Strictly speaking, a monk begins when he realizes that there are five enemies, or thieves, or robbers—the main kleshas. And then he decides to challenge them, to give battle and defeat them. Until a yogi recognizes the kleshas and can pacify and subdue them, he cannot yet be called a mature yogi, even if he is skilled in certain practices.
A person who tries to engage in the practice of meditation encounters numerous enemies and robbers—his own kleshas. They can be divided into five types: anger, pride, fear, envy, and ignorance.
One can often meet people who have studied and practiced something, and because of this they develop self-importance. However, they have not yet touched the practice deeply, because, looking within themselves, they have not yet discovered these kleshas. A true yogi always digs deep, and therefore he sees that such kleshas exist, and that very persistent training is needed to overcome them.
Someone may say: “But we practice the highest tantra! For us, the kleshas are nothing at all; they are like ornaments, like the snakes around Shiva’s neck—why should we fear them? Let those who practice the sutra struggle with them, while we can leave them as they are, or self-liberate them and be at peace.”
Someone who has such cheap, so to speak, ideas about the Dharma has not understood the true view of Anuttara Tantra. Even if he says the right words, exactly like the instructions of the mahasiddhas, I can swear that he has not understood the essence of the teaching. Whether we practice sutra, or tantra, or Anuttara Tantra, the kleshas must still be overcome. The only question is by what method.
The sutra approach: a vigilant struggle against the kleshas
From these roots grow eighty-four thousand kleshas that prevent one from abiding in meditation. Each of the five poisons draws one into five kleshas, which pull one ever more deeply into samsara. Therefore protect yourself from them unceasingly, like a mother who has lost her only child. Reject the kleshas as you would cast off a snake coiled in your lap. Notice them vigilantly and attentively, and practice in exactly the same way as when studying the view.
So, the instructions of the mahasiddhas are as follows: vigilantly notice the kleshas and cast them off just as a mother would cast a snake from the breast of her only child.
A monk in Byzantium was delivering a sermon to other monks. One day he saw that, during the sermon, the monks began falling asleep one after another. He thought: “This can only be the instigation of the devil. It is the devil who is tempting the monks and bringing them into such a state; it is he who is preventing the sermon from being read and God from being praised.” And to test this, he inserted a couple of phrases about something worldly, very attractive. All the monks immediately pricked up their ears, listened, and woke up. He thought: “Well, surely, it is the devil. When you speak of God, he immediately brings on sleep; when you speak of base things, he immediately awakens people.” And he said to the monks: “Look, I have seen at whose instigation you are sleeping! So stay awake!”
From the point of view of the sutra, the approach is precisely so unequivocal and strict: the kleshas are the devil, who in every way hinders practitioners.
If one does not practice in this way, negative karma is created every moment. Tsogyal, if you wish to avoid this delusion, make every effort to skillfully struggle with the five poisons. Accept and reject what should be accepted and rejected, never leaving the protection of awareness.
When you practice as monks, you must, of course, know clearly what should be accepted and what should be rejected. And on the relative level, such knowledge is unequivocal. Suppose that, as a drink, you are offered herbal tea, filth, or poison: you will accept the tea and reject the poison, understanding that one is beneficial for the body, while the other is extremely harmful. In the same way, on the relative level, you understand as monks what to accept and what to reject. And as far as possible, while practicing victory over the kleshas, one must become established in such willpower as to accept some things and reject others.
The balance between acceptance-rejection and awareness
Usually we train ourselves neither to accept nor reject, but simply to abide in awareness. This is the highest and most correct view. It is assumed that when we are in the natural state, neither accepting nor rejecting, we immediately enter the absolute view, which, as it were, devalues the kleshas, takes away all their energy, and does not allow them to affect us. If someone has become established in such a view, this is the best way to overcome the kleshas. However, for a person who has not yet become established in the view and does not have the willpower to overcome the kleshas, the most correct approach will be to accept purification and reject the kleshas; otherwise, in principle, he will not be purified at all.
