Trishna

The English spelling of a Sanskrit word (tŠ€) meaning “thirst” or “strong desire.” It is one of the twelve nid€nas (“causes of existence”) in the Chain of Dependent Origination (P€li pat…ccyasamupp€da, Sk. prat…yasamutp€da). Sometimes tanh€ (“craving”) is substituted for tŠ€. In some of Buddha’s sermons the desire is likened to a fire. It is this characteristic of human nature which draws us back repeatedly into rebirths as we “thirst” for or desire the pleasures of sensuous experience. The Buddhist search for liberation from the wheel of rebirth involves overcoming this “thirst” or this “fire” of desire. The attainment of nirv€Ša, literally, involves “blowing out” (nir-v€), i.e., extinguishing, that “flame” (or overcoming that “thirst”). It is a complete misinterpretation of Buddhism to claim that nirv€Ša means total extinction or annihilation of consciousness.

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