The transformation of confusion into wisdom is the magic of Vajrayana Buddhism. The Vajrayana proclaims that the heart of samsara, this bewildered world in which we live, is actually nirvana, and Vajrayana methodology ignites that recognition. It shows us that we don’t need to escape samsara, we only need to discover the wizardry to transform it. As Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche said, “There is no way out. The magic is to discover that there is a way in.” The elixir that catalyzes this transformation is awareness. Pouring awareness into the cauldron of samsara transforms its contents into the ingredients of nirvana.

The genius of tantra, or Vajrayana, is its ability to engage whatever occurs as an exercise in awakening. Every instant is brought to the path and nourishes its fruition. Problems are just opportunities in disguise; poison is unrecognized medicine. This is why the Vajrayana is called the quick path, for with its potions samsara can be recognized and therefore transformed into nirvana. A tantric practitioner is the consummate alchemist, zapping lead into gold.

Part of the magic occurs when the methods of the Vajrayana lift unconscious processes into the light of consciousness; or, in tantric language, when ignorance is transformed into awareness. At the root of this process is the discovery that we are always meditating— we just don’t know it. The Tibetan word for meditation is gom, which means “to become familiar with.” We are always becoming more familiar with either samsara or nirvana. Aware of it or not, like it or not, we are always engaged in the practice of confusion or wisdom. This is why we are so good at confusion—we have been practicing it since beginningless time.

For example, when I am consumed by the heat of passion, if I decide to indulge the passion I will become more familiar with it. If, instead of witnessing the passion and relating to it skillfully, I plunge in and act it out, I am effectively spending more time—and becoming increasingly familiar—with the ways of self-indulgent passion. I’m meditating on it and becoming habituated, even addicted, to the temporary bliss of indulged passion. Whether I know it or not, this is a habit-forming practice. By indulging in it once, it will be easier to indulge in it again, and easier each time thereafter. But by giving in to the heat, I will eventually get burned. Similarly, if I give in to a fit of anger now, the next time I’m irritated anger will rise more easily, and even more easily after that. Because I am practicing anger, I am getting better at it. And so it is with envy, pride or any other emotion. We are always meditating on, always becoming familiar with, whatever occupies our mind.

But if we decide to relate to our mind instead of from it, we will have the opportunity to become better at relating to our emotions skillfully. Instead of being thrown by our emotions, we can learn how to ride them. We can start to meditate on processes that bring about wisdom instead of confusion. The great blessing and curse of the mind is that it is always being trained. The curse is that most of us are unaware that we are always practicing; the blessing is that with awareness we can consciously choose what to practice. We could say that the spiritual path is the process of replacing unconscious habits of confusion with conscious habits of wisdom.

The Mechanics of Mastery
I, myself, am a virtuoso in the art of confusion. I practice it constantly. I am the Vladimir Horowitz of anger because I have spent countless hours practicing how to be angry. I am the Jascha Heifetz of passion, the Jimmy Connors of pride, the Babe Ruth of envy, because I have spent so much time becoming familiar with and developing proficiency in the perverse art of samsara. That is my practice in this life—and no doubt in lives past. I’ve been cultivating my mastery of samsara from time immemorial. I was born a child prodigy, and my talent for samsara is unquestioned. I’m currently surfing a tidal wave of samsaric momentum so massive, karma so monumental, that I don’t even have to think about it. Confusion comes easily. I’m a natural.

This is why it is so hard for me, and I suspect for most of us, to wake up. Having become so completely familiar with samsara, we need time to become familiar with nirvana. In this regard the spiritual path is mechanistic—it’s just physics

There’s so much inertia behind samsara that its habits must be exhausted and then replaced. So the first thing we need to do is to stop practicing samsara, to quit adding momentum. The lumbering freight train of karma must slow down and stop. Then we can change direction, replacing habits of confusion with those of wisdom, and start to develop enlightened momentum. We do so through exactly the same process that makes us masters of samsara. This process transformed can help us become masters of nirvana.

So much of the spiritual path involves repetition. We return to the cushion again and again. We label thoughts again and again. We recite mantras again and again. Vajrayana practitioners do 100,000 prostrations, 100,000 mandala offerings, 100,000 Vajrasattva mantras, 1,000,000 guru yoga mantrasand that’s just for starters. Now we know why. These may seem like outrageous numbers, but they are nothing compared to the numbers we have already completed in our practice of samsara. Repetition has gotten us into this mess, and repetition will get us out.

The first of the five paths to enlightenment is called the path of accumulation, and refers to the accumulation of merit and wisdom. As masters of samsara, we have already completed the path of samsaric accumulation. We have accumulated countless repetitions of confused thinking, confused motivation, and confused action. We have repeated our bewildered ways to the point of utter mastery.

The transformation of ignorance into wisdom has four stages. First, we don’t know that we don’t know. Next, we come to know that we don’t know. Then, we know that we know. And finally, we don’t know that we know. During the first stage we run on automatic ignorance, swamped in confusion and trapped in unconsciousness. We are utterly clueless. At the second stage we start to question our reality, our ignorance, and begin to usher unconscious processes into consciousness. We enter the path. At the third stage we reach confidence in our awareness and are stable on the path. And at the fourth stage we run on automatic wisdom, completely liberated in awareness. All unconscious processes have been brought into the sunlight of consciousness; ignorance has been transformed into wisdom. We have completed the path.

It’s like a fish leaping out of water. Until the fish leaps into the air, it has no idea it’s been submerged its entire life. It has no contrast. Similarly, until we leap onto the path, we have no idea we are sinking deeper into the ocean of samsara and drowning in its polluted waters. Sadhana practice is the way Vajrayana practitioners take that leap.