*THE THREE TRADITIONAL DESTROYERS*
                             by Sayagyi U Ba Khin

            Piyato jayati soko piyato jayati bhayam
            Piyato vippamuttassa natthi soko suto bhayam.
            Pemato jayati soko pemato jayati bhayam
            Pemato vippamuttassa natthi soko suto bhayam.
            Ratiya jayati soko ratiya jayati bhayam
            Ratiya vippamuttassa natthi soko suto bhayam.
            Kamato jayati soko kamato jayati bhayam
            Kamato vippamuttassa natthi soko suto bhayam.
            Tanhaya jayati soko tanhaya jayati bhayam
            Tanhaya vippamuttassa natthi soko suto bhayam.

        What is loved gives rise to grief. What is loved gives rise to 
            fear.
        There is no grief for one who is released, so how could there be 
            fear?
        Affection gives rise to grief. Affection gives rise to fear.
        There is no grief for one who is released, so how could there be 
            fear?
        Attachment gives rise to grief. Attachment gives rise to fear.
        There is no grief for one who is released, so how could there be 
            fear?
        Sensual desire gives rise to grief. Sensual desire gives rise to 
            fear.
        There is no grief for one who is released, so how could there be 
            fear?
        Craving gives rise to grief. Craving gives rise to fear.
        There is no grief for one who is released, so how could there be 
            fear?

                                                 Dhammapada, vv. 212-217

  	At one time, a wealthy brahman went to see the Buddha in order to 
  ask a question.[1] "Friend Gotama," he said, "according to the sayings of 
  brahmans who lived long ago -- men who were old, who taught other     
  teachers   -- this world was once very crowded with people. Why does     
  there seem to   have been a decrease in the number of people?"

  	The Buddha answered, "At the present time, brahman, people are 
  infatuated with unrighteous passion (adhamma-raga-ratta), overpowered by 
  inordinate greed (visama-lobhabhi-bhuta), overcome by unnatural (desires) 
  (micchadhamma-pareta). Because of this, they seize knives and weapons  
  and kill each other. Because of this, the (rain) deva does not send timely 
  rains. Because of this, food is scarce, crops fail, there is famine, and 
  people must live on blades of grass. Because of this, Yakkhas release non- 
  human beings (to attack people). This is why there has been such a 
  decrease in the number of people in the world."

  	After hearing the Buddha's discourse, the brahman took refuge in 
  him.

  	In this discourse, the Buddha speaks of the three destroyers of the 
  world: war, drought and famine, and pestilence. These three destroyers are 
  also mentioned in a discourse in which the Buddha describes how there is a 
  gradual decline in the human lifespan until people only live for ten 
  years.[2] The same causes are given in both discourses: people are 
  infatuated with unrighteous passion, overpowered by inordinate greed, and 
  overcome by unnatural desires. In the commentaries, unrighteous passion is 
  defined as incest and unnatural desires are defined as homosexuality.

  	The Buddha says that these tendencies, which give rise to the 
  traditional destroyers, were already prevalent in his own day. Today, they 
  seem to be even more widespread. In the Western world, there has been a 
  general rejection of traditional moral values -- but unfortunately, this 
  has not been accompanied by a healthy re-examination of religious and 
  social teachings. People seem rather to be interested only in finding 
  excuses for satisfying their every desire. They do not believe that wrong 
  actions in this life will lead to suffering in future lives. Once the 
  belief in cause and effect is rejected, then people begin to believe that 
  they can act with impunity.

  	Not everyone is so blind, of course. We read of efforts to combat 
  child abuse (including incest), of people who question whether blind 
  accumulation of material possessions can lead to happiness, of reactions 
  to the so-called sexual liberation. But many times people who crusade to 
  re-establish moral rules in our society are considered to be old- 
  fashioned. And it is true that some of the crusaders are religious zealots 
  who go to extremes that work against their cause. Some of the effort is 
  being made by government agencies, and the resulting bureaucracy does 
  not make for efficient handling of the many problems involved.

  	What is needed in the world today is for people to understand that 
  if they will make the effort to lead moral lives, not only will they be 
  rewarded in future lives -- an idea that may only appeal to people who 
  hold religious beliefs -- but their present life will be happier, too. We 
  should make the effort to follow the basic five precepts, which the Buddha 
  pointed out were necessary if the world is to escape from being destroyed 
  -- not because he invented these precepts, but because they are part of 
  the natural order of the conditioned world. Anyone who has made an 
  honest effort to do so will know what a difference it can make. Leading a 
  moral life gives much joy and energy. We can free ourselves from the fears 
  and anxieties that accompany immoral actions.

