Emotional Work 1st. Mental Work 2nd.

 

RESOLVING EMOTIONAL & MENTAL OBSCURATIONS 

Question:

“I’m trying to remember a doctrine in Buddhism that relates to the purification of the emotional obscurations first, and then the purification of the mental obscurations lastly. What is this about?”

Gemini:

Of course. The doctrine you are trying to remember is a central and defining feature of the Mahayana and Vajrayana paths. It is the teaching on the Two Obscurations (dve āvaraṇe in Sanskrit; sgrib gnyis in Tibetan).

Your recollection is perfectly correct. This doctrine posits that there are two distinct layers of "veils" that obscure the mind's innate, enlightened nature. The entire path to Buddhahood is structured around purifying these two obscurations in a specific sequence: the coarser emotional obscurations are purified first, and the subtler cognitive obscurations are purified lastly.

Here is a detailed breakdown of this concept.

---

1. The Emotional Obscurations (kleśāvaraṇa)

• Sanskrit: kleśāvaraṇa (kleśa = affliction/defilement; āvaraṇa = obscuration)

• Tibetan: nyon mongs pa'i sgrib pa (or nyon sgrib)

• What They Are: These are the gross, turbulent, and afflictive emotions that are the direct cause of suffering and keep us bound to the cycle of rebirth (samsara). They are the "poisons" of the mind.

  • The primary ones are the three poisons: desire/attachment, hatred/aversion, and ignorance (of the law of cause and effect and the nature of the self).

  • This category also includes pride, jealousy, greed, and all their various permutations.

• Their Function: They are the direct fuel for negative karma. An act motivated by greed, anger, or jealousy creates a karmic seed that ripens into future suffering and rebirth.

• Who Purifies Them: The path of the Arhat (the goal of the "Hinayana" or Foundational Vehicle) is focused almost exclusively on the complete and total eradication of these emotional obscurations.

2. The Cognitive Obscurations (jñeyāvaraṇa)

• Sanskrit: jñeyāvaraṇa (jñeya = knowable/object of knowledge; āvaraṇa = obscuration)

• Tibetan: shes bya'i sgrib pa (or shes sgrib)

• What They Are: These are the subtle, ingrained, and non-emotional habits of mind that create the illusion of a dualistic reality. They are the very subtle imprints and habitual tendencies that cause the mind to perceive a solid, separate "self" (subject) here and a world of solid, separate "things" (objects) out there.

  • This is the fundamental, underlying belief in inherent existence (svabhāva).

• Their Function: These obscurations do not, by themselves, have the power to cause rebirth in samsara. They are too subtle for that. However, they are the direct veil that prevents the attainment of a Buddha's omniscience (the ability to know all phenomena perfectly and simultaneously).

• Who Purifies Them: Only Bodhisattvas on the Mahayana path undertake the long journey of purifying these subtle cognitive obscurations.

The Sequence of Purification: Why Emotions are Purified First

The path is structured this way for a very practical reason: you must put out the raging fire before you can clean up the subtle soot stains.

1. Purifying Emotional Obscurations (The Path of the Arhat and the early Bodhisattva Bhumis): A practitioner must first gain control over their gross, reactive emotions. The emotional obscurations are like a storm on the surface of the ocean. It is impossible to see into the clear depths of the water while the surface is being churned by violent waves. Through the practices of ethics, concentration, and the initial realization of emptiness on the Path of Seeing (the 1st Bhumi), the Bodhisattva begins to uproot these gross afflictions. An Arhat stops here, having achieved a personal, peaceful liberation from suffering.

2. Purifying Cognitive Obscurations (The Higher Bodhisattva Bhumis): For a Bodhisattva, eliminating their own emotional suffering is not enough. To gain the omniscience needed to perfectly guide all other beings, they must eliminate the cognitive obscurations. This is the work of the higher Bhumis (specifically, the 8th, 9th, and 10th). By repeatedly meditating on emptiness with immense power and stability, they slowly erode the most deeply ingrained habits of dualistic perception, which have been accumulating since beginningless time.

The Final Result:

• The complete purification of the emotional obscurations results in Nirvana (liberation from samsara).

• The complete purification of both the emotional and the cognitive obscurations results in full Buddhahood, which is the state of perfect liberation and perfect omniscience.

  
  

  Kleśa

  
  

  kleśa. (P. kilesa; T. nyon mongs; C. fannao; J. bonnō; K. pŏnnoe 煩腦). 

  In Sanskrit, “afflictions,” or “defilements”; mental factors that disturb the mind and incite unwholesome (AKUŚALA) deeds of body, speech, and/or mind. In order to be liberated from rebirth, the kleśa and the actions they incite must be controlled and finally eliminated. 

  A typical standard list of kleśa includes the so-called three poisons (TRIVIṢA) of greed or sensuality (RĀGA or LOBHA), hatred or aversion (DVEṢA), and delusion (MOHA). 

  According to the SARVĀSTIVĀDA school, there are six “fundamental afflictions” or “defiled factors of wide extent” (KLEŚAMAHĀBHŪMIKA) that are associated with all defiled thoughts: delusion (MOHA), heedlessness (PRAMĀDA), lassitude (KAUSĪDYA), lack of faith (ĀŚRADDHYA), sloth (STYĀNA), and restlessness (AUDDHATYA). 

  There are similarly ten “defiled factors of limited extent” (upakleśaparīttabhūmika), which may be associated with defiled thoughts: anger (KRODHA), hypocrisy (MRAKṢA), selfishness (MĀTSARYA), envy (ĪRṢYĀ), agitation or competition (PRADĀSA), harmfulness (VIHIṂSĀ), enmity (UPANĀHA), trickery or guile (ŚĀṬHYA), and arrogance (MADA). 

  In the YOGĀCĀRA school, there are typically enumerated six fundamental kleśa—greed (rāga), aversion (PRATIGHA), stupidity (mūḍhi), pride (MĀNA), skeptical doubt (VICIKITSĀ), and the five wrong views (DṚṢṬI), viz., (1) presuming that the five aggregates (SKANDHA) possess a self, (2) the two extreme views of eternalism and annihilationism, (3) rejection of the law of causality, (4) maintaining wrong views and presuming them superior to all other views, (5) misconceiving wrong types of conduct or morality to be conducive to enlightenment—and twenty derivative ones (UPAKLEŚA).

  
  

  — The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism