THREE POISONS

2 IDEAS FROM ME

• In Buddhist thought, the three root causes of suffering are often called the “Three Poisons”. Lobha (greed, grasping, craving), Dosa (anger, aversion, hostility). Moha (confusion, delusion, and ignarance of reality). Letting go of these are essential for freedom, peace, and love because they distort perception, conflict with reality, and trap the mind in endless cycles of psychological suffering.

• Lobha suffering begins when you attach your well-being to impermanent things and then crave that they do not change (relationships, health, outcomes, etc.). Dosa suffering arises when you resist and fight against the present realities and the universe does not unfold as you would like. Moha is the deepest source of suffering because it distorts perception itself. Examples include:

  • Thinking that you are immune to Lobha and Dosa filters

  • Misunderstanding your true nature

  • Believing permanence exists

  • Confusing attachment for love

  • Believing completely everything you think and feel

  • Refusing to honestly investigate your assumptions about reality

  • Assuming you do not need an experimental growth mindset and atomic habit framework to live your best life

2 QUOTES FROM SAGES

• “Delusion is not seeing things as they are.”—Thich Nhat Hahn

• “The ego says: Once everything falls into place, I’ll feel peace. The spirit says: Find your peace, and then everything will fall into place.”—Marianne Williamson

1 QUESTION FOR YOU TO EXPLORE

• Which of the following proven habits have you experimented with to eliminate the three poisons?

  • Radical self-observation without self-deception: Regularly ask: What am I chasing, resiting, and refusing to see in order to be okay? Where am I living in fantasy instead of evidence over time?

  • Mindfulness meditation: True Identity, Body, Feelings, Mind, Insight

  • Practice reality acceptance: This relationship is unhealthy. This person does not have the same core values. I fear losing a relationship that does not actually exist. I am already whole, courageous, awake, and alive. Life is now. Some things are out of your control and not your responsibility.

  • Reduce compulsive dopamine-driven distraction: Regular time in nature. Practice periods of solitude, silence, and introspection. Regularly glimpse/connect with your true nature.

  • Develop Lifecode Integrity: Adopt an experimental growth mindset and implement an atomic habit framework that cultivates your signature strengths with each of your highest values.

  • Practice RAIN meditation: Recognize emotions, Accept reality of emotions without attaching to them, Investigate root cause. Nurture with self-compassion.

  • Study Impermanence Deeply: I can love fully without demanding permanence. Deep dive on Impermanence leads to understanding true nature of suffering (dukha) and True nature of self (anatta). Which parts of me from 10 years ago are still here?

  • Seek truthful feedback from trusted teachers, therapists, and friends to reveal blind spots. Where do I avoid reality?

  • Replace the poisons with their opposites: Weaken greed by practicing generosity and contentment. Weaken hatred through understanding and compassion. Weaken delusion through investigation and awareness.

Namaste,

Duane Nelson