Afflictive Kleshas . . . In the Nature of Highway Robbers

Ignorance, Anger, Confusion, Greed, Jealousy, Arrogance, Cynical close-mindedness, Laziness, Disturbances, Wrong views, Low self-esteem, Fear . . . 

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In Buddhism they are known as Kleshas, mental hindrances that cloud our mind, setting the stage for unwholesome (i.e., self-grasping sourced) intentions and actions.

Unwelcome stimulants, they are persistent -- sneaky, lurking, powerful -- like highway robbers, always ready to pounce . . . contaminating our perspectives while bringing about unfavorable moods, motivations and vulnerabilities.

But, while cunningly virulent, their nature is impermanently transient . . . they're just thoughts; fleeting, here one moment then gone the next, at times stubborn but neither fruitful or necessary.

Significantly, each of us holds the means of disempowering our Kleshas' destructive effects: embark on the path of Lojong, the contemplative and empoweringly practical 12th century Tibetan/Mahayana mind trainings.

All are welcome.

(Length: 12 minutes)

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Written and shared here by Mark Winwood, a member of the teaching faculty of Naropa University in Boulder, CO ([email protected]), with musical accompaniment by San Francisco Bay-area musician Bobby Vega. Note: Naropa is not involved with these Elegant Mind podcasts.