Misidentification - The Root of The "Three Poisons"

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Pravin Kumar
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Misidentification - The Root of The "Three Poisons"

Post by Pravin Kumar » Sun Apr 15, 2018 6:38 am

Misidentification - The Root of The ‘Three Poisons’

The three poisons (Sanskrit: triviṣa; Tibetan: dug gsum) or the three unwholesome roots (Sanskrit: akuśala-mūla; Pāli: akusala-mūla), in Buddhism, refer to the three root kleshas of Moha (delusion, confusion), Raga (greed, sensual attachment), and Dvesha (aversion, ill will). (Wikipedia)

The cause of human suffering, as explained in Buddhist terms, is greed, anger and ignorance. These negative traits and fundamental evils are called the Three Poisons, because they are dangerous toxins in our lives. Not only are they the source of our unquenchable thirst for possessions, and the root cause of all of our harmful illusions, but they are painful pollutants, which bring sickness, both physical and mental. http://buddhismteacher.com/three_poisons.php

These negative traits can be traced to one root, misidentification of oneself as an object in a universe of separate objects. This ignorance of one’s own true nature leads inexorably to delusion and suffering:

'Separation, that is viewing oneself as a separate being (object) in a universe of separate beings (objects) leads inexorably to suffering. Not mental and physical pain for these are part of the human condition, and thus unavoidable, but unnecessary mental suffering. Which is thinking and worrying about one’s self-image, health, wealth, status, achievements, lack of achievements, past, future and ultimate survival. These are all caused by identifying oneself as an individual object in a universe of multiple objects, and also by comparing oneself with like objects (other people). How we identify ourselves is at the heart of how we view the world and our place in it. If we fail to correctly identify ‘what we are’ (in essence) then this leads to an unfulfilled life, with its consequent frustrations and mental suffering.' (From A Light Unto Your Self)

Thus separation from our source, or essence, leads to delusion and suffering which can be overcome by realizing that we are, at the deepest level Pure Awareness which saturates the universe. This is easy to see in our own direct experience and in universal terms:

In our experience every thing , which to us is just a mixture of thoughts and sensations (we can see it, hear it, feel it, smell it, taste it, know what it is called etc…), comes and goes in Awareness. Before any thought/sensation Awareness is present, while it is here there is Awareness of it, and then after it has gone Awareness is still here … ready, as it were, for the next one to come along. This is the only constant since (and before) birth which has experienced every thought (including all mind-stuff) and sensation that have occurred in mind and body. So for us Awareness is the constant, conscious, perceiving presence in which this flow of objects (thoughts and sensations) comes and goes; and is thus omnipresent.

In fact Awareness saturates the whole of manifestation, from electrons changing their behaviour when (aware of) being observed, cells responding to (aware of) changing environments, white corpuscles attacking viruses they detect (are aware of) in the blood, moulds moving towards (when aware of) foods placed near them and so on... It has actually been shown that the only time that electrons ever manifest as particles is when we are looking at them, otherwise they manifests as waves. It has also been shown that this coalescence into particles occurs before it is theoretically possible for any information to have passed between the observer and the observed! Thus this awareness, by the electron of being observed, is not a case of it ‘seeing’ that an observer was present; but is actually the electron ‘knowing’ that the observer was present because they are part of one continuum, as is everything, and thus no information needed to be traded!

So misidentification is the root of the first ‘poison’, delusion, which leads automatically to the second, greed, for we attempt to fill the gaping hole left by our separation from the source of our being, but this is impossible to do however much ( possessions, money, power, prestige etc.) we pour into it. In turn this leads to the third, anger and ill will, as this impossibility is realised and frustration sets in, an example of this is given in the Baghavad Gita:
‘If one ponders on objects of the sense there springs attraction;
from attraction grows desire,
desire flames to fierce passion;
passion breeds recklessness;
then memory – all betrayed –
lets noble purpose go and saps the mind,
till purpose, mind and man are all undone.'
(The Song Celestial, Edwin Arnold p.20)

Of course the obvious solution is to realize the source and essence of our being which is Pure Awareness, and the whole conundrum is summed up in the following poem:

When we say ‘I’,
It’s often a lie.
Denoting an apparently separate being,
From its looming extinction fleeing …

Fearing the engulfing nothingness,
In which there seems not more but less.
Avoided by expansion of image-self,
Acquiring more power, prestige and pelf*.

Alas this effort is all in vain,
For death annihilates this illusory gain.
This is the root of our anxiety and fear.
Transcend these see what’s always Here!

Discover what at the core you really are,
This needs no prestigious fancy car!
Nor money, influence, name or fame,
Part and parcel of the great cosmic game.

That which sees our every thought,
Of which, at school, we are not taught,
In which all our sensations appear,
Without which we would not know they’re here.

The constant conscious subjective presence,
Our innermost, fundamental, vital essence.
Which is ever aware of the turbulent flow
Of objects perceived as they come and they go.

Here complete stillness and silence reign,
Absolute peace with nothing to gain.
For this just witnesses the cosmic play,
Utterly untroubled by whatever may …

* Pelf - ‘Money, especially when gained dishonestly’ Oxford English Dictionary

The natural conclusion from all this is that the three ‘poisons’ are completely negated by realizing that one is Pure Awareness and remaining identified with, and as, That. For then there is no more delusion and thus greed and its corollary, anger, do not arise. Also one realizes that all ‘others’ are of the same essence which naturally leads to lack of ill will and wishing to treat them as oneself … which they actually are!

Colin Drake
For detailed palm reading and spiritual guidance Consult at: pravinjsoni97@hotmail.com

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