What This Concept Is About
In the Buddhist path of liberation, 取 (upādāna, "clinging") refers to the stubborn grasping, holding fast, and refusal to let go that arises from emotional preference. It is the pivotal link in the twelve links of dependent origination (十二因緣) connecting 愛 (tṛṣṇā, "craving") and 有 (bhava, "becoming")—because of blind craving and fixation, one grasps desperately, and in the end builds up a mode of life that keeps cycling through suffering and rebirth.
In general Abhidharma treatises (阿毗達磨, abhidharma; 論典, śāstra), 取 is usually divided into four types: 欲取 (kāma-upādāna, clinging to sensual desires), 見取 (dṛṣṭi-upādāna, clinging to wrong views), 戒禁取 (śīlavrata-upādāna, clinging to meaningless precepts and taboos), and 我語取 (ātmavāda-upādāna, clinging to a self-entity). However, in the original context of the Āgama sūtras (《阿含经》), the Buddha very often analyzed clinging through down-to-earth psychological movements that strike directly at human nature. Among these, 癡取—listed alongside 欲取 (desire-clinging), 恚取 (anger-clinging), and 怖取 (fear-clinging)—is a psychological concept of extraordinarily deep insight.
To put it in one sentence: 癡取 is the mental state of firmly holding onto and refusing to let go of wrong views, attachments, or unwholesome dharmas, out of delusion—that is, not knowing things as they truly are (不知如真), being unable to accurately perceive the truth of cause and effect and the real nature of phenomena.
To fully explain 癡取, one must understand its cognitive root, its psychological motivation, and the four classical similes the scriptures use to delineate it:
1. Cognitive Root: Not Knowing As-It-Is (the Dharma of Delusion)
The underlying code of 癡取 is "not knowing as-it-is" (不知如真). Here, delusion does not mean low intelligence; it specifically means a cognitive distortion regarding good and evil karma and the feelings of pleasure and pain. The scriptures point out that sentient beings are unable to accurately know the following four kinds of feeling: * 現樂當來苦 (present pleasure, future suffering): pleasant in the moment, yet bringing deep suffering later (like drinking poison to quench thirst, or sinking into online gambling). * 現苦當來樂 (present suffering, future pleasure): requiring sweat and restraint now, yet bringing lasting peace later (like giving up harmful habits, or cultivating the true Dharma). * 現苦當來苦 (present suffering, future suffering): suffering now, and continuing to reap evil consequences later (like retaliating out of hatred, sinking ever deeper). * 現樂當來樂 (present pleasure, future pleasure): pure and peaceful now, and leading further toward liberation and merit in the future.
Because of "not knowing as-it-is," a person mistakes "present pleasure, future suffering" for eternal liberation, or takes poison for honey, and so acts blindly, "practicing and never letting go" (習行不舍), which leads to "the unlovely, the unlikable, the unacceptable dharmas arising, while the lovely, the likable, the acceptable dharmas cease" (不喜、不愛、不可法生，喜、愛、可法滅)—wanting happiness, yet every day doing the very things that produce suffering.
2. Psychological Motivation: The Four Clingings Side by Side and "Dying for Face"
In the 《中阿含经》 (Madhyama-āgama), when the Buddha and the mendicant Kumāra-Kāśyapa (沙門鳩摩羅迦葉) were admonishing the stubborn King Piśi (蜱肆王, also written 弊宿王), the king openly declared: 「我此见欲取、恚取、怖取、痴取，终不能舍。」 *"As for this view of mine—desire-clinging, anger-clinging, fear-clinging, and foolish-clinging—I can never abandon it."*
Why would someone stubbornly defend a wrong view even when clearly unable to win the argument? The sūtra exposes the king's deeper psychological motivation: fear of being subdued, concern for worldly reputation, and the will to win or lose. He feared that "people of other lands" (他國異人) would say he had been "subdued, disciplined, and cut off" (降伏、所治、斷舍) by a mendicant.
