The Characteristic of Lobha - Examples of lobha-mulla-citta

As we have seen, lobha-mūla-cittas can be unprompted or prompted. The 'Atthasālinī'  (Book II, Part IX, chapter III, 225)  gives an example of lobha- mūla-cittas, accompanied by ditthi, which are prompted. A son of a noble family marries a woman who has wrong views and therefore he associates with people who have wrong views. Gradually he accepts those wrong views and then they are pleasing to him.

 

Lobha-mūla-cittas without ditthi which are sasankhārika arise, for example,

when one, though at first not attached to alcoholic drink, takes pleasure in it

after someone else persuades one to drink.

 

As we have seen, lobha-mūla-cittas can be accompanied by pleasant feeling

or by indifferent feeling. Lobha-mūla-cittas without ditthi, accompanied by

pleasant feeling, can arise for example, when we enjoy ourselves while seeing

a beautiful colour or hearing an agreeable sound. At such moments we can be

attached without wrong view about realities. When we enjoy beautiful

clothes, go to the cinema, or laugh and talk with others about pleasurable

things there can be many moments of enjoyment without the idea of self, but

there can also be moments with ditthi, moments of clinging to a ''self''.

 

Lobha-mūla-cittas without ditthi, accompanied by indifferent feeling may

arise, for example, when we like to stand up, or like to take hold of different

objects. Since we generally do not have happy feeling with these actions,

there may be lobha with indifferent feeling at such moments. Thus we see

that lobha often motivates the most common actions of our daily life.