Anyone acquainted with either the Paali suttas or the Theravaada tradition as a whole, if asked for an opinion on the spiritual status of ta.nhaa, usually translated as 'craving', would most likely answer along the lines that ta.nhaa is entirely antithetical to the Buddhist spiritual quest, the brahmacariya, and is almost akin to the Christian notion of 'original sin', in the sense that no one is born without it.

Anyone acquainted with either the Paali suttas or the Theravaada tradition as a whole, if asked for an opinion on the spiritual status of ta.nhaa, usually translated as 'craving', would most likely answer along the lines that ta.nhaa is entirely antithetical to the Buddhist spiritual quest, the brahmacariya, and is almost akin to the Christian notion of 'original sin', in the sense that no one is born without it.