Destructive emotions

Disturbing emotions (Skt. klesha; Tib. nyönmong; nyon mongs) - the negative destructive emotions which are the cause of suffering.

• The three main disturbing emotions are ignorance, attachment and aversion.
• When classified as five, pride and jealousy are added. Pride is a combination of ignorance and attachment, and jealousy is a combination of attachment and aggression.

Working with the Emotions

Ringu Tulku Rinpoche says:

"Ignorance is the most fundamental of the kleshas, but also the most difficult to work with, so we need to begin with our attachment and aversion.

Traditionally the teachings begin with attachment, but I think it is easiest to begin with anger or aversion. Attachment is so strong in us we are not really ready to work on it. Of course, if we can deal with attachment then aversion is taken care of automatically, whereas dealing with aversion will not necessarily rid us of attachment. But most people are not prepared to work on their attachment straight away, although they can quite easily see how anger and aversion are destructive and unpleasant.

In a sutra it says this very clearly. It says that of the three poisons, ignorance is the most basic and pervasive. It is like the earth. If we can rid ourselves of this, we will rid ourselves of all the negative emotions, but this is difficult precisely because it is so deep and fundamental.

Yet ignorance does not cause us acute pain or present immediate difficulties, nor will it throw us into the hells. So we can deal with it more slowly.

Then attachment, it says, is like water: it is very pervasive. It causes us pain and suffering and it is not easy to get rid of. Attachment is not all bad—it has both a negative and positive side, e.g. compassion and love, or the resolution to become enlightened. We can be a little patient with this too. Water takes a long time to dry up.

Aversion is compared to fire. It has almost no positive side. Wishing harm for others will always bring us suffering for others and for ourselves too. Aversion then is where we must begin. It has the quality of a flame: it bursts up very quickly and can burn away everything, but when the fuel is no longer there it will go down again just as quickly."