THE THREE POISONS

Transforming The Three Poisons: Craving, Anger, and Ignorance

Gotama Buddha’s Teachings to eliminate craving, anger, and ignorance are known, for good reason, as The Three Poisons, The Three Unwholesome Roots, and The Three Fires. Also known as (greed, hatred, and delusion) or (desire, ill will, and confusion).

These are The Three Poisons that exist and are present in the mind as part of rebirth into the human realm. It is our goal, through these Teachings, to eliminate these three poisons through practice of non-craving or generosity, non-anger or loving-kindness, and non-ignorance or wisdom. To attain Enlightenment, one would need to completely eliminate The Three Poisons.

These metaphors suggest how dangerous afflictive thoughts and emotions can be if they are not understood and transformed. Craving (Greed/Desire) refers to our selfishness, desire, attachment, and grasping for contentedness and satisfaction outside of ourselves. Anger (Hatred/Ill Will) refers to our hostility and aggression, our aversion and repulsion towards unpleasant people, circumstances, and even towards our own uncomfortable feelings. Ignorance (Delusion/Confusion) refers to our dullness, confusion, and misperception; our unknowing or wrong views of reality misunderstanding the world around us as described as part of The Natural Laws of Existence in Gotama Buddha’s Teachings.

The poisons of craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality) — mask our true nature, the awakened mind of wisdom and compassion. These poisonous states of mind then motivate non-virtuous and unskillful intentions, speech, and actions, which produces unwholesome Kamma so they need to be transformed, remedied and an antidote applied to experience the brightness of the Enlightened mind.

Craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality) are deeply embedded in the conditioning of our personalities. Our behavior is habitually influenced and tainted by these three poisons, these unwholesome roots buried deep into the mind. Burning within us as craving (greed/desire), anger (hatred/ill will), and ignorance (delusion/confusion), these poisons lay to waste hearts, lives, hopes, and civilizations, driving us blind and thirsty through the seemingly endless round of birth and death - The Cycle of Rebirth.

Gotama Buddha describes these defilements as bonds, hindrances, and knots; the actual root cause of unwholesome Kamma and the entire spectrum of human discontentedness. It is The Three Poisons, The Three Unwholesome Roots, or The Three Fires that keeps the mind in the unEnlightened state. It is only when a Practitioner deeply understands these and uproots them from the mind, that one can reside permanently peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy.