How Delusions Arise
by Lama Thubten Yeshe
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The purpose of meditation is to gain realizations leading to the cessation
of delusion and superstition. This cessation depends, first of all, on
recognizing the character or function of the deluded mind. In addition, it
is necessary to understand the various factors causing such a deluded mind
to arise. Regarding this, Je Tsongkhapa has explained six factors leading
to the growth of delusion: (1) karmic imprints, (2) the object, (3) the
influence of misleading companions, (4) following false teachings, (5)
habit and (6) mistaken conceptualizations.
The fundamental cause of the deluded mind is the karmic imprint left on
your consciousness by previous non-virtuous actions. Because of past
actions done in ignorance and motivated by desire, hatred or any of the
other delusions, various imprints-or seeds of karmic instinct-have been
planted on your mind. When the conditions are right, these seeds ripen and
the deluded mind rises again.
The object itself is the second factor encouraging this ripening. Most of
the time when the object is there near you and the karmic imprint is there
in your mind, bang!-delusion arises. A good example is when you go
shopping. The object is there on the shelf. Through the sense perception
of your eye you come into contact with it and before you are aware of what
is happening, your mind sinks with attachment into the object. It can
happen in a very sneaky way and be extremely difficult to separate your
mind from this desired object. Your hand automatically moves to your
pocket, finds some money and you buy even before you know what you are
doing. It is so simple, isn't it! Thus when the deluded subject (mind)
comes into relationship with the appropriate object, superstition explodes
like an atomic bomb.
In the West it is incredible how everything is exaggerated so that the
deluded mind is certain to pay attention to it. "Look at this; how
fantastic it is!" This technique is used so extensively that even when we
give a meditation course we have to advertise, "Come to our fantastic
meditation course and learn all about your amazing mind!" Western culture
seems a little too much for me.
Buddha gave a very simple name to all of this. He called the realm that we
are living in the desire world. It is now easy to see clearly why he gave
it this name. The desire world. Desire is here! The deluded mind coming
into contact with desirable objects leads to superstition producing more
and more delusion. It is for this reason that Milarepa stayed in a cave.
He knew that once the deluded mind comes into contact with the object of
desire, delusions arise uncontrollably. That is why he thought it better
to avoid such contact until his mind was tamed.
The object causing the deluded mind to arise must have some relationship
to the karmic imprint. That is why technically it is called a "related
object." For example, you may have a particular imprint of attachment on
your mind. This will be activated by an object having desirable qualities,
but not by one having repulsive, hateful qualities. Thus there has to be
the proper combination of both the imprint on the mind of the subject and
the object's characteristic qualities. If there is no contact with an
appropriate object, it is impossible for the subjective delusion to
function.
The third factor mentioned by Lama Tsongkhapa is influences from the
outside. Negative, misleading friends giving you deluded information are
included here. These are the people you know who make you confused.
Therefore whom you have for friends, whom you stay in close contact with,
is very important. All around you people are drinking, for instance. If
you have some kind of control, you may be able to remain uninfluenced by
them for a week or so. But after a while you can no longer control
yourself because the situation is too overpowering.
It is very difficult to maintain control in opposition to such influence.
If you check up in your own life, I am sure that you will find many
examples of this. Such influence is not limited to bad friends or good
friends. In your life you have so many "teachers," people who feed you
information that only adds to your delusions. Therefore it is very
important to stay around those people who give you the right vibration,
the wisdom vibration. This is much better than exposing yourself all the
time to polluted, confused vibrations. But this does not mean that you
give up completely on all misleading friends, hating them and having bad
thoughts about them. No, this should not be your reaction. It is essential
always to remain compassionate. Also remember that we are polluted
already; our friends are not to blame for our delusions. Their influence
just makes this pollution thicker and thicker.
