All Buddhist Stories
Mahamudra and the Path Beyond Suffering: Removing, Transforming, and Transcending
In the Mahamudra tradition of meditation—often called the “Great Seal”—we begin with a profound view: the essence of all phenomena, of ourselves and others, is pure. This is sometimes called pure perception. At our core, each of us possesses a basic innate goodness.
Yet, despite this purity, we are often clouded by what Buddhist philosophy calls obscurations. These are layers of ignorance, craving, aversion, and other afflictions that prevent us from experiencing our true nature. Imagine the sky: vast, open, and unchanging. Clouds may pass through, sometimes thick and stormy, but they never alter the sky itself. Similarly, our innate goodness remains untouched, even when obscured.
The Five Kleishas: Roots of Suffering
Buddhist teachings describe five fundamental afflictions—called kleishas—that create suffering:
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Ignorance – Not seeing reality clearly, mistaking impermanent conditions for permanent truths.
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Aversion – Hatred, fear, or rejection of unwanted experiences.
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Craving – Attachment, fixation, and endless grasping.
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Pride – Inflated self-image or fragile self-esteem.
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Jealousy – Resentment of others’ joy or success.
From these five roots, suffering branches out into countless forms: anxiety, panic, depression, loneliness, and disconnection.
For example, in my own life, I once experienced panic attacks. Ignorance made me believe they were permanent—that my life was doomed. Aversion made me fear the panic itself, creating a “panic about panic.” Craving arose as I desperately wished for a calm state of mind, which only intensified the struggle. Pride and jealousy joined in, as I compared myself with others who seemed happy and free. This web of kleishas amplified my suffering.
But the Mahamudra path offers a way through.
Three Techniques: Removing, Transforming, and Transcending
The lineage of Mahamudra practice teaches three approaches to working with kleishas:
1. Removing
At times, we need to change our behavior or environment directly.
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If your phone keeps you awake, remove it from your bedroom.
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If alcohol or smoking dominate your life, step into environments (such as rehab) where those triggers are absent.
On a mental level, this means cultivating the opposite of each kleisha:
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Replace ignorance with wisdom.
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Replace aversion with compassion.
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Replace craving with awareness of impermanence.
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Replace pride with humility and reflection.
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Replace jealousy with rejoicing in others’ happiness.
Removing isn’t about denial—it’s about skillfully clearing space to heal.
2. Transforming
Instead of resisting, we can turn poison into medicine. This is the practice of alchemy: obstacles become opportunities, pain becomes fuel for wisdom.
In my case, panic attacks transformed into supports for meditation. They became teachers of awareness, compassion, and presence. The very energy of suffering, when embraced, can reveal wisdom.
3. Transcending
At the deepest level, we look directly into the nature of suffering itself. Waves may rise and fall, but their essence is always water. Clouds may obscure, but their essence is space.
In the same way, the essence of panic, anger, jealousy, or depression is awareness, compassion, and wisdom. Seeing this directly, we transcend suffering—not by removing or changing it, but by recognizing its true nature.
This is liberation: when poison liberates itself, when suffering is no longer an obstacle but an expression of wisdom.
The Journey Forward
These three approaches—removing, transforming, transcending—are not rigid stages but complementary tools. Sometimes, removal is best. Sometimes, transformation is possible. At the deepest level, transcendence shows us that we were never separate from our own innate goodness.
Like learning any new skill, this path takes patience and practice. Step by step, we discover that our obscurations are temporary clouds, and our true nature is as vast and pure as the sky.
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