Trishnā (trsnā), Skt., lit. “thirst, craving, longing, desire.”
Thirst for life, or the longing for sense objects, which can and must be overcome with the help of spiritual exercises (sadhana), because trishnā is an impediment in the path of spiritual development.
(Pali, tanha); a central notion of Buddhism. Trishnā is the desire that arises through the contact between a sense organ and its corresponding object. It is the cause of attachment and thus of suffering (duhkha); it binds sentient beings to the cycle of existence (samsāra). Overcoming and giving up trishnā is possible through guarding the sense organs in such a way that in contact with a sense object passion and desire no longer arise. This leads to the end of suffering.
Examining trishnā from different points of view, the following classifications are made:
1. Sensual desire (Skt. , kamā-trishnā), craving for existence (Skt., bhava-trishnā), and craving for self annihilation are distinguished. These three kinds of craving or desire comprise the content of the second of the four noble truths, the truth of the origin of suffering. They occasion actions and already carry a result characterized by suffering within them.
2. In relation to sense objects, desire for form, sound, odor, taste, touch, and mental impressions are distinguished.
3. In relation to the three worlds (triloka) sensual desire, desire for fine-material existence (Skt., rūpa-trishnā), and desire for formless existence (arūpa-trishnā) are distinguished.
In the context of the chain of conditioned arising (pratītya-samutpāda), trishnā is conditioned by vedanā, sensation, and in turn itself calls forth taking possession of a womb (upādāna).
In the early phase of Buddhism, trishnā by itself was regarded as the cause of suffering and therefore of imprisonment in the cycle of existence. However, elimination of suffering was an insufficient explanation for liberation from the cycle, and a further teaching, that of egolessness (anātman) was brought in: the fact that the personality is seen as an independent self-existing/or ego (ātman) leads to placing special value on everything connected with it, and this is what gives rise to desire or craving. Liberation results from everything that is erroneously regarded as pertaining to an independently existing ego being recognized as inessential this causes desire to fall away.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Trishnā documents
Books on Trishnā
External links