What are the Three Poisons, and what does each one do to the mind?

Greed (lobha), hatred (dosa) and delusion (moha). Buddhists treat them as the forces that keep beings turning in samsara: greed drags the mind towards what it wants, hatred shoves away what it dislikes, and delusion misreads reality so that both reactions feel justified.

Why do a cock, a snake and a pig sit at the hub of the Wheel of Life?

They picture the three poisons: the cock is greed, the snake hatred, the pig delusion. They are often drawn biting one another, because Buddhists hold that each feeds the next, and they occupy the centre because the whole cycle of rebirth drawn around them is understood to turn on them.

Set out the first Noble Truth. What does dukkha actually cover?

Dukkha: conditioned existence is unsatisfactory. It stretches from plain physical and mental pain, through the ache of change (even the good ends), to a deeper structural unease in anything put together out of conditions. 'Suffering' is a serviceable translation but too narrow for the third sense.

What does the third Noble Truth actually claim?

Nirodha claims that dukkha genuinely stops when craving stops; it is not merely managed or endured. This is the truth that makes Buddhism a soteriology rather than a diagnosis, since it asserts that the condition described in the first truth has an end.

Explain what magga adds to the first three truths.

Magga is the practical answer: the Noble Eightfold Path of right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. Without it the first three truths would state a problem and a hope with no method between them.

Edexcel A-Level Religious Studies 9RS0

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BuddhismReligion

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Topic overview Sanatana Dharma, Karma and the Cycle of Rebirth Brahman, the Avatars and the Goddess Dharma, Ahimsa, the Aims of Life and the Gunas The Origins of Hinduism and Vedic Religion Shruti, Smriti and the Vedic Corpus Debates about Scriptural Authority Varnashrama-dharma, Varna and Jati The Four Yogas Debates about Yoga Colonial Rule, Reform Movements and Key Figures Hindu Renaissance, Nationalism and Hinduism Abroad Shankara and Ramanuja: Contexts and Key Beliefs Bhakti, the Gita and Assessing the Two Systems Pluralism, Diversity and Hindu Migration Equality, Caste and Gender in Hinduism Feminist and Liberationist Approaches

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Topic overview Ethical Monotheism Revelation in the Torah and the Talmud The Soul, Life After Death and the Purpose of Life Jewish Values Tenakh: Torah, Nevi'im and Ketuvim The Development of Rabbinic Judaism Orthodox Judaism Reform Judaism Diaspora, Secularisation and Science Zionism The Holocaust and Jewish Theology Maimonides and Moses Mendelssohn Religious Pluralism and Jewish Identity Gender, Equality and Jewish Feminism

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Topic overview Waheguru, the Self and Liberation Sikh Thought and its Indic Background Sangat, Panth and Qaum Sikh Moral Principles, Seva and Miri-Piri The Guru Granth Sahib and Secondary Texts The Ten Gurus The Singh Sabha Movement and Sikh Reform The Khalsa, the Five Ks and Nam Simaran The Sikh Diaspora, Migration and Secularisation Dharam Yudh, Social Justice and Martyrdom Khalistan and Sikh Self-Determination Women and the Feminine in Sikh Teaching Two Ways of Explaining the Divine Religious Freedom, Pluralism and the Bhagat Bani Sikh Views of Other Religions and Worldviews

Buddhism

The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path

3 things to know
Paper 4

Overview

Recall questions on the Three Poisons, dukkha, tanha, cessation and magga, nibbana and parinibbana, the Threefold Way and the eight limbs, metta, karuna and khanti, Theravada and Mahayana readings, and Keown and Bodhi on ethics and the path.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

What does samudaya identify as the cause, and what are the three kinds of tanha?

Key term

How does the Threefold Way summarise the eight factors?

Key term

Take the ethical limbs one at a time. What does each require?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
What are the Three Poisons, and what does each one do to the mind?
Model answer
Greed (lobha), hatred (dosa) and delusion (moha). Buddhists treat them as the forces that keep beings turning in samsara: greed drags the mind towards what it wants, hatred shoves away what it dislikes, and delusion misreads reality so that both reactions feel justified.
2
Why do a cock, a snake and a pig sit at the hub of the Wheel of Life?
Model answer
They picture the three poisons: the cock is greed, the snake hatred, the pig delusion. They are often drawn biting one another, because Buddhists hold that each feeds the next, and they occupy the centre because the whole cycle of rebirth drawn around them is understood to turn on them.
3
Set out the first Noble Truth. What does dukkha actually cover?
Model answer
Dukkha: conditioned existence is unsatisfactory. It stretches from plain physical and mental pain, through the ache of change (even the good ends), to a deeper structural unease in anything put together out of conditions. 'Suffering' is a serviceable translation but too narrow for the third sense.
4
What does samudaya identify as the cause, and what are the three kinds of tanha?
Model answer
Samudaya names craving, tanha, as the origin of dukkha. Tradition distinguishes craving for sense pleasure (kama-tanha), craving to be or become something (bhava-tanha), and craving for non-existence, the urge to be rid of what one is (vibhava-tanha).
5
What does the third Noble Truth actually claim?
Model answer
Nirodha claims that dukkha genuinely stops when craving stops; it is not merely managed or endured. This is the truth that makes Buddhism a soteriology rather than a diagnosis, since it asserts that the condition described in the first truth has an end.
6
Explain what magga adds to the first three truths.
Model answer
Magga is the practical answer: the Noble Eightfold Path of right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. Without it the first three truths would state a problem and a hope with no method between them.

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