Taṇhā · तृष्णा · craving, the thirst

The second Noble Truth names the cause of suffering, and it is not pain, or the world, or a fall — it is thirst: the reaching for what is pleasant, the pushing away of what is not, the wanting-to-be and the wanting-not-to-be. Everything else follows from the reaching. This is where the two traditions are furthest apart, and the distance is glorious rather than embarrassing. The Kabbalah runs on desire. Creation begins in ratzon, the divine will and its desire to give; the Shekhinah yearns for her Bridegroom and the Sabbath is a wedding; the yichud unifies the Name in frankly erotic language; devekut is cleaving, and the sixth palace is called Ratzon, Desire. The Kabbalist's instrument is longing, aimed correctly. The Buddhist's diagnosis is that longing, however aimed, is the fire. Both are more careful than the slogan: Buddhism distinguishes chanda, wholesome aspiration, from taṇhā; Kabbalah distinguishes desire for the sake of Heaven from desire for the self. The parting survives the fine print.