Dhiravamsa

Poverty is the world suffering

The Buddha said to his monks, "Monks, poverty is the world suffering."
The monks replied, "Yes, Sir! It is absolutely true."
Then, he said to them, "Monks, consider those people who are poor, have no wealth of their own, and who are in debt because of borrowing; even so, being in debt is a suffering for those indulging themselves in the world of the sensuality(1) consumption.

"Those who are in debt will have to pay interest; even so, paying interest is a suffering in the world of the sensuality consuming people."

"When the poor cannot pay interest on time, they will be first reminded of the payment, and then be forced to pay, even so, being reminded of, and being enforced to pay, is a suffering in the world of the sensuality consuming people."

"Being unable to pay the obligatory interest, the poor will be sought after (in case of escaping), so such an unwelcome situation of being pursued is a suffering in the world of the sensuality consuming people."

"Even so, such people are still unable to pay off the interest required of them; they will be put in jail. Spending a certain time in jail for that particular reason is a suffering in the world of the sensuality consuming people."

"Monks, poverty, borrowing money and creating debt, paying interest, being sought after, being reminded of and forced to pay interest, spending time in prison because of the inability to pay off debt, all these are a suffering in the world of the sensuality consuming people."

"Monks, such is an actual fact. Now, metaphorically speaking, some people have no faith (saddhá) in the good, skillful things, are without healthy shame (hiri) and without creative fear (ottappa) regarding evil and unskillful things, make no efforts or do not persevere (viriya) in doing good and skillful things, and conduct themselves in such a way that wisdom or inner knowing (paññá) is never applied. Such people are indeed poor inwardly, and are absolutely not rich, having no wealth (inner treasure) of their own."

"Monks, these poverty-stricken people (in the Dharma sense) have no faith, are without healthy shame and creative fear, putting no energy into doing good things, and are without wisdom or inner knowing to guide them. They will be inclined to perform evil deeds or engage in bad behaviors through action, speech, and thought. Such evil performances and bad behaviors I call "borrowing money or being in debt " for these people."

"Monks, because of attempting to conceal their evil deeds and bad behaviors these poverty-stricken people try their best through their false speech and fake action not to let others see or know of their unwelcome behaviors and the evil things they have done. This I call "paying interest " for these people."

"Monks, the fellow dharma practitioners who are endowed with loving ethical conduct, will talk about these poverty-stricken people and say that they have done such and such evil things and behaved very badly in such and such a way. This I call "being followed up or reminded of debt " for these people.

"Those possessing the bad, unwholesome, and troubled mind will search for these poverty-stricken people wherever they might be, whether in a forest, in the hole of a tree, or in a deserted house or a ruined place. This I call "being sought after " for these people."

"These poverty-stricken people (in the Dharma sense) having performed such evil things and conducted their lives so unethically will reap the consequences of their action, speech, and thought in this very life on earth; and after death they will be tortured in hell and in the animal kingdom."

"Monks, I do not know of any other punishment or torture so utterly brutal, so deeply painful, and so dangerously damaging to the attainment of the Dharma clear and free of all the mental contaminations: the Supreme and the Transcendent , that is equal to such a torture paid off in the realm of hell (2) in this life on earth and in the animal realm of the brain consciousness."

Translated from the Buddhist Pali Text entitled
"Chakkanipáta of Anguttara-Nikáya" by Dhiravamsa

(1) Sensuality (Káma) has two categories: One is vatthu-káma, referring to the corresponding objects of physical sense modalities, namely, the visual objects (the visible), sounds (the audible), odor/smell, flavor/taste, and tactile impressions or bodily contact. Another is kilesa-káma, meaning, the kinds of kilesas (impurities, contaminations, and mental fermentations) that become the conditions for sensual arousing such as lustful desire (rága), greed or the drive to get (lobha), craving, aspiration, and longing (icchá), jealousy (issá), aversion (arati), and insatiability and dissatisfactoriness (asantutthi), etc.
(2) The true meaning of hell according to the Buddha refers to the unpleasant, painful, and/or disagreeable experiences through our six senses (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body touch/tactile impressions, and mind).

