Tahn Pamutto reflects on the major teaching found throughout all strands of Buddhist thought – that of the categorizing of mental states into the three roots of Greed, Hatred, and Delusion. The names for these categories suggest very coarse and rare mental states and it’s easy to shy away from speaking about them openly. But the reality is that these are just categories – and understanding where these patterns of mental activity come from allows us to become skilled in spotting and defusing them before they cause suffering in our lives.