Moha

Ignorance, delusion, confusion. Moha (Pāli and Sanskrit) is the root of the three mental toxins (akusala mūla): rāga (greed), dosa (aversion), and moha (ignorance). It is the most fundamental: without moha, the other two do not arise.

Moha is not simply “not knowing.” It is an active obscuration: the inability to see reality as it is. It confuses the impermanent with the permanent, the unsatisfactory with the satisfactory, what is not-Self with the Self.

It is the approximate equivalent of avidyā in Patañjali’s yoga — the root from which all kleśas sprout. Where avidyā is the confusion between puruṣa and prakṛti, moha is the inability to see anicca, dukkha, and anattā.

The antidote to moha is paññā (wisdom): direct understanding that dissolves obscuration as light dissolves darkness. Not accumulating information, but seeing clearly.