Korea Journal of Buddhist Studies ISSN:1598-0642(Print) 불교학연구

Buddhist scholars have philosophically and academically discussed desire and contributed to the understanding on it in this modern times. However, I will adopt several key doctrines of early Buddhism and epistemologically discuss the origin, development, and disappearance of desire in this current research article. I will continue to analyze in it how we are able to philosophically understand and practically remove the unreal desire.Representative of these dharmas are the five aggregates, the twelve bases, and the eighteen physical and mental elements. These three basic systems guide Buddhists to thoroughly comprehend the true nature of desire. We can extend those, discuss the six-six, and finally investigate the twelvefold dependent origination and the four noble truths.Among them the eighteenfold physical and mental element is the base of cognitive faculty. In fact, the discourse of the six-six as basic structure for Buddhist theory of desire shows the origination and process of desire. In other words, dependent on six internal sense-fields and six external sense-fields, six classes of consciousness arise; the union of these result in six classes of contact (phassa ); six classes of contact are conditioned to six classes of feeling (vedanā ); and six classes of feeling result in six classes of desire[taṇhā ]. Discourse of the six-six is based on the eighteen physical and mental elements.Therefore, the first framework of the Buddha’s teachings is to comprehend and overcome all kinds of desire in human beings. The focal points of the five aggregates, the twelve bases and the eighteen physical and mental elements are to structurally discuss the origin and true nature of desire. Furthermore, we can realize the true nature of desire through the twelve links of dependent origination and the four noble truths. Buddhism points that any category of desire is non-exceptionally subject to have the nature of impermanence, suffering, and non-substance. Therefore, such insight of desire is a vital issue in practice for final emancipation. The impermanent nature (anicca ) of desire is guided to realize the falsity of desire. The central theme of this paper is to initially discuss the origin and process of desire and then the impermanence and emptiness of it.