What is a wish? What is Desire? And, what is a craving?

Wishes are fantasies.

Cravings are “unquenchable thirsts,” or tṛṣṇā (pronounced Ton-ha). Unquenchable thirst causes suffering, because we are never “satisfied.” These ideas of craving and unquenchable thirst are considered our “defilements.”

Desire can be either wholesome (good), unwholesome (bad) or Nuetral (neither wholesome or unwholesome). Buddhism recognizes that basic desire is an elemental part of being alive, being an organic biological creature, with desires for air, water, food, shelter, comfort and companionship. The book, “The Body Keeps Score” says, “However, the rational brain cannot abolish emotions, sensations, or thoughts. Understanding why you feel a certain way does not change how you feel.” And Bertrand Russell said, "All human activity is prompted by desire."

Nothing “wrong” with desiring to live. The secret for us Buddhists is to develop the self-awareness (mindfulness) about our body, emotions, mind and things around us to see everything as it is, experience everything as it is, and not mindlessly pursue things at the expense of enjoying the present moment. It's these afflictions that motivate us to seek peace and ease… There is a key Buddhist principle called Bonno Soku Bodai, or “Our Defilements Lead to Awakening.”

The Buddha’s Four Noble Truths are:

There is suffering in life

Suffering has a cause

Suffering has an end

The Eightfold Path is the way to end Suffering

The Sanskrit word for suffering is “Dukkha.” Many modern Buddhists prefer to translate this as “dissatisfaction,” feeling that suffering is such a negative term. The word dukkha literally means something that doesn’t turn properly. Sukha is like a smoothly turning wheel and dukkha is like a wheel that is off its axle. That’s how life becomes for you as you try to approach a world that is in a state of flux with fixed ideas, and in terms of binary oppositions that aren’t reflective of reality because if nothing has any inherent essence and everything is in a state of flux that means that everything is co-dependent, things are fundamentally interdependent, or Dependent Origination.

Suffering/Dissatisfaction is caused by our attachments and aversions; craving what we want and constantly avoiding what we don’t want. It’s unquenchable “craving,” that is the cause of suffering, not “desire.”

Buddha's radically anarchic metaphysical concepts of “anatman” - nothing has any inherent essence - and “Anitya” - that all things are impermanent and in a state of flux, leads to the First Noble Truth that there is Dukkha in life.

The Second Noble Truth says that Dukkha has a cause meaning we experience dukkha, or dissatisfaction, because we are constantly trying to approach a world which is in a state of flux with fixed categories and expectations of perfection and permanence that are defied by the nature of reality. This flawed view of the True Reality of Life is caused by “Avidya,” or greed, hatred and ignorance.

The Third Noble Truth says that Dukkha has an end. That we need not be trapped in a ceaseless, exhausting cycle of Dukkha.

The Fourth Nobel Truth says the remedy, or this "Good Medicine," is following the Eightfold Path. Following the Eightfold Path is easier said than done!

The Eightfold Path starts with Right Concentration, or in the Six Paramitas "Meditation." For Nichiren Buddhists we learn that because we are tightly bound by Avidya, we substitute wisdom with faith - or NAMU - "borrowing" the Buddha's wisdom by taking faith in his teachings, which for us is the Lotus Sutra as encapsulated in the Sacred Title of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.

Some helpful definitions:

Defilement: (S. kleśa; J. bonnō; 煩悩) The Sanskrit term kleśa can also be translated as “afflictions.”

Craving: (S. tṛṣṇā; J. ai; 愛) The Sanskrit term tṛṣṇā can also be translated as “thirst.”

Desire: (S. chanda; J. yoku; 欲) The Sanskrit term chanda can also be translated as “will” or “zeal.”

Karma: (S.; J. gō; 業) The Sanskrit term karma means an intentional action or deed which is either wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral.

Defilements are themselves awakening: (J. bonnō soku bodai; 煩悩即菩提) According to the Mahayana viewpoint of non-duality, the real essence of one’s defilements is the same as awakening. Though defilements and awakening seem to be opposites, they are simply different sides of suchness. The same is true with the teaching that “samsara is itself nirvana.” Though in direct opposition to each other, one’s defilements vs. awakening and birth and death vs. nirvana, they are not unrelated. As one is motivated to seek awakening because one has defilements, we can say that one will not find awakening without defilements to instigate the search. (WNS4 p. 142)

“Our obsessions and pleasures are what save us. The Burning House. This is neither desire nor desire-less-ness: the new middle way.” - Prof Brook Ziporyn

“Jesus said, ‘if you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you.’” - The Gospel according to Thomas.

Another very important Buddhist principle is “ Shoji Soku Nehan” or "Sufferings of Birth and Death are Nirvana."

Samsara is itself nirvana: (J. shōji soku nehan; 生死即涅槃) The ideograms 生死 literally means “birth and death” and can be taken to refer to samsara. “Samsara is itself nirvana” means that there is no ontological difference between samsara, the cycle of birth and death among the six destinies, and nirvana, the state where suffering has been extinguished. It also implies that nirvana is realized nowhere else but in the midst of samsara and that the true nature of samsara is that it is actually already at peace. Nirvana is not leaving samsara (life) but samsara (life) itself.

The Lotus Sutra teaches us to fully engage in life and the purpose of life is NOT to transcend life, or to escape, to “reach” nirvana, transforming Buddhism from a world-denying to a world-affirming religion. The Lotus Sutra is a very positive life affirming text. When we chant Namu Myoho Renge Kyo we are saying, “YES!” To life.

“It is not that something different is seen, but that one sees differently. It is as though the spatial act of seeing were changed by a new dimension.” —Carl Jung

Nichiren wrote: “As to where hell and the Buddhas exist: some sutras say that hell lies beneath the ground, while others say that the Buddha dwells in the west. But lose investigation shows that both exist within our five-foot body… just as flowers and fruit are already present within the lotus seed. What we call ‘buddha’ dwells in our mind…”

Namu Myoho Renge Kyo

Mark, Shami Ryugan White Lotus