greed, anger, and delusion
The main cause of suffering is tanha ( craving, desire), which is easy enough to understand: we suffer when we want something we don’t have, and this is often referred to in the suttas: [separation from loved ones, etc.] But it was something of a breakthrough for me (maybe I was a bit slow on the uptake) that [Pali] ( aversion) is the flip-side of clinging.
Where it is obvious how desire causes suffering, it was less obvious to me that aversion is the desire for something to not be, although it is classically stated alongside the above separation, that proximity with unpleasant people and things and situations is equally insufferable.
That this had to dawn on me is a good illustration of avijjya ( ignorance) being the other cause of suffering: due to a fundamental misunderstanding about [[07. What the Buddha Taught#The Three Marks|the nature of reality]], we mistake something to be a cause of happiness, when actually it is a cause of suffering, a categorical error the Buddha illustrated by referring to the poisoned-honey knife.
So there are said to be three causes of suffering, the Three Poisons of craving, aversion, and ignorance. But craving and aversion are essentially the same thing, and they both spring from ignorance – so the cure for suffering is wisdom, so that we don’t keep getting caught making the same mistake over and over and over again.
The Defilements
kilesa defilements wholesome unwholesome kusala akusala suffering
The defilements are an interesting term, sometimes thrown around as jargon. Sometimes the term is used synonymously with the Three Poisons, and other times these three are taken to be the root of a more-granular list of defilements called kilesa. Either way, they are unwholesome states and events, and because they are unwholesome they cause suffering.
In the Vatthupama Sutta, there are 16 defilements listed:
- abhijjha-visama-lobha, covetousness and unrighteous greed
- byapada, ill will
- kodha, anger
- upanaha, hostility or malice
- makkha, denigration or detraction; contempt
- palasa, domineering or presumption
- issa, envy
- macchariya, jealousy, or avarice; selfishness
- maya, hypocrisy or deceit
- satheyya, fraud
- thambha, obstinacy, obduracy
- sarambha, presumption or rivalry; impetuosity
- mana, conceit
- atimana, arrogance, haughtiness
- mada, vanity or pride
- pamada, negligence or heedlessness; in social behavior, this leads to lack of consideration.