Anuttara Tantra is a view for sadhakas of the divya (divine) category or for advanced vira. But it often happens that a person who has heard such a lofty teaching, out of self-conceit or delusion, mistakenly ranks himself among the highest category of yogins. He thinks: “I am definitely vira. Last week I got up at ten to five, that is, earlier than everyone else, in order to practice.” He may decide that precisely this approach of Anuttara Tantra is the best for him, that there is no need to concern himself with details and purify himself in some way, and that it is important simply neither to accept nor reject. And then he develops a “reckless overconfidence” approach to practice. He tries to shift the weight of his sadhana solely onto the principle of consciousness; he relies on it too much. He may have too much self-conceit regarding awareness, and therefore he may ignore certain external practices: prostrations, vinaya, and so on.
However, when he discovers that he is unable to maintain the principle of awareness, and that he has lost his support in vinaya, in external purification, he sees that he has succeeded neither there nor there and is in some kind of suspended state. He has not mastered the practices of “acceptance-rejection” and does not follow them properly, while he cannot, in principle, reach the practices of awareness, because they are something super unattainable for him. And then he feels that in neither practice is he capable of properly perfecting himself.
Such a yogin can be advised to vigilantly purify himself while simultaneously developing the principle of awareness.
Solitude and Gradual Practice
In any case, until you attain sufficient stability in the view and meditation, it is necessary to seek solitude, like a wounded deer. Flee from the kleshas as from a poisonous snake.
Solitude is viewed in different ways. The highest is considered to be the solitude of the mind. This means that you must win back a secluded space in your consciousness and place your mind in a state beyond thoughts. This is extremely important in Anuttara Tantra. If your mind is placed in a thought-free state, you have realized such solitude. For those who are unable to place the mind in a thought-free state in everyday life, long retreat practices are required so that, in the good conditions of retreats, they become accustomed to placing their mind in such a thought-free state.
At first, retreat practice should not be done too much; otherwise you will think: “Oh, a year-long retreat! How wonderful!” But after just a couple of months you will be thinking: “When will it end!” And you will develop such an aversion to retreat that for the next twenty years you will humbly perform any service, and at the word “retreat” you will turn away.
The saints give the following recommendations: “You should divide your life into intervals and practice in short periods, for example a five-to-seven-day retreat, and the rest of the time—coming out of it, training in everyday life, then retreat again. Even such short intervals of a few days, if you are able, as fully as possible, like a tiger before a leap, to concentrate on practice day and night, bring rapid growth. However, it is difficult to maintain such a state for a long time, because either the kleshas will rebel or the energy may stagnate, so you need to manifest such consciousness in everyday life. By alternating in this way, one can truly become a high-level practitioner. And then, after some time, when the consciousness has been tempered, all long practices of solitude will become something familiar.”
At the end it says: “Flee from the kleshas as from a poisonous snake.” Someone may think that after so many lectures on Anuttara Tantra beyond acceptance and rejection, these instructions seem to be teachings of a lower level. And what practice, then, should one follow? But a true yogin has consciousness on several levels at once: he fully understands and realizes the teaching on acceptance and rejection, while at the same time he understands the teaching on awareness beyond acceptance and rejection. In his consciousness, he seems to establish a balance between acceptance and rejection on the one hand, and awareness beyond acceptance and rejection on the other. Only he himself understands where he is a higher practitioner and where he needs to consider himself a lower practitioner. If the yogin does not understand this, then in certain specific situations he needs to consult the Guru.
The Approach of Anuttara Tantra: Self-Liberation through the Clear Light
However, the understanding of Anuttara Tantra, even when we speak of self-liberation and leaving everything as it is, still presupposes liberation from the kleshas. The question is that in Anuttara Tantra liberation from the kleshas occurs through the power of the Clear Light itself, that is, more naturally. Even when the kleshas manifest and disturb consciousness, we do not attach such importance to them, we do not fixate on them and do not consider it necessary to fight them. We simply shift our consciousness to the manifesting grace of the Clear Light. It is as if we step aside and allow the energy of the Clear Light to flow in a broad stream toward the kleshas. Then these kleshas are not even shattered or dissolved, but are instantly recognized as part of this light and disappear by themselves. This is the meaning of the practice of acceptance and rejection.
Therefore, the instructions of the highest teaching are as follows: “Do not accept, do not reject, but simply step aside. Do not fight, do not transform, but simply move away. Allow the Clear Light to deal with the kleshas; it will itself know what to do with them.”