  	It will not be easy. The world has seen constant wars being waged 
  during the twentieth century. The two World Wars were only the largest of 
  many other wars -- some of which are still going on today. We are seeing 
  strange famines in which countries that have bumper crops cannot gather in 
  the food necessary to feed the people, famines in countries with vast 
  stores of food that are not distributed because of the greed of a few 
  people. There is much talk of disruptions in the earth's climate -- the 
  greenhouse effect. Some people see evidence that it is already happening. 

  Others claim there is not enough evidence yet. And many governments   
  refuse to take precautionary steps to try and curb the damage that has 
  already been done -- damage that will affect many future generations. We 
  can see new diseases appearing--the equivalent in the modern world to the 
  un-human beings set loose by yakkhas in the Buddha's discourse. The more 
  modern science tries to find cures, the more difficulties there are to 
  overcome, and the treatments are often so expensive that only a small 
  number of  people in the richer countries can benefit. If only a small fraction   
  of the money and effort spent in trying to treat the results were devoted to 
  getting at the root cause, how different the world could be!

  	We may not be able to feed all the hungry people in the world. We 
  may not be able to find cures for all the diseases in the world. But we 
  can strive to make the world a better place to live in, both for ourselves 
  and for others. The Buddha taught his disciples that through practising 
  the Brahma-viharas (the Divine Abidings) they could protect themselves and 
  help other beings. We should therefore develop //metta// (loving- 
  kindness), //karuna// (compassion), //mudita// (sympathetic joy), and 
  //upekkha// (equanimity).[3] As Ashin Buddhaghosa says, for each of these 
  four Boundless States (appamanna), we should progressively develop 
  thoughts of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity 
  for various people depending on the characteristics of each Abiding.

  	For //metta//, we begin with ourselves. If we feel no love for 
  ourselves, we will not be able to feel altruistic love for others. Then we 
  develop thoughts of loving-kindness for others in the following order: 
  someone we like, admire, and respect; someone who is dear to us; 
  someone we feel neutral towards; our enemies. We must at all times strive 
  to avoid feelings of attachment or anger towards others. Loving-kindness is 
  not sentimental. Ashin Buddhaghosa emphasizes especially that for enemies 
  we must avoid all thoughts of anger or resentment in all the four Abidings.

  	For //karuna//, we begin with thoughts of compassion for an 
  unfortunate person. Then we develop these thoughts for other people in the 
  following order: those who are dear to us, a person we feel neutral 
  towards, a hostile person. For //mudita//, thoughts of sympathetic joy 
  (i.e., rejoicing in the success of others) are developed first for a dear 
  companion, then for a neutral person, and finally for an enemy. 

  //Upekkha// is the most difficult of the four Abidings, for an 
  unperturbed, calm attitude towards others is very hard to maintain. We 
  should begin with thoughts of equanimity for a person we are neutral 
  towards, then move on to a dear person, and then to a hostile person.

  	Once we have mastered the four Abidings with regards to individuals 
  we know, then we can develop thoughts of loving-kindness, compassion, 
  sympathetic joy, and equanimity towards all beings everywhere. We can 
  think in terms of all beings in all directions: those in front of us, 
  those behind us, those to our left, those to our right, those above, and 
  those below. Developing thoughts such as these will make us better people 
  and will work for the good of one and all. These Divine Abidings will also 
  help us to put into practice other aspects of the Buddha's Teachings.

  	For those of us who are fortunate enough to follow the Buddha's 
  Teachings, we will do more than just try to restrain the innate tendencies 
  that push us to act in ways that will bring on the destruction of the 
  world. We will work to eradicate these innate tendencies by developing our 
  concentration and our insight. As Sayagyi U Ba Khin pointed out:[4]  

      In Buddhism we have the cure for all the mental ills that affect 
  mankind. It is the evil forces of the mind (past and present) that are 
  responsible for the present state of affairs all over the world. By 
  inspiring a strong sense of Buddhism into the minds of the people during 
  the most critical days of Burma some two years ago [written in 1951], we 
  have been able to get over the crisis.

  	Nowadays, there is dissatisfaction almost everywhere. 
  Dissatisfaction creates ill-feeling. Ill-feeling creates hatred. Hatred 
  creates enmity. Enmity creates war. War creates enemies. Enemies create 
  war. War creates enemies and so on. It is now becoming a vicious circle. 
  Why? Certainly because there is lack of proper control over the mind. ... 
  Let us then study the mind and its peculiar characteristics and solve the 
  problem that is now facing the world.

