The Three Fires That Consume Us, According To Buddhism

When Buddhism talks about the three fires that consume us, it refers to them in different ways. They call them “the three poisons”, “the three roots of evil”, “the three debasements”, “the three corruptions” and other names. They are generically grouped under the word kleśā .

Buddhists think that the three fires that consume us are the ones that most severely lead to suffering. They see them as a powerful energy, capable of creating self-destructive compulsions in human beings and intensifying any conflict with others. Its direct effect is unhappiness and dissatisfaction.

Buddhism also points out that those three fires that consume us are what is collectively called “evil. ” These three debasements feed off each other; the one gives rise to the other, or vice versa. They are not presented individually, but act together.

Likewise, in that philosophy the appearance of one of the three fires that consume us is an opportunity that should be taken advantage of. It grants the opportunity to evolve, by training the will to face them. What are those three poisons? We will see it right away.

1. Ignorance

For Buddhism, ignorance is the first of the three fires that consume us. This is not the opposite of knowledge, but of enlightenment. It is not that the ignorant lacks intellectual knowledge, but wisdom, which is a deeper way of knowing and is not born from the intellect, but from the conscience.

Buddhists point out that knowing is penetrating the essential nature of each reality. The way to achieve this understanding is through contemplation  and the fight against the ego. The ego prevents us from seeing things as they are, it distorts them. Therefore, whoever has not conquered his ego is ignorant.

This ignorance would be overcome with mindfulness, the same one that allows us to merge with what we contemplate, acquiring the possibility of living that nature within ourselves. A plant is understood when it is contemplated and it is possible to feel like a plant, to experience the world as it would. The same applies to all reality and this is what allows us to overcome ignorance.

2. Attachment, one of the three fires that consume us

Attachment is born out of ignorance and leads to hatred. In turn, hatred causes attachment and ignorance and ignorance, attachment and hatred. Human beings do not become attached to something because they really appreciate it or love it, but rather that something serves in some way as a support for the ego and that is why it is considered indispensable. Actually it is, but for the ego, not for the being as such.

Attachment is a denial of the law of impermanence. This indicates that everything is constantly changing. We are no longer who we were a minute ago, just as the others are not. That makes attachment basically absurd, for we are attaching ourselves to something that has a changing existence, that is, something that is no longer what it was when we became attached to it.

Therefore, the desire to possess, have or keep a person, an object or a situation, is doomed to failure. Hence, it is considered a source of suffering and is classified as one of the three fires that consume us. Attachment is irrational and inevitably leads to dissatisfaction and pain.

3. Hate

Hatred is a feeling that leads to an intense desire to destroy. It almost always appears associated with other feelings such as resentment, contempt and aversion, among others. It is also a feeling that demands an enormous amount of vital energy.

Likewise, hatred is invasive. Once it settles, it tends to permeate everything else. It makes us prone to anger and becomes a barrier that prevents the expansion of our essence, in all its fullness. Hate is ignorance because it fuels a superficial glance at the mistakes or shortcomings of others. If we viewed them with full attention, we would understand their limitations and feel compassion, rather than anger.

The three fires that consume us, ignorance, attachment and hatred, do just that: consume us. These are forces that eat away at us, that steal our vital energy or lead us to squander it to no avail. The main victims of these forces are ourselves. Feeding those inner poisons is paid for with suffering.