What are delusions? They are states of mind which cause our mind to be unpeaceful. They are also known as afflictions, defilements, negative or contaminated minds. If we wish to develop peaceful states of mind, one way is to know what causes delusions to arise.
There are 6 factors which cause delusions to arise. i) Latencies
ii) Sense object
iii) Bad company
iv) Wrong explanations
v) Familarity with any delusionvi) Inappropriate attention
When our mind comes in contact with any object of the senses, certain latency or karmic potential that is already in our consciousness ripens into a particular delusion, such as anger. Without latencies and sense objects, no delusion will arise. Even a mere memory of a desirable object and the pleasurable object associated with it can trigger the seed of attachment and generate craving. Thus, whenever we encounter an object of the 6 senses, we must be mindful and alert to stop our mind from being tempted and avoid responding in a deluded way. When one realizes emptiness of inherent existence, it is possible to enjoy an attractive person without attachment and not to be angry with hateful people.
Being in the company of certain people can stimulate our own delusions. Their attitudes and behaviour can have a subtle influence on our mind. Similarly, exposure to unwholesome stories, movies, television programmes can stimulate our delusions to arise. Hence, it is important that we associate with the good people and expose ourselves to good reads etc, in order to plant wholesome seeds in our mind.
When we become familiar with a particular delusion, it will arise spontenously and effortlessly. Furthermore, allowing our mind to dwell on the desirable attributes of an object that we are attached to or the hateful characteristics of someone we dislike, will strengthen our delusions of craving and anger respectively. To overcome them, we need to apply the appropriate antidotes to the respective delusions.
Source: "Path to Enlightenment in Tibetan Buddhism" by Geshe Acharya Thubten Loden
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