	Texts Poverty is the world suffering The Buddha said to his monks, "Monks, poverty is the world suffering." The monks replied, "Yes, Sir! It is absolutely true." Then, he said to them, "Monks, consider those people who are poor, have no wealth of their own, and who are in debt because of borrowing; even so, being in debt is a suffering for those indulging themselves in the world of the sensuality(1) consumption. "Those who are in debt will have to pay interest; even so, paying interest is a suffering in the world of the sensuality consuming people." "When the poor cannot pay interest on time, they will be first reminded of the payment, and then be forced to pay, even so, being reminded of, and being enforced to pay, is a suffering in the world of the sensuality consuming people." "Being unable to pay the obligatory interest, the poor will be sought after (in case of escaping), so such an unwelcome situation of being pursued is a suffering in the world of the sensuality consuming people." "Even so, such people are still unable to pay off the interest required of them; they will be put in jail. Spending a certain time in jail for that particular reason is a suffering in the world of the sensuality consuming people." "Monks, poverty, borrowing money and creating debt, paying interest, being sought after, being reminded of and forced to pay interest, spending time in prison because of the inability to pay off debt, all these are a suffering in the world of the sensuality consuming people." "Monks, such is an actual fact. Now, metaphorically speaking, some people have no faith (saddhá) in the good, skillful things, are without healthy shame (hiri) and without creative fear (ottappa) regarding evil and unskillful things, make no efforts or do not persevere (viriya) in doing good and skillful things, and conduct themselves in such a way that wisdom or inner knowing (paññá) is never applied. Such people are indeed poor inwardly, and are absolutely not rich, having no wealth (inner treasure) of their own." "Monks, these poverty-stricken people (in the Dharma sense) have no faith, are without healthy shame and creative fear, putting no energy into doing good things, and are without wisdom or inner knowing to guide them. They will be inclined to perform evil deeds or engage in bad behaviors through action, speech, and thought. Such evil performances and bad behaviors I call "*borrowing money or being in debt* " for these people." "Monks, because of attempting to conceal their evil deeds and bad behaviors these poverty-stricken people try their best through their false speech and fake action not to let others see or know of their unwelcome behaviors and the evil things they have done. This I call "*paying interest* " for these people." "Monks, the fellow dharma practitioners who are endowed with loving ethical conduct, will talk about these poverty-stricken people and say that they have done such and such evil things and behaved very badly in such and such a way. This I call "*being followed up or reminded of debt* " for these people. "Those possessing the bad, unwholesome, and troubled mind will search for these poverty-stricken people wherever they might be, whether in a forest, in the hole of a tree, or in a deserted house or a ruined place. This I call "*being sought after* " for these people." "These poverty-stricken people (in the Dharma sense) having performed such evil things and conducted their lives so unethically will reap the consequences of their action, speech, and thought in this very life on earth; and after death they will be tortured in hell and in the animal kingdom." "Monks, I do not know of any other punishment or torture so utterly brutal, so deeply painful, and so dangerously damaging to the attainment of the Dharma clear and free of all the mental contaminations: the Supreme and the Transcendent , that is equal to such a torture paid off in the realm of hell (2) in this life on earth and in the animal realm of the brain consciousness." Translated from the Buddhist Pali Text entitled "Chakkanipáta of Anguttara-Nikáya" by Dhiravamsa (1) Sensuality (Káma) has two categories: One is vatthu-káma, referring to the corresponding objects of physical sense modalities, namely, the visual objects (the visible), sounds (the audible), odor/smell, flavor/taste, and tactile impressions or bodily contact. Another is kilesa-káma, meaning, the kinds of kilesas (impurities, contaminations, and mental fermentations) that become the conditions for sensual arousing such as lustful desire (rága), greed or the drive to get (lobha), craving, aspiration, and longing (icchá), jealousy (issá), aversion (arati), and insatiability and dissatisfactoriness (asantutthi), etc. (2) The true meaning of hell according to the Buddha refers to the unpleasant, painful, and/or disagreeable experiences through our six senses (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body touch/tactile impressions, and mind).


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