THE PHILOSOPHY OF DESIRE IN THE BUDDHIST PALI CANON David Webster explores the notion of desire as found in the Buddhist Pali Canon. Beginning by addressing the idea of a ‘paradox of desire’, whereby we must desire to end desire, the varieties of desire that are articulated in the Pali texts are examined. A range of views of desire as found in Western thought are presented as well as Hindu and Jain approaches. An exploration of the concept of ditthi (view or opinion) is also provided, exploring the way in which ‘holding views’ can be seen as analogous to the process of desiring. Other subjects investigated include the mind–body relationship, the range of Pali terms for desire and desire’s positive spiritual value. A comparative exploration of the various approaches completes the work. David Webster is lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Gloucestershire. ROUTLEDGECURZON CRITICAL STUDIES IN BUDDHISM General Editors: Charles S. Prebish and Damien Keown RoutledgeCurzon Critical Studies in Buddhism is a comprehensive study of the Buddhist tradition. The series explores this complex and extensive tradition from a variety of per- spectives, using a range of different methodologies. The series is diverse in its focus, including historical studies, textual translations and commentaries, sociological investigations, bibliographic studies, and considerations of religious practice as an expression of Buddhism’s integral religiosity. It also presents mate- rials on modern intellectual historical studies, including the role of Buddhist thought and scholarship in a contemporary, critical context and in the light of current social issues. The series is expansive and imaginative in scope, spanning more than two and a half millennia of Buddhist history. It is receptive to all research works that inform and advance our knowl- edge and understanding of the Buddhist tradition. A SURVEY OF VINAYA LITERATURE IMAGING WISDOM Charles S. Prebish Jacob N. Kinnard THE REFLEXIVE NATURE PAIN AND ITS ENDING OF AWARENESS Carol S. Anderson Paul Williams EMPTINESS APPRAISED ALTRUISM AND REALITY David F. Burton Paul Williams THE SOUND OF LIBERATING TRUTH BUDDHISM AND HUMAN RIGHTS Edited by Sallie B. King and Edited by Damien Keown, Paul O. Ingram Charles Prebish, Wayne Husted WOMEN IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE BUDDHIST THEOLOGY BUDDHA Edited by Roger R. Jackson and Kathryn R. Blackstone John J. Makransky THE RESONANCE OF EMPTINESS THE GLORIOUS DEEDS OF PURNA Gay Watson Joel Tatelman AMERICAN BUDDHISM EARLY BUDDHISM – A NEW Edited by Duncan Ryuken Williams and APPROACH Christopher Queen Sue Hamilton CONTEMPORARY BUDDHIST ETHICS ZEN WAR STORIES Edited by Damien Keown Brian Victoria INNOVATIVE BUDDHIST WOMEN THE BUDDHIST Edited by Karma Lekshe Tsomo UNCONSCIOUS William S. Waldron TEACHING BUDDHISM IN THE WEST Edited by V.S. Hori, R.P. Hayes and INDIAN BUDDHIST THEORIES J.M. Shields OF PERSONS James Duerlinger EMPTY VISION David L. McMahan ACTION DHARMA Edited by Christopher Queen, Charles SELF, REALITY AND REASON Prebish and Damien Keown IN TIBETAN PHILOSOPHY Thupten Jinpa TIBETAN AND ZEN BUDDHISM IN BRITAIN IN DEFENSE OF DHARMA David N. Kay Tessa J. Bartholomeusz THE CONCEPT OF THE BUDDHA BUDDHIST PHENOMENOLOGY Guang Xing Dan Lusthaus THE PHILOSOPHY OF DESIRE RELIGIOUS MOTIVATION AND THE IN THE BUDDHIST ORIGINS OF BUDDHISM PALI CANON Torkel Brekke David Webster DEVELOPMENTS IN THE NOTION OF DITTHI IN AUSTRALIAN BUDDHISM THERAVADA BUDDHISM Michelle Spuler Paul Fuller The following titles are published in association with the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies The Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies conducts and promotes rigorous teaching and research into all forms of the Buddhist tradition. EARLY BUDDHIST METAPHYSICS Noa Ronkin THE PHILOSOPHY OF DESIRE IN THE BUDDHIST PALI CANON David Webster I~ ~~o~;~~n~~~up LONDON AND NEW YORK First published 2005 by RoutledgeCurzon Published 2018 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2005 David Webster Typeset in Times New Roman by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd, Chennai, India The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 13: 978-0-415-34652-8 (hbk) This book is dedicated to the memory of Diana Trainor, 1941–2002. Angels (to the memory of Diana) History will record that among us walked certain angels whose wings wove patterns of laughter in the air whose songs salted the humdrum of our days whose dance lifted us made our lives lighter History will record too late our indifference to their difference: all these strange odd, eccentric ethereal angels who once walked among us... Cecil Rajendra CONTENTS Acknowledgements xii List of abbreviations xiii Introduction: desire, morality and approaches 1 Introduction: you cannot always get what you want 1 The paradox of desire 2 But what is ‘desire’? 