The Western mind is very interesting. In some respects it is very
skeptical, doubting everything. This can be a very good attitude,
especially when surrounded by untruth. Yet in some respects the Western
mind is totally the opposite of skeptical. If it sees something that has
one good aspect, that has one interesting side to it, without hesitation
it accepts the whole thing as good. This overly emotional attitude is very
dangerous. Every philosophy, doctrine, and religion has at least one point
which is good. Even the most evil person in the world-whoever that may be
according to your interpretation-has something good about him or her.
Therefore, the mind that runs uncontrollably to things that it finds
interesting can easily grasp onto what is really not very good at all.
I do not know why, but it seems that the Western mind likes mixtures.
Something that has many different flavors mixed together in it is seen as
very interesting. Please check up and see if this observation is correct.
In any event, such an attitude can cause problems in certain situations.
For instance, you might be listening to someone expressing an idea which,
in fact, is a total misconception. You think, "It does not matter if what
he says is true or not, it is interesting. Let him tell me more." I think
the Western mind is like that, having incredible curiosity and ready to
listen to anything. But actually, each misconception, each piece of wrong
information that you grasp at in this way thickens your deluded mind. That
is why I said that this uncritical attitude can be dangerous.
All this relates to the fourth factor causing delusions to arise:
following false teachings. This factor differs from the previous one,
which concerns going together with those who are bad influences. The third
factor relates in general to your life style, to your surroundings. This
fourth factor, however, means believing that someone is a special teacher
and therefore listening to and following all the wrong conceptions he or
she teaches.
For example, at the time of Shakyamuni Buddha there lived a man who wanted
liberation very badly, and so he went to see a certain guru. The guru told
him to kill a thousand people and make a rosary out of their thumbs. "When
you are finished, and have gained realizations, come back to me for more
teachings." This man, known as Angulimala, actually believed this
so-called guru, and collected 999 thumbs before he finally met Buddha and
was persuaded to practice real Dharma. His devotion had been blind, and
led to nothing but suffering.
Teachings, of whatever quality, can be very interesting. But when people
find things interesting it often just means that they crave information.
The same thing can be seen in children. Before Western children go to
sleep they like their mother or father to read them a story. That's true,
isn't it? The stories are very interesting, but most of them are garbage.
Children are very sensitive and have fantastic imaginations. They also
believe in things very strongly, so that what they hear makes a deep
imprint on their minds. Most parents are not fully aware of this and
think, "It doesn't matter. As long as the kid likes this story and falls
asleep, that's okay." There is no idea of what kind of effect it is having
on the child's mind, what result it is producing. The important thing is
that he falls asleep quickly so that you can be free, free to go to sleep
yourself or whatever. Just as long he doesn't make any noise. But this is
not right. It is not being kind to your children to give them such garbage
information. It only makes their delusions and superstitions thicker and
thicker.
Of course, if you have wisdom you can read any type of garbage information
at all without being affected by it. You can be checking up on it without
taking it all in greedily. That's okay. But when you are too interested,
too attracted-"Yes, yes, tell me more!"-it leaves a very strong impression
on your mind. There is a total lack of discriminating wisdom-knowledge, no
clear idea of what is right and wrong. You take everything in with no
judgment whatsoever.
The same is true about all types of information. So much comes in but
generally there is no integration and no differentiation between what is
useful and what is harmful. In fact, nearly every aspect of popular
Western culture-books, magazines, movies, television and the like-is
totally dedicated to producing more and more desire and superstition.
There are exceptions to this, of course. Some movies, for instance, are
different. But most of them show you what you like, what the superstitious
mind wants to see.
Anything to arouse your interest. The people who create these films, books
and so forth have a practical understanding of psychology. They know
exactly what arouses people's desires and superstitions and what will make
them more confused than they already are.
In short, misconceptions and misinformation cause more delusion if the
mind lacks discriminating wisdom-knowledge. You receive so much
information from the television, for example, that you actually become
excited. Sometimes you cannot take it any longer and have to leave the
room! So whatever information there is that makes you become more confused
should be avoided as much as possible.
The fifth factor increasing the strength of the delusions is habit. It can
work this way: at one time you had a certain experience with an object.