Thus, 癡取 is often the deep background of 欲取 (craving for fame), 恚取 (the anger of refusing to accept defeat), and 怖取 (the fear of showing weakness and losing face). Because of delusion (not knowing as-it-is), a person comes to value vain self-esteem, reputation, and winning or losing more than truth, and would rather sink while embracing error than open their mouth and admit they were wrong.
3. The Four Classical Similes for Breaking Through 癡取 (One-to-One Correspondence)
To awaken those who stubbornly cling in 癡取, the scriptures give four highly ironic and rigorously logical similes:
| Classical Simile | Physical Situation of the Simile | Corresponding Psychological Mechanism and Tragic Consequence of 癡取 | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | 1. 舍麻取金喻 (throwing away hemp, taking gold) | Two men go into business. One, upon seeing silver and gold, decisively throws away the heavy hemp he carries; the other, because "the hemp bundle is tied too tightly, and he has carried it from too far away" (麻擔縛束已堅，所來處遠), refuses to let it go. In the end he returns home and is scolded by his parents—no benefit at all. | Routine-bound habit and sunk-cost obsession: because "I have already believed this for so long / invested so much," even when truth and reality are right in front of one, one still clings to error, finally reaping immeasurable evil retribution. | | 2. 商人失水喻 (the merchant who lost his water) | In an arid desert, a merchant foolishly trusts the lie of a man whose clothes are wet, believing there is water ahead, and so pours away the clean water and firewood he had stored. In the desert he has no water, the whole caravan perishes, and they are killed by man-eating ghosts. | Blind faith in wrong views, harming self and others: because of not knowing as-it-is, one lightly trusts false information, not only pouring away what is genuinely valuable but also misleading one's followers—"killing oneself and killing others" (既自殺身，復殺他人). | | 3. 戏赌偷 dice 喻 (the dice-cheating gambler) | A gambler, while throwing dice, tries to cheat by switching the dice and concealing his losses, thinking he has gained an advantage; in the end his trick is exposed, and he brings calamity upon himself. | Covering one's ears to steal a bell, and dying for face: trying to use sophistry and clever argument to conceal one's errors of view, thinking one has won the verbal battle, but in essence deceiving oneself, finally reaping evil consequences. | | 4. 养猪人负粪喻 (the pig farmer carrying dung) | A pig farmer, thinking pig dung useful, carries it home on his back. On the way, heavy rain falls; the dung liquid streams down and soaks his whole body, stinking unbearably, but he still thinks "this is useful" and refuses to throw it away, drawing ridicule all along the road. | Taking filth for treasure, and being disheveled and stubborn: treating harmful, impure views and bad habits as treasures and clinging to them tightly, even when reality has already made one miserable and ruined one's reputation—still refusing to repent. |
A Walkthrough of Daily Life
Contemporary life is full of unnoticed 癡取. We tend to think we make decisions rationally, but if we walk through our lives using the classical definition, we find we enact these four similes every day:
Scenario 1: "Sunk-Cost Stubbornness" in Project Development (Mapping: The Throwing-Away-Hemp, Taking-Gold Simile)
* Process check: You are leading a product or investment project and have poured in substantial time and money (you have taken on the "hemp bundle"). After six months, the market data and technical assessments (truth/gold) clearly show this direction is a dead end. But in meetings you still stubbornly refuse to cut the project. * Psychological mapping: The real voice inside you is: "I have already invested so much (carried from so far away, 所來處遠). If I admit it's not working now, what will my superiors and colleagues think? (fear of being subdued, concern for reputation)" * Misconception exposed: Most people call this behavior "resilience" or "perseverance." But in the Buddhist view, stubbornly clinging to a worthless sunk cost out of fear of losing face is textbook 癡取. You think you are defending professional dignity, when in fact you are like the fool carrying hemp who refuses to exchange it for gold; in the end you only invite greater loss and blame.