4 Desire as problematic 7 Scope of this study 8 Approach and method 1: chapter outlines 8 Approach and method 2: key concepts 12 Approach and method 3: sources and textual issues 16 Conclusion: aspirations 16 1 Desire in Western thought 18 Introduction 18 An ancient lack 22 A striving after wind: Ecclesiastes and Judaeo-Christian thought 25 Shakespeare: love, death and desire 27 Surveying desire: Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke and Hume 29 Schopenhauer: the will and the world 30 Nietzsche to Deleuze: desire, will and power 35 Hegel and Butler 42 Sartre – desire and nothingness 43 The purification of desire: Theosophy 44 Mind-made desires 45 Conclusion 46 ix CONTENTS 2 Desire in non-Buddhist Indian religion 49 Introduction 49 Desire in the Veda Samhitas52 Desire as the enemy of the spiritual 57 Desire in the Bhagavad Gita 70 Sex, love and desire: the Kama Sutra 76 Jainism and desire: the calm fight against karma 81 Conclusion 86 3 Buddhism and desire: the varieties of desire 90 Introduction 90 Which Buddhism? 91 The redirection of desire 91 Desire and nibbana 94 Desire and the Buddha 97 The varieties of desire 98 The three roots of unskilful action (akusalamula) 100 Terms from the lobha list at Vibhakga 361–2 105 Terms not in the lobha list at Vibhakga 361–2 112 Some minor terms illustrative of desire 127 Tajha: craving and desire 129 Conclusion: landscapes of desire 140 4 Buddhism and desire: the dynamics of desire 143 Introduction 143 The nature of paticca-samuppada 146 Desire and paticca-samuppada 151 The mind–body relationship 158 The status of views: a structural analogy? 165 The problem with views 168 No-view or right-view? 171 Samma-ditthi – the nature of ‘Right-View’ 173 A paradox of views? 179 Desire and views: craving and ignorance 180 Reason and desire revisited 182 Conclusion 184 x CONTENTS 5 Conclusion: desire and the transformation of living 187 Introduction 187 Western perspectives 188 Brahmanic views: desire and ontological necessity 190 Buddhism and desire: an emerging position? 191 Roads to freedom 192 Desire and reason: challenging a bi-polar distinction 193 Desire and ‘lack’ 194 Desire and goodness 198 Desire and death: seeking the end of the world? 199 Desire, passion and love 200 Desire and contingency: change and craving 202 Desire and power: the creative craver 203 Desire beyond the person: cosmic desire 204 Lust for life: desire and skilful living 204 Glossary 206 Notes 208 Bibliography 255 Index 263 xi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge the huge and patient efforts made by Peter Harvey, Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Sunderland, to support me in the production of my PhD thesis, which formed the basis for this book. His assistance has always been prompt, useful and thought-provoking. Dr Dermot Killingley, as ever, was helpful and worryingly encyclopaedic in his knowledge of Hinduism and Sanskrit. I would also like to thank my wife, Anna, for the shouldering of numerous burdens – domestic, financial and emotional – that the presence of this book in our home has placed on her over the last five years. Our children, Holly and Jack, have accepted my distractedness and grumpiness during this project with a cheery stoicism for which I am more grateful than I might appear. A number of people have had a less direct influence on the content of the book – but their friendship and support has sustained me over the aeons it seems to have taken to produce it. With this in mind, my parents, Jim Brewster, Dr Paul Fuller, Matthew Green, Ted Haynes, Richard McMahon (and his Dionysian entourage), Ivan Bergquist and my Bristol quiz night/book group associates (Mike, Noel and Julian) should all consider themselves duly thanked. Thanks, also, to Cecil Rajendra for permission to reproduce the poem ‘Angels’ in the dedication. I also wish to acknowledge the assistance of the Theology and Religious Studies staff at the University of Gloucestershire, particularly Professor Melissa Raphael and Dr Peter Scott, who have provided support during the last two years of this project, besides listening patiently to my complaints and doubts. xii ABBREVIATIONS Works detailed here are not listed in the bibliography at the end of the book. Pali texts Note: Unless otherwise indicated, references are to Pali Text Society edition volume and page numbers. Pali text cited in the book is from the CSCD version – which was checked against the PTS edition. Any discrepancies between the CSCD and PTS versions of the text are noted in the book. A Akguttara Nikaya CSCD Chattha Sakgayana CD-ROM, Version 3. The Pali Canon on CD-ROM.