1.40 HOW TO MAKE THE FIVE POISONS INTO THE PATH ITSELF
Turning the five poisons into the path is the actual path of primal awareness. The
manner of engagement is not to reject desire, anger, sloth, pride, jealousy, and so
on, but rather to nurture the five poisons as reflexively released pure presence.
Recall and relive the harm that an enemy has previously inflicted upon us, such
as stealing from us, injuring us, or embarrassing and shaming us, and let hatred
toward him rise intensely from the heart. As that hatred arises, look deeply into it
and see where—not why but where—it comes from, where it resides (in the upper
or lower part of the body, for example), and, finally, where it goes. Look whether
the hatred has color and shape, and what that color or shape may be. When you
see it is as primordially empty, selfless envisionment, do not abandon it because it
becomes mirrorlike awareness.
Imagine being with an attractive lover, drinking wine and eating meat, wearing
designer clothes and jewels; imagine wanting to ride horses or travel in cars and
aircraft and allow desire to arise. When desire arises, gaze at it nakedly, looking at
where it comes from, in which part of the body it resides, and, finally, where it
goes. See whether it has color and shape, and, if so, what are those colors and
shapes, and so on. When you see it with detachment as primordially empty
envisionment, do not abandon it because it becomes discriminating awareness.
When we are sleepy, in decline, in a state of dullness, gloom, and depression—in
short, when mind is not clear but is imperceptive and bewildered, like a frozen
computer—let sloth arise. As it arises, gaze at it carefully: look at the owner of the
sloth, see where it comes from, in which part of the body it resides, and, finally,
where it goes. See whether it has color or shape or any attributes at all. When seen
with detachment as primordially empty envisionment, if we do not abandon it, it
becomes awareness of vast spaciousness.
Then think of race, status, wealth, bone structure, powers of voice, and so forth,
and let pride arise. When pride has arisen, gaze at the pride-holder nakedly: see
where it comes from, in which part of the body it resides, and, finally, where it
goes. See whether it has color, shape, or any other attribute. When we see that it is
primordially empty self-envisionment, do not abandon it, and it becomes
awareness of sameness.
Think of someone whose wealth, knowledge, fame, privilege, opportunity, and
so forth, is greater than ours. Let our jealousy of him or her grow. When jealousy
has arisen, just look at it fixedly, look at the owner of the jealousy, where does it
come from, where does it presently reside in the body, and, finally, where does it
go. See whether it has color, shape, or attribute. When we see that it is
primordially empty envisionment, if we do not abandon it, it becomes the all-
accomplishing awareness.
If we can realize the nature of the emotions, they become the various modes of
awareness. On the flip side of the errant thoughts that arise with emotion we
discover empty awareness, and what a joy that is! If we search for it, however, we
cannot find it, and we become pathetically hopeless. We must first understand that
all the five emotional poisons are baseless, rootless, and empty. Later, knowing