The three poisons
Pāli: lobha, dosa, moha · Sanskrit: lobha, dveṣa, moha · Vietnamese: Tham, sân, si
Greed, anger, and delusion are three unwholesome roots, often called the three poisons because they cloud the mind and lead to words and actions that cause suffering. Greed is the desire to grasp, possess, or seek pleasure beyond understanding; anger is resistance, hatred, and the wish to harm or push away; delusion is not clearly seeing truth, cause and effect, impermanence, and the suffering caused by clinging. These three roots are not a fixed verdict on a person. They are conditioned states that can be recognized, weakened, and transformed through ethical conduct, concentration, and wisdom. In an ordinary day, greed may appear as wanting to outdo others, anger as sharp words, and delusion as deceiving ourselves that actions have no consequences. Practice begins with seeing them early, before they become speech or action.
A guide by Inti Foundation · updated
Greed wants to keep what is pleasant, anger wants to remove what is unpleasant, and delusion prevents us from clearly seeing what we are doing. When delusion is strong, greed and anger are easily justified with seemingly reasonable stories.
Buddhism does not teach us to hate our own minds. Recognizing greed, anger, and delusion is the first step toward not handing them the steering wheel. When practitioners know an unwholesome root is present, they can pause and choose something more wholesome.
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In Buddhism, these states can arise in an untrained mind. What matters is recognizing them and not allowing them to guide speech and action.
First stop harmful actions and speech, notice bodily sensations, and cultivate a kinder question instead of continuing to attack.
Delusion is failing to see reality clearly in a way that increases suffering, such as not seeing the consequences of actions or taking what changes to be fixed.
The three poisons is the collective name for greed, anger and delusion: grasping, resistance and not seeing clearly.
You can begin with generosity and letting go for greed, loving-kindness for anger, and learning and contemplating cause and effect, impermanence, and non-self for delusion.
Sources for deeper reading
The Dhammapada in the Inti library frequently emphasizes refraining from evil, doing good, and purifying the mind.
