In the case of the moth, all the explanations we make from the standpoint of physical matter are considered proximate causes. The distant cause is that the moth in its last life was a being much attached to form, one of the five aggregates, who cared strongly about its own look. With this kind of attachment, one will likely be reborn as a moth. The cause of the moth’s desperate tendency to fly into the flame is actually greed or desire.

- Quote from The Right View, "The Way of Living and the Meaning of Life"