The Poisonous Effects of the Three Poisons of Greed, Hatred, and Delusion (Three)

When our body is unhealthy, we should examine our own mental state to see whether there are thoughts and emotions of greed, hatred, and delusion that obstruct and affect the physical body. These emotions are what most readily produce toxins in the body and impair its functions. There are two causes of poor health: one is afflictive factors in this life, and the other is karmic force carried over from past lives. The unwholesome karmic actions committed in past lives can summon forth an unhealthy physical body in this life, a body beset with all kinds of illnesses, because the physical body is the primary bearer of karmic retribution. When we now give rise to afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion and commit unwholesome karma, the condition of the physical body is bound to change, exerting an adverse influence on the body. Once the physical body is affected, it gradually and quietly undergoes changes; the initial changes are not easy to detect, but once they accumulate over a long time, the body will undergo a qualitative transformation, and then the symptoms of illness will manifest clearly.

Our mental and emotional states—the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, as well as various unwholesome mental thoughts—can all affect the health of the physical body, and the mental activities of the six consciousnesses can also influence our physical body. Since the physical body can be affected and changed by the six consciousnesses, then the production of all dharmas involves not only the eighth consciousness alone, but also the seventh consciousness (manas) and the first six consciousnesses; the eight consciousnesses operate in harmony together to produce all dharmas, though the seeds all come from the eighth consciousness. Our physical body is changing at every moment, and this is related not only to the eighth consciousness but also to the present mental activities of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses.

If the six consciousnesses, which respond to sense objects, are calm and placid, the physical body remains in its original state, unaffected. If the six consciousnesses are neither calm nor placid, and the emotions undergo a sudden upheaval, then the physical body will be in quite another state—such as being startled and jittery, trembling all over, veins bulging, complexion sallow, lips turning purple, calves quivering, face flushed and neck thick, fainting, and so on; the functioning of the physical body will then be neither smooth nor normal. This shows that the functioning of the physical body is related to the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. All dharmas are manifested jointly by the three consciousnesses in combination, not produced by the eighth consciousness alone—this is called "all dharmas are consciousness-only." The meaning of "the three realms are mind-only" is that all dharmas in the world of the three realms come from the eighth consciousness, manifested by it through seeds; therefore all dharmas come from the eighth consciousness.

When the eighth consciousness encounters conditions, it can give birth to and transform the myriad dharmas of the world and transform the five-aggregate physical body; these conditions certainly include the mental activities of the six consciousnesses. Whether the mental activities of the six consciousnesses, as they operate, are pure or defiled, whether they carry the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion or not, makes a difference in how the physical body changes. The six root afflictions—greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance, doubt, and wrong views—are poisoning the present mind and also poisoning the future five-aggregate body and mind. Why can the six root afflictions also affect the future? Because the seeds of karma created are stored in the eighth consciousness, and when these seeds are later transmitted out upon encountering conditions, the mental activities of the six consciousnesses will be defiled. With the accumulation of defiled karmic seeds life after life, the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion become ever more severe, the physical body becomes ever less healthy, and both the direct retribution and the circumstantial retribution become ever less satisfactory.

Therefore, each of us should properly subdue our own afflictions and afflictive obstructions (kleśāvaraṇa). Once greed, hatred, delusion, and arrogance are subdued, we not only bring an atmosphere of joy and harmony to others, but the greatest beneficiary is ourselves: physical health, mental happiness, an open and expansive heart, freedom from worry and distress, and increased merit. By countering our own afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion and resolving all afflictions and sorrows, everything around us becomes pleasant; not only will we be free from afflictions and distress life after life, but in the future we can become bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, attain buddhahood, and become the honored one of the three realms.