Nyanaponika Thera

The Roots of Good and Evil

The Roots of Good and Evil

Greed, hatred, and delusion – these are the three bad roots in us. Conversely the good ones are non-greed (i.e generosity), non-hatred (love), and non-delusion (wisdom).

All our troubles and suffering stem essentially from the unwholesome roots while our joy and happiness comes from the wholesome ones. It is important to know and understand these roots if we are going to make an end of suffering and attain true peace and happiness.

This book explains in a penetrative way the nature of these six roots. It contains discourses of the Buddha on the subject together with traditional commentarial explanations.

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About Nyanaponika Thera

Nyanaponika Thera (Siegmund Feniger) was born on 21 July 1901 in Hanau, Germany. He came into contact with Buddhism early in his youth and left for Sri Lanka in 1936, where he was ordained as a novice and a year later as a monk by the famous German monk Nyanatiloka.

Interned in camps like Dehra Dun's in India, he worked intensively during the war years on translations of Pali texts. Not only as author of the now classic The Heart of Buddhist Meditation and of many other books and translations, but also as co-founder in 1958, editor and president of the Buddhist Publication Society he made a great contribution to the international dissemination of the Theravāda teachings. He died on October 19, 1994 in Kandy, Sri Lanka.

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You yourselves must strive, the Buddhas only point the way

Buddha, Dhp 276