Yesterday’s post on The Troubled World of the Five Turbidities mentions the “five sharp afflictions,” which arise much faster than the dull afflictions – greed, anger, delusion, arrogance, and doubt. Here is Master Hsuan Hua’s explanation of the Five Sharp Afflictions from his commentary on Chapter 3, A Parable.

What do yakṣas and evil ghosts represent? Starting from “Chi, mei, and wangliang / Were everywhere” onward, these lines of verse represent the five sharp afflictions. Previously, we talked about the five dull afflictions, which act slowly. Sharp afflictions are keen, fast, and intense. The five sharp afflictions also turn people upside down, causing them to form attachments and do deluded things.

The five sharp afflictions are as follows:

1. Views of individual identity. One is always attached to one’s body. You work for your body all day long, buying it some candy to eat, some perfume to wear, some nice clothes and delicious food, as well as finding it a nice place to live. You think, “My body is just me!” Actually, that’s wrong. How is it wrong? The body can only be said to belong to you. You can say, “It is mine.” But you can’t say, “It’s me.” Why not? The body is like a house. When you are living in a house, you cannot tell people, “My house is me.” You can just say, “This house is mine.” Ultimately, your body is not you. It is not your master. If you cling to your body and take it as the basis of your identity, you are making a mistake. … Your mind is the true master; the body is merely a house. You are the master who lives in a particular body. This everlasting, true mind and pure, brilliant inherent nature is the true self. It Is also called the tathāgatagarbha as well as the Buddha nature. So do not think that your body is you. It’s yours, but it’s not you. The real you neither comes into being nor ceases to be, is neither defiled nor pure, and neither increases nor diminishes. However, instead of recognizing the real you, you recognize the “false self” and think that the body is you. …
2. Extreme views. What is an extreme view? The view of annihilationism and the view of eternalism are the two extreme views held by non-Buddhists. Those who believe in annihilationism believe that when you die, it is like a lamp going out. It’s all over. You will not undergo any retribution for good or evil. Regardless of whether you have been good or bad, everything ends with death. There is no rebirth. They do not believe in cause and effect. They do not believe that you can become a Buddha if you do good deeds or that you can become a ghost if you do bad deeds. They do not believe in the existence of Buddhas and ghosts. In fact, they do not believe in the notion of people either. They feel that people are no different from grass and trees that grow and die. When one dies, another is born, but the same being is not reborn again. One dies and another takes its place. Those who die are forever dead; those who come into being are born anew. That’s the view of annihilationism. Because they do not believe in the cycle of cause and effect, they do not accept the concept of transmigration in the six destinies. … For example, some religions say that there is only one supreme deity in the heavens. That is an example of the extreme view of eternalism. Eternalism and annihilationism are two non-Buddhist views. In these teachings, no matter how good you are, you can never become that supreme deity. As long as you believe in that deity, you can go to the heavens even if you committed crimes. But if you don’t believe in that deity, then you are bound for the hells regardless of your virtuous behavior. This does not seem quite fair. It almost appears as if the deity would accept bribes and likes to be revered and worshipped. Annihilationism and eternalism are both extreme views. They are not in accord with the Middle Way. …
3. Erroneous views regarding moral practices and austerities. These erroneous views refer to the disciplines cultivated by non-Buddhist sects. They take what is not a cause as a cause and what is not an effect as an effect. What does that mean? They cultivate futile ascetic practices through which they think they can attain nirvāṇa and ultimate bliss. For example, some of these groups may open the heavenly eye by cultivating these ascetic practices and see cows, dogs, pigs, and chickens that have been reborn in the heavens. Then they imitate those animals. They eat grass along with the cow instead of eating regular food. They think that the cow was reborn in the heavens because it ate grass. They imagine that eating grass is the purest form of vegetarianism-purer than just abstaining from meat. They consider it the optimal vegetarian diet. They assume that eating only grass is true cultivation; otherwise, how could cows be born in the heavens? Therefore, they take up the discipline of eating grass and living like a cow. … These ascetics hold erroneous views regarding moral practices and austerities. The ascetic practices in these examples are futile. Although they do not lead to any spiritual attainment, there are people who like to practice them.
4. Wrong views. This refers to improper views. For example, people who cultivate the Path should be filial to their parents, but those with wrong views don’t think this is necessary. “What’s the point of being filial to your parents? It’s their job to have children. You don’t have to be filial to them.” Killing is wrong, but they say, “The more you kill the better.” The [first of the] five precepts prohibits killing, yet they instruct people to kill. Wouldn’t you say that this is a wrong view? Stealing is against the law, yet they use all kinds of methods to teach people how to steal. Sexual misconduct is wrong, but they encourage people to engage in it. One shouldn’t lie either, but they condone lying. They say, “Don’t listen to that person who is telling you not to lie; he himself is a liar! He’s just deceiving you. How could he not be lying? Don’t believe in that.” This is a wrong view. Taking intoxicants is against our precepts, but they think that it doesn’t matter. Some people like to smoke and claim that, in the five precepts, the precept against taking intoxicants doesn’t include tobacco. “Smoking isn’t breaking the precepts,” they say. These are all wrong views. Some people are against being vegetarian, saying, “You are vegetarian and do not eat any meat? But all those cows and sheep are raised to be eaten. If you don’t eat them, what use are they?” In general, they will oppose what is right and come up with plausible reasons to persuade you to accept their wrong views.
5. Views of attachment to personal views. People with such views want to take whatever they see and make it their own. They will use any means necessary to benefit themselves. They are very selfish.

These five sharp afflictions obscure your genuine wisdom. They are like five servants surrounding you, preventing you from acting naturally. You are controlled and made to listen to these five servants, who encourage you to make bad choices. Students of the Buddhadharma, now that you recognize these five sharp afflictions, you must wield your sword of wisdom and slay them all. Only after that can you transcend the three realms.

This has been a general explanation of the five sharp afflictions. If one were to explain them in detail, one could talk for eons but never finish.