3.2.11. The Wheel of Sharp Weapons

“When we are unable to love and accept what is unpleasant, we have not yet understood emptiness.”

— Śāntideva, Bodhicaryāvatāra

There comes a point in the alchemist’s journey when the outer trappings of life—its tragedies and triumphs, its comforts and cruelties—begin to lose their absolute hold. I find myself now looking upon both beauty and sorrow with a kind of spaciousness, not from cold detachment, but from an intuitive sense that none of it is ultimately fixed or real in the way I once assumed. In this chapter, we explore how such a view begins to form, drawing us closer to the fearless compassion embodied by the Bodhisattva, who sees through appearances and welcomes even adversity as a teacher.

The aspirant who reaches the level of an arahant or sets foot upon the Bodhisattva Path of Seeing is no longer entangled by sensory or mental phenomena. Why is this so? Because they have directly recognised their own emptiness—this absence of anything that could rightly be called a ‘self.’ From this profound insight arises a natural reflection upon all phenomena: they appear, yet they are hollow. This is what the teachings call the reflection of phenomena.

But this reflection is still, subtly, a judgement. Though we seem indifferent to the swirl of experiences around us, our minds have already assessed them to some degree. Ignorance remains the underlying root—no longer karmically investing in these objects, but still compelled to analyse and objectify them, thus reinforcing the lingering notion of a self who perceives.

Take desire: when we judge an object as desirable, we cling to it. A person trained in fine art might spot a battered trinket at a market stall and know it to be a hidden treasure. Their delight would be worlds apart from the stallholder’s, who sees only a worn ornament. Likewise, with phobias or prejudices—we react not to things as they are, but to our projections. The distressed mind of someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder over misaligned tiles, for example, cannot be fully grasped by those who do not share that reflexive torment. This is our personal reflection of phenomena and why suffering can often be so isolating.

In contrast, the arahant or Bodhisattva who has deeply contemplated the illusory nature of self no longer overlays experiences with habitual meaning. The world loses its enchantment. For the alchemist, this does not yet grant direct knowledge of ultimate reality, but it gives rise to a profound intuition: it is not this. The heart begins to turn away from phenomena with a quiet, almost bored indifference.

A vivid illustration of this shift is found in the fight between Neo and Agent Smith in The Matrix. Although Neo stands before a force that could easily kill him, he has already stepped outside the rules of the simulation. He begins to believe, and in that belief—rooted in the insight that none of it is ultimately real—his fear loses its power.

It is precisely this realisation that underlies the striking guidance of the Wheel of Sharp Weapons, a Buddhist text serving as a rigorous training manual for Bodhisattvas on the Path of Seeing. To the ordinary mind, its counsel seems reckless, even suicidal. Why else would one intentionally lean into suffering? But for the Bodhisattva, who knows all phenomena are empty, the usual fears are replaced by fearless compassion. Even death holds little menace, for having glimpsed a dimension beyond birth and dying, the Bodhisattva no longer clings to life in the same desperate way.

Modes of Engagement With Phenomena

Jhānic states—deep absorptions suffused with loving-kindness (mettā), compassion (karuṇā), appreciative joy (muditā), and equanimity (upekkhā)—ground the Bodhisattva’s mind in bodhicitta, the altruistic intention to awaken for the sake of all beings. This unbreakable resolve ensures continued existence in forms that serve this aim. The female Bodhisattva Tārā, for instance, vowed always to return as a woman to uplift and protect women—a testament to how enlightened compassion chooses even the harder paths.

For the Bodhisattva, the true task is to dismantle the last vestiges of afflictive tendencies, followed by the most subtle cognitive obstructions. They do this not by avoiding what frightens them, but by walking directly into it—like the mythical peacock that feasts on poisonous plants and thrives. Each hardship is seen as the ripening of past karmic seeds, a chance to exhaust old debts and purify the mindstream.

The Wheel of Sharp Weapons invites us to reframe every discomfort as a manifestation of our own prior actions. Hunger, for example, is to be contemplated as the fruit of former greed, inspiring a deeper generosity. By willingly facing such symptoms, the Bodhisattva cuts through karmic residues, slowly extinguishing even the impulse of grasping.

I encourage you to read this profound text for yourself. It may seem daunting at first, but once you adjust your perspective toward its ultimate goal, its fierce logic becomes beautifully clear.

To see through appearances is to stand at the threshold of true freedom. The Bodhisattva’s fearless acceptance of suffering as the exhaustion of old karma reveals a tender but powerful courage. They walk the world with an open heart, embracing even adversity as an ally on the path to complete awakening. Here, the alchemist glimpses a freedom beyond preference, where all experiences become the raw material for transformation.

This text is excerpted from the upcoming book Citrinitas: A Course in Modern Alchemy. The complete volume will include additional study guides, glossaries, and extended teachings. Learn more about the book here.