“Step aside” means: while contemplating, practice self-surrender, let go of yourself, abide in the natural state, fully open yourself to the Clear Light and allow it to flood all your kleshas. Do not rely on your own efforts, although where you can, apply them properly. Offer the greater part of your consciousness to the Clear Light and rely on its grace, on the descending energy of Anugraha.
Thus, however many kleshas there may be, they cannot withstand the influence of the Clear Light. And then the kleshas cease to weigh upon the yogin and reunite with the Clear Light. They do not turn into something better, as in tantra, when we transform anger into holy love; they are not cut off, but simply become part of the Clear Light and are absorbed by it. And then they become harmless, like a snake whose fangs have been pulled out.
This means that as soon as an impure thought, a dirty emotion, or a wrong action flashes forth, the yogin, without being distracted from contemplation, offers the klesha to the Clear Light and directly shows it to it. Then the thought arises for a fraction of a second, but it does not develop further; it is impossible for it to move on. An emotion, klesha, or action arises, but in that very instant it steps aside, because we are in an open state and have left everything as it is—that is, we have not paid attention to the klesha, have not evaluated it, have not allowed it to develop, have not backtracked by fighting it in some way. We have simply given everything to the Clear Light, regarding it as the lord of both ourselves and the kleshas. And at that very moment the klesha becomes beheaded; it has neither power nor action. Suddenly it is discovered as the Clear Light; in its core arises the pure essence of primordial Wisdom. It is discovered as emptiness, as the luminous play of coarse energy. Then we see that there is no need to fight it, no need to follow this energy, that it is the very same Light. The wind, deviating, is drawn into the sushumna, and we feel that we have completely let go of what was troubling us, that we have shifted the emphasis. We feel that our energy is moving, circulating, and yet we are completely free.
If, however, a person thinks that the principle of “not accepting and not rejecting the kleshas” implies that one should simply allow them to manifest somehow by indulging them, and that “leaving as it is” means that they can be left in an impure worldly state, then, of course, such a person is mistaken; he has failed to understand the principle of Anuttara Tantra.
In both the sutra and the anuttara tantra, the kleshas cease to have power over the yogin. And if they do not cease to have power over him, then it is not practice at all. The difference lies only in the approaches. In the case of the sutra, the yogin is like a soldier who fights, while in the case of the anuttara tantra, he is like a king who does not need to fight.
The Tantric Approach: Kleshas as the Path
And noble Tsogyal asked again: “Should one who practices the secret mantra accept all kleshas as the path?”
The Master replied: “Certainly. They should be brought into the path, but only a peacock can feed on poison.”
The expression “to accept the kleshas as the path” means to make the kleshas a method of practice, that is, to make reliance on impure energies a method of spiritual practice. In tantra this path is universally accepted. For example, if a person has strong anger, a wrathful deity is chosen for him, and he constantly imagines himself as this wrathful deity. The stronger his anger, the more energy arises in him, and therefore he should fixate more on the wrathful deity. If a person has a strong attachment to something, he is advised to intensify this attachment and concentrate on it, uniting it with an understanding of the emptiness of its nature. That is, in this case the yogin should constantly fixate on the object of his attachment, seeing its emptiness.
One man in the time of the mahasiddhas was very attached to his wife. When she left her body, he sat and wept over her skull. A mahasiddha saw this and advised him to meditate on his wife’s skull, reflecting that he himself, the skull, and the entire world are essentially one, and that in itself all of this is emptiness. Since this man was attached to his wife’s skull, he thought about it constantly, but he united his thoughts connected with attachment with an understanding of emptiness and considered that all of this was one. After some time, the pain of loss from the shattered attachment was replaced by an equal attitude and the vision that everything is a single substance beyond subject and object. And in this way he attained awakening. This is precisely what the approach of “using the kleshas as the path” means.
A person capable of not rejecting the kleshas and accepting them as the path is rarer than the udumbara flower. Although for a person of the highest capacity the kleshas serve as helpers, for a person of lesser abilities they become poison. For people of this level, it is more important to abandon the kleshas.
