Buddha's Three Poisons: Stop Suffering, Find Happiness

Like Lord Krishna, Lord Buddha identified “three poisons,” or three fires, or three negative qualities of the mind that cause most of our problems—and most of the problems in the world. They are Greed, Hatred and Ignorance. You will notice that ignorance is there in both the lists and the others are related like faith is an effective antidote for controlling many negative emotions like Hatred.

Antidotes for these three poisons are Generosity, Lovingkindness and Wisdom. Buddhist practice is directed toward the cultivation of these virtues and the reduction or destruction of the poisons. Practitioners identify those thoughts that give rise to the three poisons and don’t dwell on them, while nurturing the thoughts that give rise to the three positive attitudes.

We don’t need to look far to see the three poisons at work. We see them every day in the news and in the streets, and if we pay attention, we can see them in our own mind and actions. The arising of these feelings may be outside our control—we don’t choose to be angry, for instance. But recognizing how greed, hatred, and ignorance cause tremendous harm in the world can help us learn to manage them. Just as swallowing small quantities of poison causes sickness later, nurturing these harmful attitudes leads to negative behaviors we will regret later. 

Though commonly referred to as poisons, Lord Buddha first introduced these mental attitudes as fires in the Fire Sermon, Adittapariyaya Sutra. Putting out these fires is the goal of Buddhist practice. The word nirvana is derived from the extinguishing of fire. Sariputra, one of the Buddha’s chief disciples, was once asked, “What is nirvana?” He answered, “The destruction of greed, the destruction of anger, the destruction of delusion—this is nirvana.”

The three poisons are depicted at the center of the Wheel of Life (bhavachakra), a visual representation of the sorrows of samsara. Greed is depicted as a rooster, hatred as a snake, and delusion as a pig. Importantly, they literally feed off one another; each animal consuming the tail end of the other in a vicious cycle. The centrality of the three poisons demonstrates their role in powering the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, the escape from which is nirvana.

Many interpretations of the Three Poisons indicate that each of the poison also represents related other negative traits. Greed includes Lust, Passion, Attachment and is represented by a rooster in the Wheel of Life Diagram. Hatred includes aggression, aversion, anger and is presented by a Snake. Delusion includes ignorance, confusion and delusion and is represented by a Pig.

(I hold no personal grudges against roosters, pigs, or snakes! They are simply symbols of each poison used in traditional Buddhist teachings).