Overcoming Poison

2026, January, Issue 184

In this terrible turbulence,

These poisons bind us,

This poison, these poisons

Creating terror,

for no good reason,

for no good reason at all,

we find certain

phantasms,

without knowing,

imagining the worst, simply

because we have no idea,

no idea who we really are;

We would never cause harm,

if we knew what we do,

if we knew we send ourselves

further into suffering;

When we see suffering

in others

as our own,

we begin to eliminate

the poison of ignorance;

When we see that our own

pleasure hurts others,

we can let go of the poison of attraction;

When we see that our own pain

has been caused by us,

we see that realistically,

we can let go of the poison of aversion;

We can let go of cyclic existence!

We can awaken at last!

A poem by Robert Aho © 2026

When we die, we sense much in the energetic dimension, thinking that turbulent explosiveness is real. This is especially true because the death bardo feels far more real than either our daily life or our dreams. We’re not accustomed to experiencing anything nearly this real, certainly not in such a direct manner. We are habituated to insulate ourselves from reality, being accustomed to the relative comfort of a physical body. When we find ourselves in the death bardo, being flung about madly by our accumulated karmic winds, it comes as quite a shock, even though it has happened an infinite number of times. This wind, generated by mind itself, is unlike anything we could ever experience on our miniscule planet Earth. It is far more intense than any star exploding, a black hole emitting quasars or many great galaxies colliding. This is what we must all face.

If we become very advanced Spiritual Practitioners, the death bardo is no problem. Our karmic winds will have little effect if we can remain at ease under these circumstances. This takes lots of meditative practice, the ability to remain present in our real nature, as well as learning to deal with any and all disturbances in life that might come our way. By looking within, we develop joyfulness, fearlessness, insight into this illusion that we only think is real, we develop an almost heartbreaking level of compassion for all beings. We begin to see how absolutely unnecessary it is for us to suffer, to be caught up by cyclic existence. We see how beings truly create their own demise. These are all abilities that we can acquire if we simply Aspire to Awaken.

If we diligently practice Bodhicitta for the benefit of all beings, we rapidly open our heart and mind. This means we start looking at the illusion of our world and realize that our own aspirations to awaken are illusions. We see the suffering of others in a way where we feel extreme compassion. This means seeing appearances as they are, seeing how people become trapped and maintain all the things that keep them trapped, clinging to their own suffering.

Ignorance, desire and hate keep us locked into perpetual suffering, there is no doubt about that; however, it is not uncommon for people to avoid any remedy for what has been poisoning us for all eternity. Our mind is poisoned by our own ignorance, avoidance and cravings, by deluded yearning and aversion, by not knowing who we really are. If we think we are somehow separate from everything else, then make every decision based upon what our ego wants and doesn’t want, we will suffer forever. If we start to open our heart and mind, then this world loses its grip on us. We gain the power to discover liberation.

It’s pretty simple to start delving into mind and the Nature of Mind, to become enlightened; however, we resist at every turn, we become embroiled when we need to relax, we dance around when we need to sit still. Awakening means we acknowledge that we haven’t understood reality. It means that we are ready to go beyond our constraints. In order to do this, we need to learn to start thinking for ourselves, to really delve into mind, and to put an end to how our disturbing emotions have had control over us since before there were beginnings.

If we really want to clear away the clutter, practice Guru Yoga a hundred or more times a day. Simply sound AH. You can visualize your guru, who might be a teacher, or Guru Rinpoche, or Buddha Shakyamuni, or Yeshua. It doesn’t really matter who your guru is, it’s important to look to someone who you see as awakened or carrying those characteristics, then you and the Guru become one. You do this with Bodhicitta, with a strong Aspiration to Awaken. All teachings are combined as you sound AH, so you will simply and effectively have that benefit.

You can even practice Guru Yoga in a nonconceptual way. This is a more simple, yet somewhat more advanced practice. Understand that this is not about obtaining more beliefs, it is about opening your mind to the ineffable, which, you will discover, is reality beyond what humans are normally capable of understanding. Sound AH with your eyes wide open. You are discovering what is, as it is.

Blessings in Light,

Rigdzin Robert Aho