THE ATLAS OF THE EMPTY THRONE

Taṇhā · craving, the thirst

taṇhā

nature

The second truth names the cause of suffering, and it is not pain or the world or a fall — it is thirst: the reaching for the pleasant, the pushing away of the unpleasant, the wanting-to-be and the wanting-not-to-be.

Where the two traditions are furthest apart, and gloriously so. The Kabbalah runs on longing — creation begins in ratzon, the sixth palace is literally named Desire — and this is the tradition that names longing as the fire.

rhymes with

sephirahnetzach

whyNetzach carries desire and drive up the Tree's right side. Here the same force is the diagnosis. Both traditions are subtler than the slogan (wholesome aspiration vs craving; desire for Heaven's sake vs for the self) and the parting survives the fine print.