The Dangers of Craving in Buddhism : หน้า 84/263

four unfortunate realms [abhāyabhūmi]. Just as the swift currents of a river tend to sweep away all things to the ocean that fall within its reach, desire will tend to pull all beings who entertain it in their mind, away to the hell realms. The Universe is too small to contain Sense-Craving The Lord Buddha taught that the extent of craving in the minds of living beings is so great as to be beyond words. Supposing all the craving in existence were to manifest itself in concrete form as a tree or as a mountain, such a tree or a mountain would have to be so large that it is not certain whether the whole universe would be large enough to contain it — because everybody has their endless desires and attachments and it is doubtful whether a whole ship would be large enough to contain everything a person desires for. The craving that arises in the minds of men, pushes them in the direction of sinful actions — for example, killing others. Under the influence of craving, normal people become capable of performing the most heinous of sins. This is why the Lord Buddha declared that: "Craving is the wishfulness, attachment and captivation with the world of the aggregates and is the origin of suffering." Craving as the Cause of Unwholesome Behaviours Those beings that try to attain happiness dependent upon the pleasures of the five senses are wont to commit unwholesome behaviours as outlined in the Ten Paths of Unwholesomeness [akusalamanmapatha], which comprise three unwholesome deeds, four unwholesome ways of speaking and three unwholesome ways of thinking: Unwholesome actions comprise: - killing living beings [pāṇātipāta]