experiencepresent degenerate age in which humans live in Hinduism, whereas the
notion of mappo in Japanese Pure Land Buddhism calls attention to the
decline of the Buddhist law or doctrine. Mappo refers to three phases of
the law whereby it becomes more difficult to practice the law and attain
enlightenment until the third and final stage when it is impossible to accom-
plish either correct practice or liberation. The final phase of mappo occurs
at a moment when humans are moving toward the imminent end of the world
and are within the grasp of evil and governed by neurotic cravings and
desires. The notions of mappo and the kali yuga are examples of doctrines
arising from within religions that view time as cyclical, whereas the Judeo-
Christian-Islamic tradition looks forward in a linear way to a final defeat of
evil at the conclusion of history. Besides these types of dire scenarios, evil is
personified in many religious traditions into an identifiable figure, such as
Māra in Buddhism, the Devil in Christianity, or Iblīs in Islam.
Unlike Gnosticism and Manichaeism with their teaching that evil is
due to the basic evil nature of matter, Christianity traces it to the myth of
Adam and Eve and the choice of evil over good by the primordial parents
of humanity. Augustine, a seminal Christian thinker of the fifth century,
argues that evil comes from the direct misuse of human freedom con-
nected with original sin. If human nature is fundamentally corrupted from
birth in Christianity, this is not the case in Eastern religions, which view
human beings as good by nature but needing nurturing and education as
in Chinese Confucian thought, or being aware of the problems of con-
sciousness as in Buddhist philosophy.
Evil (pāpa) is located in states of mind in Buddhism that cause a person to
stray from the path to liberation. Evil arises from conscious and unconscious
intentions that have been shaped by greed, hatred, and delusion, which
account for the triple roots of evil. Since the individual is a free agent respon-
sible for his/her actions and everything is ultimately impermanent, all deeds
lead to karmic consequences and rebirth. Positive deeds lead to a favorable
rebirth, whereas negative deeds lead to sorrowful modes of rebirth.
Further reading: Ling (1962); Mathews (2001); Morrow (2003); O’Flaherty
(1976): Ricoeur (1967)
EXPERIENCE
This is a vague concept difficult to define because it is subjective, inef-
fable, and unique to a person having the experience, inaccessible to others,