The three poisons

The Three Poisons are the three deep tendencies of mind that Buddhism identifies as the root causes of human suffering and of harmful action. In the earliest texts they are called the three "unwholesome roots" (Pali akusalamūla) — the roots from which damaging behavior grows; "the three poisons" (Sanskrit triviṣa; in Chinese 三毒) is a later, vivid name for the same trio, picturing them as toxins in the heart.

The three are:

1. Greed (lobha; also rāga) — grasping, craving, the endless pull of "I want, I must have, more." This is wanting that owns us rather than serves us, reaching for pleasant things and clinging to them.

2. Hatred (dosa; also dveṣa) — aversion, anger, ill-will: the pushing-away of what we dislike, ranging from irritation to cruelty. It is the mirror image of greed — both are reactions of a mind that can't simply let experience be.

3. Delusion (moha) — confusion or ignorance about how things really are, especially not seeing the impermanence and interdependence of life. Delusion is considered the deepest poison, because it is the misperception that lets greed and hatred seem reasonable in the first place.

These poisons matter because of karma — the principle, shared across India's religions, that intentional actions carry consequences. Actions driven by greed, hatred, and delusion sow suffering for oneself and others and keep one bound to the cycle of unsatisfactoriness (and, in the traditional view, to rebirth). The path of practice — ethics, meditation, and wisdom — works precisely by weakening these three at the root, replacing them with their opposites: generosity, kindness, and clear understanding. Importantly, this is a diagnosis, not a condemnation of people: the poisons are seen as conditions of an untrained mind that anyone can gradually heal. Every Buddhist tradition shares this analysis.