Nearly everyone has experienced being trapped by attachments or swept away by emotional storms, losing direction in life. In Buddhism, these disturbances share a common name—afflictions (klesha). Afflictions disturb the peace of body and mind and are the fundamental cause of suffering and cyclic existence (samsara). Buddhist teachings offer a precise analysis and concise summary of this core human predicament. Among the “84,000 afflictions,” six are considered the most fundamental and are thus called the root afflictions: greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, doubt, and erroneous views.
These six root afflictions are not independent; they interweave and influence each other. For example, ignorance gives rise to erroneous views about the body and fosters attachment to bodily pleasure, which in turn arouses anger toward those who obstruct enjoyment. In the pursuit of pleasure, people compare themselves with others, strive to outshine one another, and cultivate arrogance. Meanwhile, they remain doubtful about the laws of causation and effect. In fact, these six root afflictions constitute the inner driving force behind sentient beings’ psychological suffering and ceaseless samsara. Recognizing these six root afflictions is the first step toward calming and ultimately overcoming them.
