Buddha mentions in the Paticcasamuppada that craving leads to clinging and this leads to existence ,birth and death. In other places Buddha mentions that Aversion is a very unwholesome state of mind and we should practice to remove it from our mind. However, I would like to know how aversion plays a role in the 12 links of dependent origination as only craving and clinging are mentioned.
3 Answers
Aversion is a form of craving, as follows:
On seeing a form with the eye, he lusts after it if it is pleasing; he dislikes it if it is unpleasing. He abides with mindfulness of the body unestablished, with a limited mind, and he does not understand as it actually is the deliverance of mind and deliverance by wisdom wherein those evil unwholesome states cease without remainder. Engaged as he is in favouring and opposing, whatever feeling he feels—whether pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant—he delights in that feeling, welcomes it and remains holding to it. As he does so, delight arises in him. Now delight in feelings is clinging. With his clinging as condition, being comes to be; with being as condition, birth; with birth as condition, ageing and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair come to be. Such is the origin of this whole mass of suffering.
Bhikkhus, dependent on the eye and forms, eye-consciousness arises; the meeting of the three is contact; with contact as condition there arises a feeling felt as pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant. When one is touched by a pleasant feeling, if one delights in it, welcomes it and remains holding to it, then the underlying tendency to lust lies within one. When one is touched by a painful feeling, if one sorrows, grieves and laments, weeps beating one’s breast and becomes distraught, then the underlying tendency to aversion lies within one. When one is touched by a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, if one does not understand as it actually is the origination, the disappearance, the gratification, the danger, and the escape in regard to that feeling, then the underlying tendency to ignorance lies within one. Bhikkhus, that one shall here and now make an end of suffering without abandoning the underlying tendency to lust for pleasant feeling, without abolishing the underlying tendency to aversion towards painful feeling, without extirpating the underlying tendency to ignorance in regard to neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, without abandoning ignorance and arousing true knowledge - this is impossible.
MN 148
answered Mar 27, 2018 at 0:01
Aversion is simply the disliking of an experience. When a person gets angry, sad or afraid, it is the craving to be rid of the experience that is going to lead to clinging. Not aversion itself. It is called Vibhava-tanha. Hence aversion isn't considered a direct cause of Samsara.
answered Mar 26, 2018 at 17:55
Craving just means: “wanting” Clinging means: “getting fixated on wanting”
Suppose we give up this “wanting” Then what would happen?
One thing is clear: “wanting” is not really the best state. Is it?
The very fact that we are “Wanting” something automatically implies we are not happy with currently what we have. That is why we want something.
What we “want” may be attachment or aversion. They are both the same thing. If you think about it. Attachment means wanting to Get something - for example, I like this or I like that. Aversion also means wanting to get something - if I say I dislike something means, I like something else
So the problem is not attachment or aversion. They are both wanting. That is why they both feel the same in the body. They appear as some type of tension and tightness in chest and in mind.
