🔥 Unskilful kamma
Actions that spring from greed, hatred or ignorance. Buddhists believe they bring suffering.
Buddhist Beliefs about the Universe and Human Beings » The Three Poisons: Greed, Hatred and Ignorance in Buddhism
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 1, 1.3 (Buddhism)
- Why Buddhists speak of unskilful actions and not of sin against a God
- The three poisons, avijja and kilesa
- What Buddhists mean by karma (kamma)
- Whether the poisons can be overcome, and Buddhist views on hatred, injustice, violence and war
🔒 Unlock Full Course Content
Sign up to access the complete lesson and track your progress!
Unlock This CourseUnskilful actions, not sin
In Why Do People Do Wrong? Selfishness, Greed and Sin, you saw that sin is a religious word for breaking God's law. Remember, Buddhism teaches no creator God. So for Buddhists there is no God whose law can be broken, and no God who punishes or forgives. Buddhists therefore do not usually speak of sin. They call actions skilful or unskilful.
An unskilful carpenter spoils the wood because they have not yet learned the craft. In the same way, Buddhists believe people do wrong because their minds are untrained, not because they are wicked.
Key terms:
- Skilful action: an action that comes from a generous, kind and clear mind. Buddhists believe it leads to happiness.
- Unskilful action: an action that comes from greed, hatred or ignorance. Buddhists believe it leads to suffering.
- Three poisons: greed, hatred and ignorance, which Buddhists believe are the roots of every unskilful action.
- Avijja: ignorance, meaning not seeing how things really are.
- Kilesa: 'defilements'. States of mind that cloud the mind and lead to unskilful actions.
- Karma (kamma in Pali): intentional action. Buddhists believe every such action brings results.
- Dana: generosity, or giving.
The three poisons
The Buddha taught that all wrongdoing grows from three roots. They are called poisons because Buddhists believe they harm the person who carries them. They are also called the three fires: in a talk known as the Fire Sermon, the Buddha described people as burning with greed, hatred and delusion.
🐓 Greed
Wanting and grasping: more money, more things, more praise. Greed says, 'I must have it.'
🐍 Hatred
Pushing away what we dislike: anger, ill will and the wish to harm. Hatred says, 'Get rid of it.'
🐖 Ignorance
Also called delusion: misunderstanding what life is really like. Ignorance says, 'This will make me happy for ever.'
In Tibetan Buddhist art the three poisons are painted at the centre of the Wheel of Life. A cockerel stands for greed, a snake for hatred and a pig for ignorance. They chase each other in a circle, because each poison feeds the others.
Buddhists believe selfishness grows from all three. A person wrongly believes in a fixed 'me' (ignorance), grabs what 'me' wants (greed) and attacks whatever gets in the way (hatred).
Worked example: a friend's new phone
Your friend gets an expensive new phone. You badly want one too (greed). You feel bitter and make a spiteful comment (hatred). Underneath is the belief that owning the phone would make you happy for good (ignorance). A Buddhist would say the comment is unskilful, with all three poisons behind it.
Avijja and kilesa
Avijja does not mean being unintelligent or badly educated. It means not seeing how things really are. Remember, Buddhists believe everything is impermanent, nothing fully satisfies and there is no fixed self. A person with avijja lives as if the opposite were true. They cling to things as if they will last, and they defend 'me' and 'mine'.
Many Buddhists call avijja the root poison, because greed and hatred grow out of it. If you truly saw that nothing lasts, they say, you would not grasp so hard or hate so fiercely.
The kilesas are the defilements. The three poisons are the main kilesas, and others, such as pride, grow from them. Buddhists often compare the mind to water. Stir in mud and you cannot see through it. Let the mud settle and the water clears. In the same way, Buddhists believe the kilesas cloud the mind but are not a permanent part of it.
Karma: actions and their results
Karma (Sanskrit) and kamma (Pali) both mean 'action'. The Buddha taught that kamma is intention: what matters most is the state of mind behind an action. Treading on an insect by accident is very different from killing one on purpose.
🎁 Skilful kamma
Actions that spring from generosity, loving-kindness and wisdom. Buddhists believe they bring happiness.
The Dhammapada opens with this teaching (verses 1-2). If a person acts with an impure mind, suffering follows as a cart wheel follows the ox. If they act with a pure mind, happiness follows like a shadow that never leaves.
Buddhists see these results as a natural law of cause and effect, not as rewards or punishments from a judge. How kamma shapes future lives is taught in Samsara, Kamma and Rebirth in Buddhism.
Can the three poisons be overcome?
