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Here, Śāntideva tells us, one should hold tight to the antidotes and destroy the afflictions by meeting them head on in battle. But the third line of this verse seems rather curious. How could it be that defilement could halt defilement? In his commentary, Gyaltsab Je [LINK to text pdf p. 137] illuminates this doubt. | Here, Śāntideva tells us, one should hold tight to the antidotes and destroy the afflictions by meeting them head on in battle. But the third line of this verse seems rather curious. How could it be that defilement could halt defilement? In his commentary, Gyaltsab Je [LINK to text pdf p. 137] illuminates this doubt. | ||
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|quote-text=There is attachment to the antidotes and anger towards what is to be abandoned, and also there is resentment or holding a grudge towards those objects of abandonment. But since all of these are also afflictive emotions shouldn’t they be something to be abandoned?<ref>Gyaltsab | |quote-text=There is attachment to the antidotes and anger towards what is to be abandoned, and also there is resentment or holding a grudge towards those objects of abandonment. But since all of these are also afflictive emotions shouldn’t they be something to be abandoned?<ref>Gyaltsab Darma Rinchen, ''Entrance Way for the Children of the Conquerors: An Extensive Explanation of the Bodhicaryāvatāra, Byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa'i ram shad rgyal seas 'jug ngogs'' (Taiwan: Gaden Jangtse Thosam Norling Dratsang, 2007), 129.</ref> | ||
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In addition, Khenpo Kunpal points out that although afflictions such as resentment can be used as an antidote against the afflictions, they will still need to be overcome at some point. | |||
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|quote-text=It could be argued that passion and rancor are themselves types of attachment and aversion, and that they must consequently be rejected. But defilements such as these, namely passion for the antidotes and rancor against defilements, are, in the early stages, means by which the negative emotions are to be destroyed. This is why, for the time being, they are not to be regarded as things to be rejected. They should not be spurned. All the same, they do constitute cognitive obscurations and at some point, they too will have to be abandoned.<ref>Fletcher and Blankleder, ''Nectar of Manjushri's Speech'', 160.</ref> | |||
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Sometimes we may feel that it might be easier to just go along with the afflictions and that the very process of having to destroy them brings us great suffering and hardship. But Śāntideva makes it very clear to us that we should never give in to their power. | |||
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Better to lose our lives, he warns us, than to surrender to this internal enemy. The afflictions can cause much longer-term damage, dragging us down into birth in the lower realms from which it is then so hard to escape. | |||
Since it seems almost impossible to permanently destroy all external enemies, we may also wonder whether there is any hope of completely overcoming our afflictions. However, Śāntideva gives us hope in our fight against our delusions by impressing upon us the difference between ordinary external enemies and the internal enemy of the afflictions. | |||
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Even if an ordinary foe is temporarily defeated in battle, they may be able to retreat and escape to another land for immediate safety. Because their army has not been entirely destroyed, they will lick their wounds and slowly regroup and regain their strength. They may elicit help from other opponents of ours and then make fresh plans to return and raid our lands or fight us again on the battlefield. But, Śāntideva tells us, the defiled mental states are not like this. | |||
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Śāntideva taunts the afflictions, calling them pathetic and miserable. The reason is that, unlike external enemies, the defilements have little power against being cast out by their antidote, the eye of wisdom. He reminds us that they can be cut away at their very root and prevented from ever arising again. | |||
One very important point here is that the afflictions have a faulty foundation. They are based on a mistaken perception, and when that mistake is fully comprehended, this newfound wisdom can then drive the afflictions away forever. It is similar to the moment when we see through a magician's trick and understand that we have been deceived all along. This connects with the topic of the third of the four noble truths [LINK to glossary], the truth of the cessation of suffering [LINK to glossary]. | |||
<h4>The Ultimate Nature of the Afflictions</h4> | |||
Connected with the eye of wisdom mentioned above, Śāntideva briefly mentions another crucial point that comes up throughout the text but is dealt with in greatest detail in the ninth chapter on wisdom. One very important aspect of learning how to deal with the afflictions is to understand their nature, not just from a relative perspective but also from an ultimate perspective. | |||
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