Abandoning, Transforming, Transcending - Khenpo Kunga - 7/12/2025 (3/3)

 [Teaching translated by Adam Kane] This is the continuation of my notes of the Tergar webinar teachings.

Knowing the essence [of kleshas].

We have five sense consciousness that are always oriented outwardly and are supported by the mind consciousness (6th) that is behind them.  Then there is the 7th consciousness, the afflicted mind, that we cannot get rid of easily, because it takes the 8th consciousness, the storage consciousness, as an object, and clings to it as a sense of identity.  Due to that, kleshas are ready to arise in all of us.  They will arise when causes and conditions met, but the readiness to arise is what allows it to happen.

We must not blame ourselves or put us down, because it is our condition.  Not only that, kleshas are cause of we continue accumulating karma, and perpetuate our samsaric existence.  Fortunately, kleshas can transform because their nature is impermanent.  Moreover, the external phenomena that trigger them, look solid, but their nature is like a bubble.

First, the klesha arises (triggered by something), but immediately after, we can acknowledge its arising through awareness and vigilance.  Thanks to that we can take control and apply any method that we are using.  With wisdom we stop accumulating karmic imprints, that hold us wandering in samsara.  After realizing the arising, we can apply the antidote: abandoning, transforming, or knowing its essence.

There are two ways of knowing the kleshas: knowing the essence and knowing its nature.  The essence of kleshas is emptiness and its nature is luminosity or clarity.  Knowing emptiness by concept is not enough.  We must experience it, and the best method is analytical meditation.  In the other hand, resting meditation allows us to see their luminous nature.  Seeing both empty essence and luminous nature, the klesha can dawn as wisdom.

Three ways to engage in investigation

1. Look at the shape of the emotion. When an emotion arises, we ask, “What is its shape, color, form?” When we do that, we can’t find it.  From the point of view of form, we must admit that the emotion is empty.
2. Look at the location. “Where does it arise? Where is it abiding? Where does it go when it goes?” We can’t find it either. This is another piece of evidence of the emptiness of the emotion.
3. Look at its relationship with the mind. “Is the mind and the afflictive emotion the same?” It can’t be the same because wherever the mind was manifesting the afflictive emotion would also be present.  We can’t say that they are separated either.  If it was the case, it will be possible to find the klesha independently from the mind, but this doesn’t happen.  We can only conclude that the klesha arises when the causes and conditions are present.

Although this method has been very useful to me, I learnt that for many people it is not, because they prefer to just rest.  Fortunately, there is another way based on the luminosity of the emotion. Whatever method we use, the result of manifesting the beneficial qualities of the emotion and dawn the emotion as wisdom is the same.

The resting practice

There are three steps:

1. Look at the afflictive emotion.
2. Recognize how we reacted to it.  Maybe we don’t like it, or we hold to it (i.e. for desire).  We may experience attachment or aversion.
3. Look at the experience-er.  Who is actually knowing the emotion?

Usually, we don’t or can’t rest our awareness in our afflictive emotion, as we experience the relaxed open awareness and the emotion as opposites.  That is not the case with a positive emotion like loving-kindness and compassion.  Just by resting, the afflictive emotion becomes weaker. It may happen that by resting, the afflictive emotion vanishes and we enter in a calm abiding experience (objectless shamata).  If that happens, we just rest in that state.  If the emotion remains, that becomes shamatha with object.  Both are fine to practice.

Kleshas are strengthened by our mental imprints (secondary forces): attachment, aversion, fear, doubt… For example, if we experience anger, maybe on top we generate aversion because we don’t like anger, which boosts and increases it.  When that happens, we rest our awareness in those secondary reactions and prevent the boost of anger.

The third technique is to look at the know-er, at the experience-er, that is the luminosity or clarity of the mind, the awareness itself.  When we look at the know-er we find the mind, the rigpa.  We see that by looking to us, by looking in.  When we do that we don’t need to examine, or debate, “Is it good? Is it bad?” We don’t need to follow our emotions.  We just relax looking at the experience-er. Doing like this the klesha cannot take any action, it naturally liberates by itself.

The two first techniques are shamatha practices.  Just by resting the emotion liberates by itself, as in the classical example of snowflakes falling over a hot stone that melt immediately.  With the third technique, looking at the knower, the emotion often vanishes without allowing its push to operate, and is usually called self-liberation.

All three stop the emotion to operate and can be described as liberation beyond harm.  The classical example is a thief entering in an empty house.  If a klesha arises, it doesn’t matter because it cannot harm.  All comes down to the wisdom of empty luminosity.  All the emotions become our friends, supports for our practice.

Question: Why don’t we work with positive emotions?  Is it because we are attached to them or because they don’t generate karma?

Answer: Positive emotions don’t disturb our mind, they allow to rest our mind.  These qualities are present naturally in our mind, and that is why they don’t disturb.  Instead, afflictive emotions are temporary and disturb the mind, we can’t rest the mind when they are present. However, when we experience compassion, we can feel upset because we connect with the aspect of seeing the suffering (empathy) more than the alleviating the suffering (compassion). Being that the case, we must intentionally focus on the aspect of alleviating the suffering.