The poisonous emotions that saturate people’s minds in this dark era are the principal cause of their wandering in the endless cycle of samsara. To deal with those emotions we need to keep constant vigilance, following the example of the Kadampa masters, who used to say:

I will hold the spear of mindfulness at the gate of the mind,

And when the emotions threaten,

I, too, will threaten them.

When they relax their grip, only then will I relax mine.

-- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche