What is "kleshas"

n. (plural of klesha English)

Kleshas (; ; ,) in Buddhism, are mental states that cloud the mind and manifest in unwholesome actions. Kleshas include states of mind such as anxiety, fear, anger, jealousy, desire, depression, etc. Contemporary translators use a variety of English words to translate the term kleshas, such as: afflictions, defilements, destructive emotions, disturbing emotions, negative emotions, mind poisons, etc.

In the contemporary Mahayana and Theravada Buddhist traditions, the three kleshas of ignorance, attachment, and aversion are identified as the root or source of all other kleshas. These are referred to as the three poisons in the Mahayana tradition, or as the three unwholesome roots in the Theravada tradition.

While the early Buddhist texts of the Pali canon do not specifically enumerate the three root kleshas, over time the three poisons (and the kleshas generally) came to be seen as the very roots of samsaric existence.

The Five Poisons are five perceived threats to the stability of the rule of the Communist Party of China.

Kleśa ( sanskrit क्लेश, also klesha ) is a term from Indian philosophy and yoga, meaning a "poison". The third śloka of the second chapter of Patañjali's Yogasūtra explicitly identifies Five Poisons (Sanskrit: pañcakleśā):

अविद्यास्मितारागद्वेषाभिनिवेशाः पञ्च क्लेशाः॥३॥

Translated into English, these five (pañca) Kleśa-s or Afflictions are:

• Ignorance (in the form of a misapprehension about reality) (ávidyā),
• egoism (in the form of an erroneous identification of the Self with the intellect) (asmitā),
• attachment (rāga),
• aversion , and
• fear of death (which is derived from clinging ignorantly to life) .