In Buddhism, we talk a lot about greed, hate, and delusion. This is because they are a concise easy-to-remember summary of what causes emotional suffering.
Of the three, hatred is the worst and leads consciousness to Hellish states of becoming; but thankfully, it is also the easiest of the three poisons to remove.
This is because anger and hatred feels intrinsically unpleasant. It doesn't make us feel good. Noone likes feeling stressed. Hatred makes us feel unwell, it makes us mentally and physically ill. It is like a sickness, that is toxic and deadly. It feels like a great relief when we stop being angry. I much prefer to feel peaceful and serene than full of rage.
It is because hatred feels unpleasant and toxic that it is the easiest of the three poisons to recognise and let go of.
Greed is a lesser stain on the personality, and doesn't necessarily lead to Hellish states of consciousness, it can at times feel quite heavenly, and this is what makes it difficult to let go of.
Greed can feel pleasant, especially when our desires are being met and fulfilled. When we get what we want we feel happy, but only for a time. It cannot last and greed is never satisfied. The pleasant feelings eventually wear off, and if we keep getting what we want our senses start to become jaded. Then we start to feel dissatisfied, we can become lazy and mentally weak, and our appetites can become larger and more dangerous to ourselves and others. Greed keeps driving us to acquire more.
The Buddha said even if it rained gold coins, our greed would still not be satisfied.
We keep chasing the dragon. Which leads to spiralling addiction, unhappiness, and suffering. Yet greed doesn’t feel like that in the beginning, it decieves us, which is why it is so hard to overcome.
Delusion is both a great stain on the personality and very difficult to let go of. It's the toughest of the three fires to extinguish.
If you imagine a video game with three bosses, delusion is the big boss at the end, the toughest one to defeat.
Delusion is born from ignorance. It comes from a lack of information and misinformation. It forms our views, beliefs and opinions of reality, and is closely tied to our sense of self, our ego. We build an identity around our views, opinions, and beliefs and cling to them as if they are the most important thing in the world, even onto death. Which can cause much suffering for ourselves and others. It can make us conceited, and we suffer when we take things personally.
Delusion comes from ignorance of the truth. It fuels the conceit: ‘I am.’ It is behind the I-making and mine-making that causes so much suffering in the world.
This is a very brief introduction to greed, hate, and delusion. To sketch a picture of them if you like. The rest of the knowledge comes from experience. From watching our own minds and understanding these states and what triggers them. Then through stillness, meditation, and changing the way we talk to ourselves we train to stop holding onto these states. To let go of them.
This training can take quite some time. Results are not instant, and for some, it can take lifetimes.
But when the mind is finally freed from greed, hate, and delusion. It stops harrassing itself. The agitation and involuntary mind movements stop. Then there is peace and contentment and in that space where the three fires stop clinging to their fuel, the mental suffering ceases.
Physical suffering can still occur. The body still aches and feels pain. It still gets sick, ages, and dies, but the mind does not suffer with. The mental suffering has ended.
The noble eightfold path is a training one undertakes to recondition the mind so it can accomplish this goal of letting go.
Once the heart is no longer poisoned by greed, hate, and delusion, the training is complete and then the path can be let go of. At that advanced stage there is nothing more to do. One is free, and will never again fall back into Samsara.
But in the meantime, the path is something to cling to. Something to help us cross the flood of Samsara and realise the emancipation of the heart.
The Three Fires of Suffering
In Buddhism, we talk a lot about greed, hate, and delusion. This is because they are a concise easy-to-remember summary of what causes emotional suffering.
Of the three, hatred is the worst and leads consciousness to Hellish states of becoming; but thankfully, it is also the easiest of the three poisons to remove.
This is because anger and hatred feels intrinsically unpleasant. It doesn't make us feel good. Noone likes feeling stressed. Hatred makes us feel unwell, it makes us mentally and physically ill. It is like a sickness, that is toxic and deadly. It feels like a great relief when we stop being angry. I much prefer to feel peaceful and serene than full of rage.
It is because hatred feels unpleasant and toxic that it is the easiest of the three poisons to recognise and let go of.
Greed is a lesser stain on the personality, and doesn't necessarily lead to Hellish states of consciousness, it can at times feel quite heavenly, and this is what makes it difficult to let go of.
Greed can feel pleasant, especially when our desires are being met and fulfilled. When we get what we want we feel happy, but only for a time. It cannot last and greed is never satisfied. The pleasant feelings eventually wear off, and if we keep getting what we want our senses start to become jaded. Then we start to feel dissatisfied, we can become lazy and mentally weak, and our appetites can become larger and more dangerous to ourselves and others. Greed keeps driving us to acquire more.
The Buddha said even if it rained gold coins, our greed would still not be satisfied.
We keep chasing the dragon. Which leads to spiralling addiction, unhappiness, and suffering. Yet greed doesn’t feel like that in the beginning, it decieves us, which is why it is so hard to overcome.
Delusion is both a great stain on the personality and very difficult to let go of. It's the toughest of the three fires to extinguish.
If you imagine a video game with three bosses, delusion is the big boss at the end, the toughest one to defeat.
Delusion is born from ignorance. It comes from a lack of information and misinformation. It forms our views, beliefs and opinions of reality, and is closely tied to our sense of self, our ego. We build an identity around our views, opinions, and beliefs and cling to them as if they are the most important thing in the world, even onto death. Which can cause much suffering for ourselves and others. It can make us conceited, and we suffer when we take things personally.
Delusion comes from ignorance of the truth. It fuels the conceit: ‘I am.’ It is behind the I-making and mine-making that causes so much suffering in the world.
This is a very brief introduction to greed, hate, and delusion. To sketch a picture of them if you like. The rest of the knowledge comes from experience. From watching our own minds and understanding these states and what triggers them. Then through stillness, meditation, and changing the way we talk to ourselves we train to stop holding onto these states. To let go of them.
This training can take quite some time. Results are not instant, and for some, it can take lifetimes.
But when the mind is finally freed from greed, hate, and delusion. It stops harrassing itself. The agitation and involuntary mind movements stop. Then there is peace and contentment and in that space where the three fires stop clinging to their fuel, the mental suffering ceases.
Physical suffering can still occur. The body still aches and feels pain. It still gets sick, ages, and dies, but the mind does not suffer with. The mental suffering has ended.
The noble eightfold path is a training one undertakes to recondition the mind so it can accomplish this goal of letting go.
Once the heart is no longer poisoned by greed, hate, and delusion, the training is complete and then the path can be let go of. At that advanced stage there is nothing more to do. One is free, and will never again fall back into Samsara.
But in the meantime, the path is something to cling to. Something to help us cross the flood of Samsara and realise the emancipation of the heart.