<p>If you look at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prat%C4%ABtyasamutp%C4%81da" rel="nofollow">dependent origination</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Nid%C4%81nas" rel="nofollow">the Nidānas</a> closely, craving arises due to feeling. You analyze the feeling and classify it as something desirable or undesirable or neither desirable or undesirable. These <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta%E1%B9%87h%C4%81" rel="nofollow">cravings</a> can be: </p>

<ul>
<li>sense-craving</li>
<li>craving to be</li>
<li>craving not to be</li>
</ul>

<p>The above can be one classification of the types of cravings along with what @dmsp mentioned.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-15T15:13:00.723Z
2014-11-15T15:13:00.723Z
Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena
<p>There's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta%E1%B9%87h%C4%81#Types" rel="nofollow">an analysis on Wikipedia</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The Buddha identified three types of taṇhā:[1][4][5][6][7][a]</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><p>Kama-tanha (sense-craving): craving for sense objects which provide pleasant feeling, or craving for sensory pleasures.</p></li>
  <li><p>Bhava-tanha (craving to be): craving to be something, to unite with an experience. This includes craving to be solid and ongoing, to be a
  being that has a past and a future,[8] and craving to prevail and
  dominate over others.</p></li>
  <li><p>Vibhava-tanha (craving not to be): craving to not experience the world, and to be nothing; a wish to be separated from painful
  feelings.</p></li>
  </ul>
</blockquote>

<p>IIRC I first met these in an English-language paraphrase of the four noble truths at the Sermon at Benares:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>... the craving to have what you don't have, the craving to keep what you can't keep, the craving to live, even the craving to die ...</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Looking at your example I suppose that "being thirsty" might be a craving to live, "wanting a new car" might be craving a sense-object, and "wanting your loved one" might be craving to be separated from a painful feeling of not being with them.</p>

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2016-07-21T00:41:12.263Z
_vi-bhava_ could also be translated as _other-bhava_. So, it could be craving for other-being. Such reading extends non-being connotation.
catpnosis
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2016-07-21T00:59:02.443Z
I suppose "craving for the *end* of this" and "craving for something *other* than this" (or "... *after* this") are similar.
ChrisW
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2014-11-15T15:20:12.253Z
2014-11-15T15:20:12.253Z
ChrisW
<p>No, there are not different <em>types</em> of craving, there are only different things for which one might crave, whether bodily or other in form, or conditional, events, etc. The fact of persisting in the desire for a thing, of <em>clinging,</em> is the dynamo by which anguish (dukkha) is generated and its interruption (as if extinguishing a candle flame; nirvana) is the simple, basic, aim of Buddhism.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-18T06:29:35.433Z
2017-11-18T06:29:35.433Z
Troll
<p>Indeed, there are four levels of craving.</p>
<blockquote>
<ol>
<li>Craving for one's life - Highest level</li>
<li>Craving for one's organs</li>
<li>Craving for loved ones</li>
<li>Craving for external objects - Lowest level</li>
</ol>
<p>Chathurarya Sathya (Four Noble truths) by Rerukane Chandawimala Thero</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Craving for life arises as perceiving the five aggregates as self and this is the highest level of craving. As an example, during a natural disaster someone would first try to save his own life at any cost, then the lives of his loved ones and finally when everyone is safe, he would try to save his possessions.</p>
<p>From the given example, satisfying thirst may fall under first type, wanting a car falls under fourth and missing a loved one falls under the third level.</p>
<p>Note- The author of the book hasn't referred to any text in Pali canon whether this is  a categorization of Buddha or if it appears in Abhidhamma.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-15T11:54:01.377Z
2014-11-15T15:32:30.040Z
2020-06-17T09:56:10.877Z
dmsp
<p>According to Buddhist tradition are there different types of craving? It occurs to me that the following could all be described using the English word craving</p>

<ol>
<li>Being thirsty (for water) </li>
<li>Really wanting a new car</li>
<li>Wistfully missing a loved one when they are temporarily absent from
your life</li>
</ol>

<p>However they do feel like they are very different things. So are there categorisations of craving within Buddhist philosophy and if so how would my examples fit into those categories.</p>

<p>I'm interested in answers from any tradition but I suspect that there might be some kind of list of craving within something like the Abidharma</p>

