Envy and Stinginess: The Causes of Conflict

Do you know what causes conflict?

Once, the Buddha was staying in the Indasāla Cave on Mount Vediyaka. At that time Indra, also called Sakka, together with his retinue of devas from both the realm of the Four Great Kings and the Tāvatiṃsa heaven, came to see the Buddha and asked him about the cause of conflict: “Venerable Sir, why is it that humans, devas (heavenly beings), nāgas (serpent beings), garuḍas (great mythical birds) and gandhabbas (celestial musicians), though they wish each other well and long for harmony and unity, never see an end to the problem of conflict?”

The Buddha answered, “Sakka, envy (issā) and stinginess (macchariya) are what cause humans, devas, nāgas, garuḍas and gandhabbas to split apart.”

This shows that all conflict comes from envy (issā) and stinginess (macchariya). Envy (issā) is being unable to bear seeing others do well. As soon as we see it, we are displeased, because seeing the possessions, good qualities and success of others is what feeds this envy. For example, we see someone richer than us, better-looking than us, happier than us, cleverer than us, and if it is someone we don’t like, it gets even worse. Or sometimes we feel, “Right, let’s just stay out of each other’s way. I’ll keep to myself and they can keep to themselves. I don’t want to look, I don’t want to pay attention.” That too is a symptom of envy.

When we see someone succeed or receive praise, even if they are a bad person or someone we don’t like, what we really ought to feel is muditā (sympathetic joy), that is, rejoicing with them. But we direct our attention wrongly, think wrongly, and end up envying them instead.

This defilement is in all of us. For example, suppose we are in a classroom where the teacher praises one student every day, all the time, and whenever the teacher needs an example of a good student, always picks this one. Believe it or not, the whole class will gang up in envy of that child. Or some will feel, “I’m a good person too, I answer correctly too, so why doesn’t the teacher praise me?” and so on. Or even in a family: if the parents admire or give special importance to one child, that child becomes the object of the siblings’ envy. Especially in a wealthy family, siblings can slander one another, kill one another, fight over property and inheritance, and the cause is the defilement of envy (issā).

Its partner is stinginess (macchariya): possessiveness over one’s own wealth and property, or one’s good qualities, not wanting to give up what one has for the common good of others.

Stinginess (Macchariya)

It is divided into five kinds:

1. Possessiveness of one’s place (āvāsa-macchariya): from being possessive of one’s bedroom, one’s house, one’s subdistrict, district and province, all the way to one’s country, which leads to borders being drawn and outsiders being shut out. All the visa systems come from this possessiveness of place; it is no different. Even animals have this defilement. Pigeons, for example: once they settle in some corner, no matter how often you chase them they won’t leave. Chase them off and they fly right back, because they are possessive of their place.
2. Possessiveness of family (kula-macchariya): being possessive that this is my child, my father, my mother, my friend, my group. Once we are possessive, we don’t want them to associate with anyone else; they must stay under our control. Cronyism and the seniority system also come from this defilement.
3. Possessiveness of gain (lābha-macchariya): gain and honors of every kind, and all sorts of wealth, are things people are possessive about everywhere. People fight over inheritances because of possessiveness of gain. We see news of killings over competing interests all the time, without end.
4. Possessiveness of praise and standing (vaṇṇa-macchariya): being possessive of one’s good qualities, rank, position, skin color and the praise one receives.
5. Possessiveness of knowledge (dhamma-macchariya): refusing to teach or tell others, afraid they will come to know as much as or more than oneself. The whole business of copyrighting too: whenever people come up with something, they keep it a closely guarded secret.

We should not let the defilements of envy and stinginess crowd our minds and make us burn, as if a suit of armor were strapped tight around us. If we want to be happy, take the armor off, and we will feel open, clear and light. Our minds will be free from the grip of stress and anger, and will be bright and cheerful. But if we just sit idle, it shows we have no way of dealing with these two defilements. Anyone who is to become a stream-enterer (sotāpanna), a noble one of the first stage, must overcome envy and stinginess as the very first barrier. If we cannot, our lives may sink into the lower realms, and society will be nothing but conflict, never able to live in harmony.