Tanha (Pali/Sanskrit: trsna), one of the Four Noble Truths of Buddhist texts, describes the craving for sense objects which provide pleasant feeling, or craving for sensory pleasures. Tanha is a term for wanting to have or wanting to obtain.

By some Buddhist teachings, attachment, or desire, is a certain type of false belief rooted in the mistaken idea that any given ingested substance or any given physical or social activity has the power in and of itself to induce genuine happiness or well-being. Such false beliefs normally result in the repeated enactment of the activities that they would mistakenly accredit with the ability to induce such beneficial results.

The generally accepted ancient Buddhist definition of the term "tanha" is a word that is practically interchangeable with some perceptions of the English-language term addiction, except that the Buddhist view of tanha tends to include a far broader range of human activities than medical discussions of addiction tends to include. A strict interpretation of the concept of tanha can include nearly every type of human activity.

Further analysis of certain Buddhist concepts of tanha, based on some Buddhists' belief that all worldly desires tend to be addictive and are counterproductive, points toward another belief that the only escape from all forms of tanha is for the individual to somehow achieve the quenching of all desires. Some Buddhist teachers suggest ways for the individual to attain such a "quenching of all desires".

However, there is a distinction between tanha (craving), and chanda (desire). Tanha leads to anxiety and frustration, whereas chanda does not. Tanha tends to go out of control through positive feedback, whereas chanda does not. Therefore the objective of Buddhism is not the extinction of all desire, which is a form of nihilism, but the prevention of craving, i.e. excessive desire, thus seeking the "middle way" which the Buddha discovered when he became enlightened.

Tanha can mean debauchery, but can also mean any desires which lead to debauchery. Debauchery is certainly a form of tanha. Chanda does not lead to debauchery. Tanha is the opposite of mortification. Tanha is defiled joyfulness. Undefiled joyfulness can instead be attained through the practice of meditation. Tanha includes all-out indulgence in sensual desire, whereas mortification is the attempt to extinguish all desire. The Buddha's "middle way" involves steering clear of either of these extremes.

The desire to stop desire is itself a desire. When one is stopping desire, one is indulging in the desire to stop desire. Thus, desire itself can never be extinguished, since it is an essential part of being alive. Excessive desire to stop desire can lead to mortification, and excessive mortification can lead to the desire to stop the desire to stop desire, that is, the desire to give up all self-control and go back to square one. But the desire to stop the desire to stop desire is itself a desire, which — again — must not be indulged excessively. The middle way is a balance, obtained by fine-tuning all desires (including the desires to fine-tune desires) until none of them leads to craving. Craving, tanha, is an aberration which leads away from the middle way. The middle way leads to nibbana, but the middle way is also its own destination. Also Tanha in the Persian Language means "alone".

Further reading

• Philosophy of the Buddha by Archie J. Bahm. Asian Humanities Press. Berkeley, CA: 1993. ISBN 0_87573_025_6.
  • Chapter 5 is about craving, and discusses the difference between tanha and chanda.

External links

• The Buddhist View of Human Nature (http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Academy/9280/econ2.htm)
• Buddhism, Desire and Addiction; Anthony Flanagan (http://buddhism.about.com/library/weekly/aa021403a.htm)
• Why We Are All Addicted; Andrew Weil, MD (http://online.sfsu.edu/~rone/Buddhism/FivePrecepts/addicted.html)
• A Buddhist View of Addiction (http://www.homeoint.org/morrell/buddhism/addict.htm)