dishonest 
way) — however, even if you have 
a big salary, 
but you think to cheat someone 
else in order 
to get the thing you want, instead 
of paying 
for it — such a feeling is desiring 
things in 
a dishonest way; 
2. Open Covetousness 
[abhijjhAvisamalobha]: 
This is the desire for something so 
strong that 
you can no longer keep the desire 
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to yourself. 
You cannot stop yourself from 
showing an interest, 
from staring at the thing you want 
or 
even using unscrupulous means to 
get what 
you want; 
3. Discrete Covetousness 
[abhijjhA]: This is the 
desire for something which is 
strong, but not 
so strong that you cannot conceal 
your interest; 
4. Wanting to obtain things by 
unscrupulous earnings 
[pApicchA] this sort of greed 
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doesn't go as 
far as stealing things, but means 
when people 
use money of uncertain origin to 
pay for what 
they desire. They pay using 
earnings accrued 
in an unscrupulous way. It is like 
someone who 
wants to get rich and he will do 
any sort of work 
to achieve his end — even if it 
means selling 
drugs or stolen goods or gambling 
or going into 
prostitution to earn their living. 
Besides indirectly 
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bringing harm to society, of course 
such 
desire will detract from one's 
credability; 
5. Wanting in excess of your fair 
share [mahicchA]: 
This is when one's greed gets out 
of 
hand to the point one loses one's 
consideration 
for others. It is like someone who 
takes more 
than their fair share of food on the 
table — or a 
member of a group who shares a 
taxi with them 
but who refuses to contribute his 
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fair share of 
the taxi fare at the end of the 
journey. It is also 
illustrated by the sort of person 
who goes into 
a business partnership, but who is 
reluctant to 
pay for anything extra if he knows 
that the returns 
will be shared. However, his 
reluctance 
soon disappears if the profit ever 
comes to him 
personally! It is not stealing, or 
income from unscrupulous 
livelihood, but it is still taking 
advantage 
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of others; 
6. Lust [IcArnarAga]: This is being 
attracted obsessively 
to someone or something — like 
someone 
who is attracted to someone of the 
opposite 
sex (even if he never mentioned 
his love to 
anyone). Some people might ask 
whether such 
love is wrong, because it doesn't 
take advantage 
of anyone else — in fact it may not 
be harmful 
to anyone, but it is a defilement, a 
subtle 
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one. It is of no harm if the object 
of your love is 
not already married — but as we 
have learned 
in Blessing Thirty-Six, wherever 
there is love, 
tears must follow. Even if you 
have only ever 
loved your lawful wedded spouse 
and have 
never taken an interest in anyone 
else, it is still 
unwise to harbour this defilement 
of sensual 
pleasure in your mind, because it 
may cause 
you problems some time in the 
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future; 
7. Deviousness [mAyA]: This is 
when you would 
like to get something but you are 
too embarrassed 
to ask for it directly — therefore 
you find 
an indirect way of obtaining what 
you want —
like saying, "I guess you don't use 
this any 
more? If you leave it lying around 
it will probably 
go rusty!" in order that someone 
gives you 
something they own but which you 
want. You 
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wouldn't have the courage to ask 
for such a 
thing directly. It also includes all 
the daft things 
young people do in front of a 
mirror before they 
go courting a boy-/girlfriend; 
8. Grasping for the Sensual 
Realms [kAmarAga]: 
This is when you still have an 
attraction for sensual 
pleasure which will cause you to 
be reborn 
in the sensual sphere; 
9. Grasping for the Form Realms 
[rEparAga]: This 
is when you still have some 
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attraction for the 
pleasures of the form absorptions. 
When one 
meditates to the degree one attains 
the first absorption 
or higher, one attains happiness 
that 
money cannot buy. Of course, the 
happiness of 
complete liberation from 
defilements is superior 
to this — but some people who 
attain such 
meditation think that it is the 
ultimate, because 
some people who attain this level 
can even perform 
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miracles. Therefore they don't try 
to make 
Blessing Thirty-Seven: Freedom 
from Subtle Defilements 415 
any further progress. Their 
spiritual progress 
gets stuck at this point and they 
lose sight of 
their long-term goal. However, to 
have attained 
form absorptions to become 
deluded by is still 
far superior to attaining nothing at 
all!; 
10. Grasping for the Formless 
Realms [arEparAga] : 
If you attain the formless 
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absorptions but you 
become elated by your attainment 
instead of 
training yourself further then you 
will be subject 
to this subtle defilement and be 
unable to 
make any further progress; 
B.2.2 Hatred Group [dosa]: 
Hatred includes all the defilements 
which react with 
aversion to unpleasant stimuli. It 
can mean the 
thoughts or expressions of 
aggression towards others, 
their possessions or their 
reputation — and includes 
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anger and illwill. In approximate 
order of 
decreasing seriousness, hatred 
comes in the following 
varieties: 
I. Vengefulness [byApAda]: This 
is anger, grudges, 
spite or the wish to destroy others 
that is so 
strong that if you don't succeed in 
destroying 
someone today, you will make sure 
you succeed 
on a future occasion. It is like 
water boiling so 
violently that it will spit out of the 
container and 
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scald the people nearby; 
2. Directed Anger [dosa]: This is 
anger itself with 
the thought to kill the object of 
your anger or 
burn down their house or kick 
them or insult 
them or discredit them. This is like 
water at a 
rolling boil, where you can hear 
the sound of the 
bubbles breaking; 
3. Undirected Anger [kodha]: This 
again is anger, 
but not yet with the accompanying 
thought of 
how to express the anger. It is the 
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sort of anger 
that comes from biting your tongue 
when you 
are eating or inadvertantly 
stubbing your toe. 
You have not yet put the blame on 
anyone — it 
is just a feeling. This is like the 
fizz of water that 
is starting to simmer; 
4. Irritability [paEigha]: This is 
not so serious as 
anger, but it is the feeling of 
friction in one's mind 
when there is aversion present. 
When a mother 
wants to sit for meditation and her 
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daughter has 
the radio turned up loud, she will 
say, "Can't 
you turn down the volume, I would 
like to meditate 
now?" When her daughter says, 
"Why do 
you have to meditate now?" 
although the mother 
is not angry, she will be irritated 
by her daughter's 
lack of co-operation. Although 
irritability 
per se is of negligable harm, you 
have to overcome 
it because it has the potential to 
developing 
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into fully-fledged anger; 
5. Dislike [arati]: This is the sort of 
feeling of awkwardness 
when you have a slight difference 
in 
taste from another person but you 
have to share 
in their activities or share the same 
workplace. 
Thus you would prefer not to share 
in the same 
activities as this person. If you still 
have such a 
feeling, your mind is still under the 
sway of the 
subtle defilements of the mind. 
B.2.3 Ignorance Group [moha]: 
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