In this talk, we explore kleshas (煩悩) through a dialogue between the Buddha and his disciples.
What are kleshas? How do they trouble us, and how should we relate to them?
Through the metaphor of weeds and growing plants, we slowly look at the relationship between confusion and suffering.
This is a recorded dialogue — one meant to be sat with and inquired into deeply, in each reader’s own way.
What are kleshas?
This time, could you speak to us about kleshas?
Kleshas… you say?
Yes. The things that bind us to the world of confusion, that tie us down. The things that trouble and torment us. That is what we mean by kleshas, isn’t it?
Well… yes. When you become entangled and bound like that, it does become suffering, doesn’t it.
Yes. That goes without saying.
When body and mind are both bound, it is suffering. Confusion, anguish, distress — all of it is suffering.
Comparing Kleshas with Plants
You know how plants have seeds?
What kind of seeds? Flowers? Trees?
Anything will do. Flowers, trees, rice — anything at all. You plant a seed, and a sprout comes up, yes?
Yes. A small sprout emerges from the seed.
That’s right. And at first, it’s very small — fragile, you might say.
Even rice isn’t transplanted to the paddy until the seedling has grown to a certain size.
People, animals, plants — when young, they all require careful tending.
On the other hand, weeds — you’re better off dealing with them while they’re still small.
True. Leave them alone for a while and before you know it, they’ve grown large and keep spreading more and more.
The more they spread, the faster they spread. And the bigger they get, the harder they are to clear away.
Exactly so. Just as grass and trees grow and multiply — kleshas, too, increase in the same way.
So kleshas, like plants, just keep on growing.
Don’t you think it would be easier to attend to them regularly while they’re still small, before they grow large and strong?
Like weeds — tending to them consistently while they’re small does seem far more manageable.
In that way, if you are not led astray or bound by kleshas, you need not suffer so.
It’s something like keeping the yard clean — pulling weeds regularly before they take hold.
And by pulling the weeds, things become tidy again.
Reconsidering the Weed Metaphor
But you know — weeds, no matter how many times you pull them, just come back from somewhere, don’t they?
They do. Honestly, I’d rather just eradicate them completely, so they never grow back again. (laughs)
“Eradicate them completely” — that’s rather drastic talk, isn’t it?
Ah — no, I meant eradicating the kleshas, not the weeds themselves.
But to eradicate the weeds completely would mean making the land a place where no plant can grow at all, wouldn’t it?
Oh… I see. If the soil is so harsh that even hardy weeds can’t survive, it would hardly be fit for growing crops either…
So you’re saying — even kleshas shouldn’t be eradicated entirely?
Isn’t that part of what the metaphor of plants was pointing toward?
Each of you — please sit with this and inquire deeply for yourselves.
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