Nichiren Daishonin said
The second category is illness of the mind. These are the three poisons and the eighty-four thousand illnesses.
Is there a list of these 84,000 illnesses ?
Thank you
T HE illnesses of human beings may be divided into two general categories, the first of which is illness of the body. Physical diseases comprise one hundred and one disorders of the earth element, one hundred and one of the water element, one hundred and one of the fire element, and one hundred and one of the wind element, for a total of four hundred and four maladies.1 These illnesses can be cured with the medicines prescribed by skilled physicians such as Water Holder, Water Carrier,2 Jivaka, and Pien Ch’üeh.3
The second category is illness of the mind. These are the three poisons and the eighty-four thousand illnesses.4
84,000 illnesses of the mind
- Wesley1982
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Re: 84,000 illnesses of the mind
No kidding, I'm not suprised.
Re: 84,000 illnesses of the mind
I just got this book called " Understanding our mind" by Thich Nhat Hanh , who was a zen master. It caused me to remember that gosho passage, So i wondered if maybe the zen may know of this 84,000 illnesses of the mind. I wonder if a list actually exists or not.
- Wesley1982
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Re: 84,000 illnesses of the mind
There are probably not that many - just many illnesses that go unnoticed.
Re: 84,000 illnesses of the mind
The number "84,000" is only a figure of speech in Buddhism and it simply means many. As for the "illnesses of the mind" you can find the different abhidharma works that list the unwholesome dharmas, and another popular source in East Asian Buddhism is the Surangama Sutra's fifty skandha demons.
1 Myriad dharmas are only mind.
Mind is unobtainable.
What is there to seek?
2 If the Buddha-Nature is seen,
there will be no seeing of a nature in any thing.
3 Neither cultivation nor seated meditation —
this is the pure Chan of Tathagata.
4 With sudden enlightenment to Tathagata Chan,
the six paramitas and myriad means
are complete within that essence.
1 Huangbo, T2012Ap381c1 2 Nirvana Sutra, T374p521b3; tr. Yamamoto 3 Mazu, X1321p3b23; tr. J. Jia 4 Yongjia, T2014p395c14; tr. from "The Sword of Wisdom"
Mind is unobtainable.
What is there to seek?
2 If the Buddha-Nature is seen,
there will be no seeing of a nature in any thing.
3 Neither cultivation nor seated meditation —
this is the pure Chan of Tathagata.
4 With sudden enlightenment to Tathagata Chan,
the six paramitas and myriad means
are complete within that essence.
1 Huangbo, T2012Ap381c1 2 Nirvana Sutra, T374p521b3; tr. Yamamoto 3 Mazu, X1321p3b23; tr. J. Jia 4 Yongjia, T2014p395c14; tr. from "The Sword of Wisdom"
- Bonsai Doug
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Re: 84,000 illnesses of the mind
Agree. We see this often even in early non-Buddhist writings. In early Chinese literature we often come across theAstus wrote:The number "84,000" is only a figure of speech in Buddhism and it simply means many.
term, "ten thousand things." It's simply a way to indicate an indefinite large number.
Another example:
Something mysteriously formed.
Born before heaven and earth.
In the silence and the void…
It is the mother of ten thousand things.
I do not know its name;
I call it Tao.
~ Tao Te Ching
Now having obtained a precious human body,
I do not have the luxury of remaining on a distracted path.
~ Tibetan Book of the Dead
I do not have the luxury of remaining on a distracted path.
~ Tibetan Book of the Dead