It is generally considered that the person capable of making the kleshas the path is one who fully controls his consciousness and energy. If he does not possess such an ability, then most likely he will fall under the influence of the kleshas. It is said that even if an experienced practitioner feeds on impure food for a long time, after a while he will still be poisoned. Therefore, at the level of view, we say that one should accept the kleshas as the path, but at the level of conduct, we say that one should reject the kleshas and accept purification. Such a point of view may be unclear to someone, but it is unclear if you study the teaching poorly. That is, someone who studies the teaching poorly may encounter many contradictions in practice. He may listen to one set of instructions, then another, and he may have his mistakes pointed out to him. But if you understand the difference between view and conduct, there is no contradiction in this. At the level of view, the kleshas are accepted as the path, while at the level of conduct, discriminating behavior and following the path of purification are accepted.
Long ago, before I had studied the teachings of different schools and the anuttara tantra, at an age much younger than the youngest novices, I thought that tantra allowed one to eat meat, drink wine, and lead a worldly life, since everything is one. I thought: “What a wondrous, non-dividing, transcendent view! I admire it. But still, I am probably not such a great mahasiddha, so monasticism would suit me better.” And I chose another path. This is the view of a practitioner: he accepts certain things at the level of view, but at the level of conduct follows what is more beneficial for him.
How long must one reject the kleshas before reaching the highest level?
If a person is not attached to the kleshas and sensual pleasures, and perceives them as a magical illusion, then there is no need to suppress the kleshas, even if they arise, since they do no harm
Signs of an Advanced Yogin
When a person perceives the world as a magical illusion, and no attachment is generated in his mind, this is a clear sign of the yogi’s advancement. That is, such a yogi remains in the contemplation of nonduality day and night. He has a very high level of energy, he has samadhi and continuous consciousness. Then his natural state is so strong that he can absorb the impure energy of the kleshas, and it will only benefit him.
Suppose an ordinary person eats meat; this is not good, because as a result the channels become clogged, the mind inclines toward tamas, impure energies such as anger or sexual desire awaken, the body begins to smell bad, and the intellect remains in rajas. That is, for an ordinary person, eating meat is indeed not very good.
But let us imagine that some saint has opened the muladhara chakra, has tremendous energy, and his mind is in a very deep state of presence. Then even the meat he eats gives him very strong energy, awakening an even more powerful circulation of energy. Since his channels are wide and pure, he will not receive great harm from meat. This is an example of how to use the kleshas as the path.
When they do not arise, there is no desire to generate them, since you are free from expectation. If the kleshas do manifest, they become part of the path. But trying to use the kleshas as the path without having renounced attachment to material attachment means becoming like a fly stuck in honey.
Here it is clearly stated that a yogi uses the kleshas as the path only when he has renounced material attachment, that is, when he continuously abides in sahaja samadhi, in the inner universe. This means that his presence is one-pointed, and, being in such an inner universe, he abides beyond human discrimination. And since he is continuously in such a deep state, his level of energy is very high.
Tsogyal, do not fall into such delusions.
The Importance of Understanding View and Conduct
As practitioners, you must clearly understand at least the intellectual approaches to acceptance and rejection on the path of sutra and know the instructions of tantra on how to use the kleshas, how to distinguish between view and conduct, how to make the kleshas the path, how to self-liberate, what it means to “leave as it is,” and allow the kleshas to become ornaments. And it is very important to be aware of what the yogi’s levels should be in this regard.
An experienced practitioner always understands such subtleties and does not find himself in situations where he does not know how to act or what to do. When you have such an understanding, your practice acquires true deep meaning, because it is based on the nondual view and relative conduct.
Personal Experience of Liberation from Subtle Kleshas
In my time, I too encountered various manifestations of the kleshas. I had one strong klesha that bound my mind very tightly — attachment to emptiness, the continuous desire for the samadhi of emptiness. Someone may think that this is not a klesha, yet everything that binds the mind, limits it, or focuses it is a klesha. I managed to get rid of this klesha as the very last one after the Guru’s instruction.
I considered myself a very advanced practitioner, because if you live in the samadhi of emptiness, you do not communicate not only with people, but even with gods who have form. In this case, your friends are the gods of the formless world, so in the world of human beings you have absolutely nothing to do. However, when I was told that even such a state is a more subtle manifestation of a klesha, since there is attachment, I took it very seriously.
Thus, when a yogi is liberated from the last attachments, he attains the true state of freedom.