Scenario 2: In Intimate Relationships, "Winning the Argument, Losing the Relationship" (Mapping: The Dice-Cheating Gambler Simile)
* Process check: A couple quarrels. Logically you are full of holes, or the facts prove you misremembered or were in the wrong. But in order to "not lose this fight," you start dredging up old grievances, switching concepts, using specious arguments, even wielding hurtful words to suppress the other person. * Psychological mapping: This is like cheating at gambling (戏赌偷 dice). Your goal in the moment is no longer "to find the truth / solve the problem," but "I cannot admit I was wrong." * Misconception exposed: You think you are protecting your self-respect, but this stubbornness rooted in "fear of showing weakness (怖取/癡取)"—besides dealing a devastating blow to the relationship and making both parties "reap calamity upon themselves" (還自得殃)—brings no real benefit whatsoever.
Scenario 3: Trusting Information Cocoons and Folk Remedies (Mapping: The Merchant Who Lost His Water)
* Process check: An elder—or a young person—in the family sees some scientifically baseless "health remedy" or "get-rich-quick investment secret" on social media (the false message of the man with wet clothes), and decisively abandons regular hospital treatment or a sound savings plan (pouring away the stored water). Not only do they follow it themselves, they enthusiastically forward it in the family group chat, pressuring everyone to do the same. * Psychological mapping: Because of "not knowing as-it-is" (不知如真) and a lack of dialectical ability regarding cause and effect, one lightly believes the illusion of "present pleasure (quick wealth / instant results)" while remaining blind to the "future suffering" behind it. * Misconception exposed: This kind of 癡取 harms not only oneself but also leads those around one astray. "Killing oneself and killing others" (既自殺身，復殺他人)—this is an extremely terrifying cognitive trap.
Scenario 4: Clinging to Toxic Habits and Emotions (Mapping: The Pig Farmer Carrying Dung)
* Process check: A person has long been in a state of extreme anxiety, constant complaining, or vengefulness, or frantically stays up late scrolling short videos. Friends urge them to change; their physical indicators and the quality of their life have already fallen apart (the dung liquid streaming down and soiling the body, 糞液流漫污染其身). Yet they still argue: "This is just how I release pressure," or "Isn't life about enjoying yourself?" * Psychological mapping: Treating habits and toxic thinking that are clearly harming oneself as an indispensable "spiritual pillar." * Misconception exposed: This is the classic "taking filth for treasure" (認污為寶). To everyone else, he already looks disheveled and exhausted, yet he still clings to the dung used to raise the pigs, reaping ill repute and illness upon himself.
Why Contemporary People Need This Concept
Contemporary society is an era of information overload and scarcity of wisdom. Algorithmic engines push content precisely according to preference, massively reinforcing people's confirmation bias (確認偏誤, Confirmation Bias). We are more liable than at any time in the past to fall into 癡取.
1. Analogy and Contrast: Algorithmic Cocoons and the Self-Reinforcement of 癡取
Contemporary brain science and behavioral psychology have found that the human brain is essentially a "power-saving mode" prediction machine: it is innately inclined to seek evidence that matches its existing views (confirmation bias), and to bind self-worth tightly to those views. When one's views are challenged, the brain activates regions identical to those of physical pain (怖取, fear-clinging).
Internet algorithms (short-video and social-media recommendation engines) exploit precisely this weakness of human nature: the more obsessed and rigid you are, the more the algorithm feeds you. In modern technology, this perfectly reproduces the process of 癡取—within a wrong view, you are bound tighter and tighter by the algorithm's "hemp bundle" (縛束已堅, tied ever more firmly).
* Limits and unresolved questions: Brain science and algorithmic psychology can explain the dopamine mechanisms and neural circuits at work when the brain receives biased information, but they can only offer phenomenological description. Science cannot supply the moral will and the motive for liberation that answer "why I should let go of attachment," nor can it define what genuine "knowing reality as it is" (如真) would be. Buddhism, from the ultimate standpoint of the path of liberation, points out that the only way out of 癡取 lies in thorough insight into cause and effect and into reality as it is.