Buddhists answer yes. They believe the Buddha overcame all three when he became enlightened, and taught others how to do the same. Each poison has an opposite that can be trained:
- Generosity (dana) weakens greed. Buddhists give food to monks and nuns and help people in need.
- Loving-kindness (metta) weakens hatred. In metta meditation a Buddhist wishes happiness to everyone, even people they dislike.
- Wisdom (prajna) removes ignorance. Buddhists study the Dhamma and meditate to see things as they really are.
Buddhists tell the story of Angulimala, a violent robber who met the Buddha, gave up violence and became a peaceful monk. For Buddhists it shows that nobody is beyond change.
Theravada Buddhists emphasise personal effort: the Dhammapada says that purity and impurity depend on oneself, and no one can purify another (verse 165). Many Mahayana Buddhists add that every being has Buddha-nature, so the poisons are like clouds hiding the sun. Many Buddhists say that removing the poisons fully takes a very long time, so most aim to weaken them day by day.
Hatred, injustice, violence and war
Buddhists see these as the three poisons on a large scale. Greed for land, wealth and power leads to injustice. Hatred leads to violence. Ignorance makes people see others as enemies.
Who is responsible? Human beings are: Buddhists do not blame a God or a devil. Each person is responsible for their own intentions, so a leader who orders violence and a person who carries it out both make unskilful kamma. Many Buddhists add that responsibility is shared. War grows from the greed, hatred and ignorance in many minds, so everyone can help by working on their own.
Are they inevitable?
📉 In one sense, yes
Most beings have not yet overcome the three poisons. While the poisons remain in people's minds, some Buddhists say, hatred and conflict will keep appearing.
📈 In another sense, no
Buddhists believe the poisons are not a fixed part of anyone, so no act of violence has to happen. The Dhammapada teaches that hatred is never ended by hatred, only by non-hatred (verse 5).
Many Buddhists hold both views. The world may never be free of conflict, but every person can end hatred in themselves, and each one who does makes the world more peaceful.
Common mistakes
Do not write that God punishes bad karma: Buddhism teaches no creator God, and Buddhists see kamma as a natural law. Do not say that karma means fate: it means intentional action.
Exam-style question
Paper 1 style. Parts (a) and (b) test AO1. Parts (c) and (d) test AO1 and AO2.
(a) Identify three ways in which some religious people try to overcome selfishness and greed. [3 marks]
(b) Choose one religion. Outline two teachings about the causes of human wrongdoing in this religion. [4 marks]
(c) Choose one religion. Explain why followers of this religion believe that greed, hatred and ignorance can be overcome. [6 marks]
(d) 'People who do wrong have only themselves to blame.' Evaluate this statement, showing you have considered different points of view. In your answer you should refer to at least one religion. [12 marks]
Model answer
(a) 1. Meditation (1). 2. Giving to people in need (1). 3. Studying their religion's teachings (1).
(b) Buddhists teach that wrongdoing comes from the three poisons (1), which are greed, hatred and ignorance, the roots of every unskilful action (1). Buddhists also teach that avijja is the root poison (1), because not seeing how things really are leads people to cling to things and to defend 'me' and 'mine' (1).
(c) Buddhists believe the three poisons can be overcome because the Buddha overcame them when he became enlightened. He then taught others the way, so Buddhists trust that it can be done.
A second reason is that the kilesas, or defilements, are not a permanent part of the mind. They cloud it as mud clouds water, so the mind can become clear again.
A third reason is that each poison has an opposite that can be trained. Dana (generosity) weakens greed, metta meditation weakens hatred and wisdom removes avijja. The story of Angulimala, a violent robber who became a peaceful monk, shows Buddhists that anyone can change. This means Buddhists practise giving and metta meditation to weaken the poisons day by day.
(d) Plan. For: Buddhists teach that kamma is intention, so each person is responsible for what they choose; the Dhammapada says that purity and impurity depend on oneself; Buddhists blame no God or devil; many humanists agree that people must answer for their own choices.
Against: Buddhists also teach that wrongdoing springs from avijja, and nobody chooses to be ignorant, so the right response is compassion more than blame; many Buddhists say responsibility is shared, because the greed and hatred in many minds play a part; many non-religious people point to upbringing and poverty.
Possible conclusion: judge each point as you go, then pick a side. For example: I partly disagree. People are responsible for their intentions, as kamma teaches, but 'only themselves' goes too far, because ignorance and the world around a person also shape what they do.
Exam tip
In part (b), the question asks for teachings about causes. Name a cause, such as avijja, then add what it means or how it leads to wrongdoing.