อุปกิเลส 16 คือเครื่องเศร้าหมองของจิต 16 ประเภท เช่น ความโลภ ความพยาบาท ความผูกโกรธ ความลบหลู่คุณท่าน ความริษยา ความตระหนี่ เมื่ออกุศลเข้าสิงจิตจะดึงดวงเหล่านี้มาซ้อนทำให้เกิดพฤติกรรมโดยอัตโนมัติ แก้ไขได้ด้วยทาน ศีล ภาวนา และการรู้ตัวแล้วขอโทษทันทีThe 16 corruptions are subtle unwholesome states that cloud the mind — greed, ill-will, grudge-holding, disrespect toward one's benefactors, envy, stinginess, and more. When unwholesome forces take hold, they draw these states in and drive our behavior automatically. The remedy is giving, precepts, meditation, and an immediate, sincere apology the moment we notice.
Someone asked the teacher about the 16 corruptions (upakkilesa) — what they are, and why there are exactly sixteen of them.
The 16 Corruptions
These are sixteen distinct states that cloud the mind, each an unwholesome quality of its own: covetous greed, ill-will, anger, holding a grudge, disrespect toward one's benefactors, claiming equal standing with them, envy at others' good fortune, , deceit, boastfulness, obstinacy, rivalry for the sake of winning, conceit, contempt for others, intoxication with pride, and negligence. Knowing all sixteen by name is meant to keep us from falling into them without realizing it.
Why These States Arise
The teacher explained that when unwholesome forces take hold of the mind, they pull these corrupted states in to overlay it. Once overlaid, the state establishes itself and drives our behavior automatically, complete with an inner voice urging us on — suddenly we feel the urge to boast or to dig in stubbornly, even though moments before we felt nothing of the kind.
What to Do the Moment You Notice
Someone asked: if I catch myself the instant an unwholesome feeling arises, but I've already blurted something out, how do I fix it? The teacher advised confessing and apologizing right away — something like, "I lost just now; I shouldn't have said that, I'm sorry." Then deliberately act the opposite way: with humility. Merit from that humility flows in immediately, and a sincere apology like this also earns others' genuine respect.
To prevent these states from recurring so often, the real solution is increasing the proportion of wholesomeness within through giving, precepts, and meditation. If keeping the five precepts perfectly is already a stretch, keep them strictly for now and regularly check where lapses occur. As proportion grows, one can then take up the eight precepts, which guard against both unwholesome and neutral forces gaining ground.
The ultimate aim is to keep shifting that balance toward wholesomeness until it reaches completion — the gateway to Nibbana. Doing good only in fits and starts, without understanding how the three natural forces actually work, makes steady progress very difficult.