Episode 25: Diane GoetschThe Three Poisons

Published: June 21, 2012, 7:31 p.m.

The Three Poisons is a simple and elegant Tibetan Buddhist teaching that identifies three foundational emotions that underlie all others\u2014passion, aggression, and ignorance\u2014much the way the three primary colors combine to make all others. For writers, awareness of the three poisons, which point to the ultimate equality and emptiness of all emotions, can be as profoundly beneficial as Keats\u2019s idea of Negative Capability. Through discussion, examples, and writing exercises, this lecture will seek to convey those benefits.