Overview
The Buddha categorized affliction into two distinct domains. While humans spend vast amounts of time and resources trying to cure physical ailments, they remain entirely ignorant of the chronic mental disease that afflicts everyone except an Arahat.
The List
- Kāyika-roga - Physical Illness: Ailments affecting the physical body (rūpa). The Buddha notes that people can enjoy freedom from physical illness for a year, ten years, or even a hundred years.
- Cetasika-roga - Mental Illness: Ailments affecting the mind, specifically the presence of defilements (greed, hatred, delusion). The Buddha states that it is hard to find anyone in the world free from mental illness for even a single moment, except for those whose mental taints are destroyed (Arahats).
Textual References
- Canonical: Roga Sutta (AN 4.157) – The Buddha introduces this dual classification, emphasizing the rarity of total mental health.