Modern Buddhism and the Three Poisons
The only things to fear are greed, hatred, and ignorance. Call them the Three Poisons or the Three Unwholesome Roots, the result is the same. These are the cause of many of our problems, and much of our suffering. In fact, you could probably make a case that these are all part of the larger category of craving, which is the Buddha’s favorite cause to call out for its unwholesomeness to our quality of life. But I don’t blindly follow the Buddha, simply because he’s right 99% of the time.
Because the Buddha, like Jesus, Plato, and even Einstein, can be wrong at times, and that is a sign of his humanness. Other times, I simply don’t agree with him, though neither opinion could really be proven wrong or right, simply different perspectives. For example, the concept of change, anicca. Because Anicca is not only one of the Three Marks of Existence, along with (Anatta) non-self and Dukkha (suffering), it is also frequently counted as a cause of suffering, along with craving, tanha.
But I don’t see change that way, because I don’t see life that way. To use the Buddha’s own logic, if life is largely painful, then might not change be a good thing? I would think so. Then there is diversity, which is largely defined by changes, from one person and one culture to the next. To me, that is bad only if both are hateful. If both are kind and compassionate, then so much the better are the changes. If I travel from one country to another, I certainly don’t want nor expect them to all be the same. If I want to learn, then I am embracing change.
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