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".

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
• Buddhism, Desire and Addiction; Anthony Flanagan
• Why We Are All Addicted; Andrew Weil, MD
• A Buddhist View of Addiction