What exactly is evil? Does it exists in theravada buddhism?

[confusedsoso]

What exactly is evil? Does it exists in theravada buddhism?

[SarathW]

In Buddhism it is called wholesome and unwholesome.
Wholesome action will take to pleasant destinations and unwholesome action take you to woeful states.

[mjaviem]

...
“And what, bhikkhus, are unwholesome states? They are: wrong view, wrong intention, wrong speech, wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, and wrong concentration. These are called unwholesome states.
...

[Suddh]

Yes it does exist, the Buddha called it pāpa. The main form it takes is in the actions of killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and taking intoxicants.

[SarathW]

Yes it does exist, the Buddha called it pāpa. The main form it takes is in the actions of killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and taking intoxicants.

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

What exactly is evil? Does it exists in theravada buddhism?

Yes. It should be distinguished from unwholesome.

Sabbapāpassa akaraṇaṃ,
kusalassa upasampadā.
Sacittapariyodapanaṃ,
etaṃ buddhāna sāsanaṃ.

Not doing any evil,
Cultivating wholesomeness.
Purifying one's mind,
This is the teaching of the Buddhas.

Acquiring wealth by lawful means, is often motivated by greed, which is unwholesome, but it is not evil. Acquiring wealth by unlawful means, e.g. by theft, fraud, or deceit, is the evil deed of stealing.

[mjaviem]

Yes. It should be distinguished from unwholesome.

Sabbapāpassa akaraṇaṃ,
kusalassa upasampadā.
Sacittapariyodapanaṃ,
etaṃ buddhāna sāsanaṃ.

Not doing any evil,
Cultivating wholesomeness.
Purifying one's mind,
This is the teaching of the Buddhas.

Acquiring wealth by lawful means, is often motivated by greed, which is unwholesome, but it is not evil. Acquiring wealth by unlawful means, e.g. by theft, fraud, or deceit, is the evil deed of stealing.

I think you mean there is the unwholesome and there is the very unwholesome which is called evil, right bhante?

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

No, I mean evil and unwholesome should be distinguished due to their different intentions and different results. Greed that does not transgress the precepts of theft and right livelihood, is not evil.

1. One person may qualified as a doctor, motivated by compassion, and get paid a good salary. He or she performs wholesome kamma.
2. Another person may qualify as a doctor, motivated by greed, and get paid a good salary. He or she perform mixed kamma with mixed results.
3. Yet another pretends to be a qualified doctor, motivated by greed, and gets paid a good salary. He or she performs evil kamma by pretending to be qualified, and by doing harm to the patient due to misdiagnosis and administering the wrong treatment.
4. Or a qualified doctor like Harold Shipman misuses his medical knowledge to kill patients and rob them of their wealth. He performed only evil kamma, because compassion for his patients was totally false, and intended to deceive.

[Jason]

As already mentioned above, the Pali word that's usually translated as 'evil' is papa, which can also be translated as 'bad,' 'demerit' or 'wrong action' depending on the context. It seems to me that papa has a stronger, more negative connotation than akusala (not-skillful, unwholesome), but they're more or less synonymous. Action that are extremely harmful are papa.