There are six root vexations, or klesas, which branch out into innumerable other negative mental factors. Two of the most pervasive are greed and hatred. From greed grow desire, covetousness, and clinging, and attachment. Hatred has innumerable descendents such as aversion, anger, and jealousy Greed and hatred are like master criminals with their gangsters. TO break up the gang it is better to go right to the top. Once you get rid of the boss the underlings will disperse and scatter. Once we cut away the roots, the branches will wither away.

The six root vexations divide into the five emotional afflictions: ignorance, greed, hatred, pride, and doubt, with the sixth being the affliction of wrong views. Wrong views are views of the world that we have held since time without beginning. In fact you could even say that all six vexations are wrong view. All six are the byproducts of what we have done in the past with one difference. Emotional affliction is the accumulation of all our past actions, emotions, and so on, while affliction of views includes all of the karma we have created plus what we have learned in this present life--the different views and perspectives that we hold.

Four Paths to Actualization

Related to emotional vexations and vexations of view are the four paths to actualization. There is the path of accumulation, the path of seeing, the path of practice, and the path of actualization. The path of accumulation is in recognizing vexations, that is to say, understanding the truth of the origin of suffering.