XPost: alt.zen, alt.religion.buddhism.tibetan   
   From: peter@dharma.dyndns.info   
      
   Transforming the Three Poisons:   
   Greed, Hatred, and Delusion   
      
   In Buddhist teachings, greed, hatred, and delusion are known, for good   
   reason, as the three poisons, the three unwholesome roots, and the three   
   fires. These metaphors suggest how dangerous afflictive thoughts and   
   emotions can be if they are not understood and transformed. Greed refers   
   to our selfishness, misplaced desire, attachment, and grasping for   
   happiness and satisfaction outside of ourselves. Hatred refers to our   
   anger, our aversion and repulsion toward unpleasant people,   
   circumstances, and even toward our own uncomfortable feelings. Delusion   
   refers to our dullness, bewilderment, and misperception; our wrong views   
   of reality. The poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion are a byproduct   
   of ignorance—ignorance of our true nature, the awakened heart of wisdom   
   and compassion. Arising out of our ignorance, these poisonous states of   
   mind then motivate nonvirtuous and unskillful thoughts, speech, and   
   actions, which cause all manner of suffering and unhappiness for   
   ourselves and others.   
      
   Greed, hatred, and delusion are deeply embedded in the conditioning of   
   our personalities. Our behavior is habitually influenced and tainted by   
   these three poisons, these unwholesome roots buried deep into our mind.   
   Burning within us as lust, craving, anger, resentment, and   
   misunderstanding, these poisons lay to waste hearts, lives, hopes, and   
   civilizations, driving us blind and thirsty through the seemingly   
   endless round of birth and death (samsara). The Buddha describes these   
   defilements as bonds, fetters, hindrances, and knots; the actual root   
   cause of unwholesome karma and the entire spectrum of human suffering.   
      
   Although this teaching may appear negative or unpleasant, indeed, a wise   
   understanding of the three poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion is   
   ultimately positive and empowering. With this sublime understanding we   
   can clearly see and feel the factors that are causing confusion,   
   unhappiness, and suffering in our lives. And with this clarity and   
   insight, we can make the choice to eliminate those factors! The teaching   
   of The Four Noble Truths clearly explains that when we embrace and   
   understand the exact causes of our suffering and dissatisfaction, we can   
   then take the necessary steps to extinguish those causes and liberate   
   ourselves. This is certainly positive and empowering. In addition, it is   
   important for us to realize that the Dharma teachings regarding   
   defilement and purification are not just rigid, restrictive, or   
   authoritarian theories regarding morality, but are real and solid facts   
   essential to our correct understanding of reality and eventual awakening.   
      
   Greed   
      
   Our greed is a burning desire, an unquenchable thirst (tanha), craving,   
   and lust; we want the objects of our desire to provide us with lasting   
   satisfaction so we feel fulfilled, whole, and complete. The poison of   
   greed creates an inner hunger so that we always seem to be striving   
   towards an unattainable goal. We mistakenly believe our happiness is   
   dependent upon that goal, but once we attain it, we get no lasting   
   satisfaction. Then once again, our greed and desire will arise, looking   
   outside of ourselves for the next thing that will hopefully bring   
   satisfaction. Influenced by greed, we are never content. Another common   
   face of our greed shows up as a lack of generosity and compassion toward   
   others. Even a moment of honest and mindful introspection will reveal   
   how deeply-rooted our greed can be. We can experience the symptoms of   
   our greed appearing in even the most trivial instances, and of course,   
   greed can manifest itself in even more compulsive and destructive ways   
   as well. We always seem to want more, we want bigger and better, we want   
   to fulfill our insatiable inner hunger and thirst (craving). This type   
   of greed affects our personal lives, our professional lives, and the   
   domain of international business and politics. Global conflict and   
   warfare, as well as the destruction of our precious environment are   
   obvious symptoms of our corporate and political greed. Our greed,   
   craving, and thirst affects each of us on a personal and global level.   
   Our greed is an endless and pernicious cycle that only brings suffering   
   and unhappiness in its wake.   
      
   Hatred   
      
   The symptoms of hatred can show up as anger, hostility, dislike,   
   aversion, or ill-will; wishing harm or suffering upon another person.   
   With aversion, we habitually resist, deny, and avoid unpleasant   
   feelings, circumstances, and people we do not like. We want everything   
   to be pleasant, comfortable, and satisfying all the time. This behavior   
   simply reinforces our perception of duality and separation. Hatred or   
   anger thrusts us into a vicious cycle of always finding conflict and   
   enemies everywhere around us. When there is conflict or perceived   
   enemies around us, our mind is neurotic, never calm, we are endlessly   
   occupied with strategies of self-protection or revenge. We can also   
   create conflict within ourselves when we have an aversion to our own   
   uncomfortable feelings. With hatred and aversion, we deny, resist, and   
   push away our own inner feelings of fear, hurt, loneliness, and so   
   forth, treating these feelings like an internal enemy. With the poison   
   of hatred, we create conflict and enemies in the world around us and   
   within our own being.   
      
   Delusion   
      
   Delusion is our wrong understanding or wrong views of reality. Delusion   
   is our misperception of the way the world works; our inability to   
   understand the nature of things exactly as they are, free of perceptual   
   distortions. Influenced by delusion, we are not in harmony with   
   ourselves, others, or with life; we are not living in accordance with   
   Dharma. Affected by the poison of delusion, which arises from ignorance   
   of our true nature, we do not understand the interdependent and   
   impermanent nature of life. Thus, we are constantly looking outside of   
   ourselves for happiness, satisfaction, and solutions to our problems.   
   This outward searching creates even more frustration, anger, and   
   delusion. Because of our delusion, we also do not understand the   
   virtuous, life-affirming actions that create happiness, nor do we   
   understand the nonvirtuous, negative, and unwholesome actions that   
   create suffering. Again, our delusion binds us to a vicious cycle where   
   there does not appear to be any way out.   
   Transforming the Three Poisons   
      
   For countless eons we have been influenced and motivated by our greed,   
   hatred, and delusion. Therefore, this work of purification and   
   transformation cannot be effected hastily, in obedience to our impatient   
   demand for quick results. This work requires patience, care,   
   persistence, and deep compassion for ourselves and others. The Buddha   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)