Editing Lust (section)

====Buddhism====
{{Main|Taṇhā}}

Lust holds a critical position in the philosophical underpinnings of Buddhist reality. It is named in the second of the [[Four Noble Truths]], which are that

# Suffering ([[dukkha]]) is inherent in all life.
# Suffering is caused by desire.
# There is a natural way to eliminate all suffering from one's life.
# The ending of desire eliminates all suffering from someones life.

Lust is the attachment to, identification with, and passionate desire for certain things in existence, all of which relate to the [[Five skandhas#The five skandhas|form, sensation, perception, mentality, and consciousness]] that certain combinations of these things engender within us. Lust is thus the ultimate cause of general imperfection and the most immediate ''root'' cause of a certain suffering.

The passionate desire for either non-existence or for freedom from lust is a common misunderstanding. For example, the headlong pursuit of lust (or other "[[Seven deadly sins|deadly sin]]") in order to fulfill a [[death instinct|desire for death]] is followed by a reincarnation accompanied by a self-fulfilling [[karma]], resulting in an endless [[wheel of life]], until the right way to live, the right worldview, is somehow discovered and practiced. Beholding an [[endless knot]] puts one, symbolically, in the position of the one with the right worldview, representing that person who attains freedom from lust.

In existence there are four kinds of things that engender clinging (attachment): rituals, worldviews, pleasures, and the self.  The way to eliminate lust is to learn of its unintended effects and to pursue righteousness as concerns a worldview, intention, speech, behavior, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration, in the place where lust formerly sat.