<p><strong>EDIT</strong></p>

<p>These are great answers so far but I wonder does anyone have anything to add on a more experiential basis perhaps referencing meditation practice.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-16T00:01:14.067Z
How do they feel like "very different things"? You sit here and you imagine something else over there. The only difference is in the object, no?
Andriy Volkov
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-16T13:15:36.140Z
@AndreiVolkov  I guess it's through reflection and meditation. The quality of the experience feels different to me. Thirst and wistful remembrance seem to have very different experiential qualities (to me). Maybe more reflection is required (of course it is!)
Crab Bucket
<philosophy><defilements>
Are there different types of craving?
# Are there different types of craving?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-11-15)

According to Buddhist tradition are there different types of craving? It occurs to me that the following could all be described using the English word craving

1. Being thirsty (for water)
2. Really wanting a new car
3. Wistfully missing a loved one when they are temporarily absent from
   your life

However they do feel like they are very different things. So are there categorisations of craving within Buddhist philosophy and if so how would my examples fit into those categories.

I'm interested in answers from any tradition but I suspect that there might be some kind of list of craving within something like the Abidharma

**EDIT**

These are great answers so far but I wonder does anyone have anything to add on a more experiential basis perhaps referencing meditation practice.

**Tags:** philosophy, defilements

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: How do they feel like "very different things"? You sit here and you imagine something else over there. The only difference is in the object, no?  
> **username_0**: @AndreiVolkov  I guess it's through reflection and meditation. The quality of the experience feels different to me. Thirst and wistful remembrance seem to have very different experiential qualities (to me). Maybe more reflection is required (of course it is!)  

---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2014-11-15. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

Indeed, there are four levels of craving.

> 1. Craving for one's life - Highest level
> 2. Craving for one's organs
> 3. Craving for loved ones
> 4. Craving for external objects - Lowest level
>
> Chathurarya Sathya (Four Noble truths) by Rerukane Chandawimala Thero

Craving for life arises as perceiving the five aggregates as self and this is the highest level of craving. As an example, during a natural disaster someone would first try to save his own life at any cost, then the lives of his loved ones and finally when everyone is safe, he would try to save his possessions.

From the given example, satisfying thirst may fall under first type, wanting a car falls under fourth and missing a loved one falls under the third level.

Note- The author of the book hasn't referred to any text in Pali canon whether this is a categorization of Buddha or if it appears in Abhidhamma.


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2014-11-15. Score: 2

If you look at [dependent origination](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prat%C4%ABtyasamutp%C4%81da) and [the Nidānas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Nid%C4%81nas) closely, craving arises due to feeling. You analyze the feeling and classify it as something desirable or undesirable or neither desirable or undesirable. These [cravings](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta%E1%B9%87h%C4%81) can be:

* sense-craving
* craving to be
* craving not to be

The above can be one classification of the types of cravings along with what @username_6 mentioned.


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2014-11-15. Score: 2

There's [an analysis on Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta%E1%B9%87h%C4%81#Types):

> The Buddha identified three types of taṇhā:[1][4][5][6][7][a]
>
> * Kama-tanha (sense-craving): craving for sense objects which provide pleasant feeling, or craving for sensory pleasures.
> * Bhava-tanha (craving to be): craving to be something, to unite with an experience. This includes craving to be solid and ongoing, to be a
>   being that has a past and a future,[8] and craving to prevail and
>   dominate over others.
> * Vibhava-tanha (craving not to be): craving to not experience the world, and to be nothing; a wish to be separated from painful
>   feelings.

IIRC I first met these in an English-language paraphrase of the four noble truths at the Sermon at Benares:

> ... the craving to have what you don't have, the craving to keep what you can't keep, the craving to live, even the craving to die ...

Looking at your example I suppose that "being thirsty" might be a craving to live, "wanting a new car" might be craving a sense-object, and "wanting your loved one" might be craving to be separated from a painful feeling of not being with them.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: _vi-bhava_ could also be translated as _other-bhava_. So, it could be craving for other-being. Such reading extends non-being connotation.  
> **username_3**: I suppose "craving for the *end* of this" and "craving for something *other* than this" (or "... *after* this") are similar.  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2017-11-18. Score: -1

No, there are not different *types* of craving, there are only different things for which one might crave, whether bodily or other in form, or conditional, events, etc. The fact of persisting in the desire for a thing, of *clinging,* is the dynamo by which anguish (dukkha) is generated and its interruption (as if extinguishing a candle flame; nirvana) is the simple, basic, aim of Buddhism.


---