When you meet a similar object you remember the first experience, and each
time you repeat the action the strength of that memory increases, becoming
more powerful and distorted in your imagination. Habit builds up certain
associations so strongly that whenever a similar situation arises, your
mind automatically runs towards delusion. Some people become so obsessed
in this way with a deluded object that they cannot forget it. Why does
this happen! Because the experience has been repeated over and over and
over again, making the imprint of it thicker and thicker. The mind dwells
in the recollection of this experience, adding to the delusion. A person
cannot even sleep without a vision of that object appearing in his or her
dreams. I am sure that everyone has had experience with this phenomenon.
If a habit is repeated often enough and its imprint becomes strong enough,
you can actually go mad.
Sometimes the object of delusion forcefully impresses itself on your
imagination. For example, in the West when you are about to part from a
girlfriend or boyfriend, you both plead, "Please don't forget me! Keep me
in your memory. If you forget me, it means you don't love me anymore."
That's why you are not free. You can see that you are not free because you
have become obsessed in this way with one object.
The sixth factor also concerns things that appear interesting. When the
memory of something comes, you make a certain type of judgment about it:
"This thing is so good. It is fantastic. It has this quality, and that
quality, and this and that..." You exaggerate tremendously the worth of
something until it does not resemble the original at all. It has become
merely the product of your mistaken conceptualizations.
You have a boyfriend, for example, with whom you are obsessed. You find
his every movement and gesture interesting. The way he walks, what he
says, what he does-it all seems good to you. Even when he does something
incredibly bad, for you it becomes a source of pleasure. You are
concentrating so much on his attractive qualities that his negative
aspects are totally obscured.
The mind works in such a way, however, that if one day he says something
particularly unpleasant to you, your attitude begins to change. You think,
"He's not nice at all." Your mind concentrates on this thought. "Not nice,
not nice, not nice..." Soon everything about him appears repulsive; there
is nothing about him anymore that is pleasing to you. You can see this
happen, can't you! It is incredible how the deluded mind works. First
something appears completely positive and then it changes to its opposite.
But I say that it is totally impossible for any object, any sentient being
to be completely positive or completely negative. Everything has both
positive and negative energy. It is only the obsessed mind that sees
things in terms of black and white. There is a certain saying I heard in
the West: "You hear what you want to hear." This is a very accurate
psychological statement, a very good Dharma point. It emphasizes the truth
of what we have been discussing.
Seeing some kind of desirable object, then, always involves an
overestimation. Its good aspects are emphasized so much that you lose all
judgment about it. Simultaneously, you view that object as if it were
somehow self-existent. You conceive of it as something permanent, existing
self-sufficiently the way it appears to you. You fail to see that the way
it appears is actually a function of your own projections. Instead, you
think that these exaggerated qualities come from the object itself rather
than being what you have put onto the object from your own side. You do
not see what has happened. This deluded projection covering the object is
much thicker than make-up. Impermanent things are viewed as permanent.
Objects being in the nature of suffering are thought of as the causes of
happiness. And although all things lack true, independent self-existence,
they are conceived of as having such self-existence.
Je Tsongkhapa defined this process as holding onto something that has
nothing to do with reality. It is completely unrelated to the way things
actually exist. You grasp onto something, perceiving and believing it to
exist in a certain way, and as a result your delusions grow. The deluded
mind becomes more powerful. This brings us back to an earlier point:
whatever exists-good news, bad news, heaven and hell, samsara or
nirvana-is a manifestation of the mind. When the mind is covered with
superstitions it creates suffering. Therefore, in order to gain release
from this suffering it is important to understand both the characteristic
nature of the deluded mind and the factors causing these superstitions to
arise and increase. So check up and meditate on these six factors. It is
so worthwhile. Your understanding can become so powerful that it makes
your mind really straight. Otherwise there is no way to begin to rid
yourself of delusions.
Source: www.lamayeshe.com
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Update: 01-07-2003
