The Relationship Between Kleshas and Dhyana

Question: Is it that after cultivating to a certain extent, one becomes more sensitive to the external world, easily perceives subtle ill intentions from others, and thus becomes prone to anger?

Answer: Due to the stagnation of your body's qi mechanism and the blockage of qi and blood, emotional stagnation arises, leading to negative emotions. Consequently, you may misinterpret others as having ill intentions, which may not necessarily be the case; this is actually a projection and reaction of your own inner emotions. Because of this emotional stagnation, when encountering people or situations, you cannot help but vent your emotions, hence the tendency to become angry. For some people, at certain times, their temperament and disposition are easily influenced by their physical health. When the body is healthy and the mind is at ease, all negative emotions and afflictions vanish.

By the same principle, only when a person is joyful can they become open-minded and eradicate afflictions. Samādhi (meditative concentration) precisely generates joy, bringing physical and mental comfort and delight, thereby enabling the eradication of afflictions. The depth of samādhi varies, resulting in different degrees of joy and corresponding levels of affliction eradication. The "access concentration" (未到地定) and the "first dhyāna" (初禅定) are different levels of samādhi—the former attained within the desire realm, the latter within the form realm. The joy obtained in the access concentration of the desire realm is of a lower degree, and the level of afflictions eradicated is shallow. The joy obtained in the first dhyāna of the form realm is of a higher degree, and the level of afflictions eradicated is deep.

Why is it that only after sentient beings attain fruition and cultivate to the first dhyāna can they eradicate the fundamental afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion? This is because the first dhyāna is a samādhi of unified joy and bliss. When one abides in this samādhi, the mind is filled with profound joy and bliss. This joy transcends the greed and desires of the human realm within the desire realm, thereby abandoning and eradicating the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion of the human realm. In this way, the third fruition is attained.

Although the fundamental afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion cannot be eradicated in the access concentration, one can eradicate a portion of the afflictions arising from views and thoughts within the desire realm, eliminate the view of self, and attain the first and second fruitions. Therefore, the fruition stages of the Hinayana path are not only related to the wisdom of selflessness but also to samādhi and the eradication of afflictions. The presence of samādhi and wisdom ensures that afflictions can be eradicated. Afflictions are closely related to the presence or absence of samādhi and wisdom: with samādhi and wisdom, there are no afflictions; without samādhi and wisdom, delusion arises, producing afflictions. Thus, it is said that upon eradicating the view of self and attaining fruition, those afflictions arising from views and thoughts are eliminated, and the actions of body, speech, and mind become pure. Consequently, one no longer commits major unwholesome karmas, and grave unwholesome karmas are certainly not committed again. As long as a person still commits significant afflictive unwholesome karmas in the world, with defiled actions of body, speech, and mind, it can be determined that this person has not eradicated the view of self, lacks any fruition of the Hinayana or Mahayana paths, and is certainly not a bodhisattva on the grounds (bhūmi). No matter how eloquently or convincingly they may expound the Dharma, if their conduct is flawed and shows even slight defilement, it can be determined that this person is an ordinary being.