2. Releasing Contemporary People from "Face Anxiety" and the "Sunk-Cost Shackles"
Much of the exhaustion of contemporary life comes from treating "views" as "self." In the workplace, on social platforms, and in intimate relationships, we are constantly feeling "offended" or "slapped in the face."
The concept of 癡取 is like a sharp scalpel: it tells you that your refusal to admit error is not persistence; it is delusion and cowardice. You are afraid of being subdued; you are protecting a vain "reputation". When you realize that "stubbornly holding onto error" is as absurd as "carrying a dripping bundle of pig dung through a heavy rain", that vain self-esteem collapses in an instant.
Common Misreadings and Clarifications
Misreading 1: Equating 癡取 with "Low IQ" or "Lack of Scientific Knowledge"
* Clarification: In Buddhism, 癡 (Moha / Avidyā) by no means refers to IQ, level of education, or whether you can solve calculus. Many highly educated scholars and successful entrepreneurs, when faced with things that conflict with their interests, reputation, or entrenched beliefs, still display extremely stubborn 癡取. The 癡 of Buddhism specifically denotes ignorance of the law of cause and effect, and not knowing as-it-is the four kinds of feeling such as "present pleasure, future suffering". Even if a person mastered the entire scientific database of humanity, as long as they still think "as long as I am not caught, committing evil karma has no consequences," they remain in deep 癡取.
Misreading 2: Mistaking "Persisting in Ideals / Upholding Principles" for 癡取
* Clarification: Someone may ask: "If I cling to nothing, do I also no longer need to persist in my dreams and moral principles?" This grossly narrows the meaning of 取. The classical standard is very clear: whether it is based on "not knowing as-it-is" (不知如真) or on "seeing things as they truly are" (如實知見), and whether its retribution brings peace and happiness or brings evil consequences. True right mindfulness and right view (such as persisting in wholesome dharmas or cultivating liberation) are grounded in penetrating insight into cause and effect (現樂當來樂, 現苦當來樂—present pleasure, future pleasure; present suffering, future pleasure), just like the wise merchant who decisively "threw away hemp and took gold". By contrast, 癡取 is clinging, while knowing (or, through delusion, not knowing) that the outcome is suffering and bad karma, yet refusing to let go solely because of face, inertia, or the will to win.
Misreading 3: Thinking That Merely Not Arguing Online Means No 癡取
* Clarification: Not speaking does not mean there is no clinging. 癡取 is an internal, implicit mental state (firmly holding because of not knowing as-it-is, 不知如真而堅固執持). If in the depths of your mind you still firmly believe in some toxic interpersonal pattern or some blind life conviction (for example, "once I am rich, I will be permanently happy"), then even if you never debate anyone in your whole life, you are still silently enduring the life-drain of 癡取—like the merchant who secretly poured away his stored water in the desert, and in the end was devoured by the "man-eating ghosts" of affliction.
Conclusion: How to Let Go of 癡取 on the Path of Liberation
Within the vast landscape of Buddhist liberation, 癡取 is one of the most hidden shackles binding sentient beings. The first step in breaking through 癡取 is having the courage to admit your own "not knowing as-it-is" (不知如真).
The next time you feel your neck stiffen in a workplace debate, feel the urge to use specious arguments in an intimate relationship, or stubbornly refuse to retreat from a failed project, pause for three seconds in your mind and ask yourself: 1. What am I gripping so tightly right now—a load of gold, or a heavy, useless load of hemp? 2. Am I unwilling to let go because it truly accords with right principle and cause and effect, or am I merely afraid of being subdued, afraid of losing face? 3. Am I, right now, in a heavy rain, desperately carrying that stinking load of pig dung?
Once you see this psychological mechanism clearly, letting go is no longer a painful amputation but a relief-filled awakening. Like the merchant who decisively dropped the hemp bundle and went home loaded with gold—those who dare to admit error and put down 癡取 are the wisest winners in life.