                                                  Sayagyi U Chit Tin

                                  FOOTNOTES:

  [1] A I 159f. (GS I 141-143).

  [2] D sutta nr.26 (THIH, pp. 395-405).

  [3] The discussion here is based on Ashin Buddhaghosa's //The Path of 
  Purification//, Chapter IX. See also our books //Knowing Anicca and the 
  Way to Nibbana//, pp. 227-241, and //The Anecdotes of Sayagyi U Ba Khin 
  I//, pp. 59-65.

  [4] //What Buddhism Is//, p. 28.

                         Worldwide  Contact Addresses
                    in the Tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin
                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  *AUSTRIA*:  International Meditation Centre, A-9064 St. Michael/Gurk 6,
              Austria;Tel: +43 4224 2820, Fax: +43 4224 28204
              Email: CIS, IMC-Austria, 100425,3423

  *EASTERN AUSTRALIA*: International Meditation Centre, Lot 2 Cessnock Road,
              Sunshine NSW 2264, Australia;
              Tel: +61 49 705 433, Fax: +61 49 705 749

  *UNITED KINGDOM*: International Meditation Centre, Splatts House,
              Heddington, Calne, Wiltshire SN11 OPE, England;
              Tel: +44 380 850 238, Fax: +44 380 850 833,
              Email: CIS, IMC-UK,100330,3304

  *USA (East Coast)*: International Meditation Centre, 438 Bankard Road,
              Westminster MD 21158, USA;
              Tel: +1 410 346 7889, Fax: +1 410 346 7133;
              Email:  CIS, IMC-USA, 74163,2452

 *WESTERN AUSTRALIA*: International Meditation Centre, Lot 78 Jacoby Street,
              Mahogany Creek WA 6072, Australia;
              Tel: +61 9 295 2644, Fax: +61 9 295 3435

  *CANADA*:   IMC-Canada, 336 Sandowne Drive, Waterloo, Ontario, N2K 1V8,
              Canada; Tel: +1 519 747 4762, Fax: +1 519 725 2781

  *GERMANY*:  Sayagyi U Ba Khin Gesellschaft, Christaweg 16, 79114 Freiburg,
              Germany, Tel: +49 761 465 42, Fax: +49 761 465 92

  *JAPAN*:    Sayagyi U Ba Khin Memorial Trust, Komatsuri-Cho 923,
              Kishiwada-Shi, Osaka-Fu, 596 Japan, Tel: +81 724 45 0057

  *THE NETHERLANDS*: Sayagyi U Ba Khin Stichting, Oudegracht 124, 3511 AW
              Utrecht, The Netherlands,
              Tel: +31 30 311 445, Fax: +31 30 340 612

  *SINGAPORE*: Sayagyi U Ba Khin Memorial Association, 9 Penang Road #07-12,
              Park Mall, Singapore 0923
              Tel: +65 338 6911, Fax: +65 336 7211

  *SWITZERLAND*: Sayagyi U Ba Khin Gesellschaft, Greyerzstrasse 35, 3013
              Bern, Switzerland;Tel: +41 31 415 233, Fax: +41 61 271 4184;
              Email: CIS, 100256,3576

  *USA (West Coast)*: Contact Address: IMC-USA c/o Joe McCormack,
              77 Kensington Rd., San Anselmo, CA 94960,U.S.A.
              Tel: +1 415 459 3117, Fax: +1 415 459 4837

  *BELGIUM*:  Address as for the Netherlands, Tel: +32 2 414 1756

  *DENMARK*:  Contact Address: Mr. Peter Drost-Nissen, Strandboulevarden
              117, 3th, 2100 Kopenhagen, Denmark. Tel: 031 425 636

  *ITALY*:    Contact address: Mr. Renzo Fedele, Via Euganea 94, 35033
              Bresseo PD, Italy.  Tel: +39 49 9900 752

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      Published by the Sayagyi U Ba Khin Memorial Trust, United Kingdom
               Address as above, registered charity no. 280134
              --------------------------------------------------

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                            DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT
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  TITLE OF WORK: The Three Traditional Destroyers
  FILENAME: DESTROYR.ZIP
  AUTHOR: Sayagyi U Chit Tin
  AUTHOR'S ADDRESS: n/a
  PUBLISHER'S ADDRESS: International Meditation Centre, Splatts House,
              Heddington, Calne, Wiltshire SN11 OPE, England
  COPYRIGHT HOLDER: The Sayagyi U Ba Khin Memorial Trust, U.K.
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  RIGHTS & RESTRICTIONS: See paragraph below.
  DATE OF DHARMANET DISTRIBUTION: 19 February 1995
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