Upādāna

Upādāna is a Sanskrit and Pali word that means "fuel, material cause, substrate that is the source and means for keeping an active process energized". It is also an important Buddhist concept referring to "attachment, clinging, grasping". It is considered to be the result of taṇhā (craving), and is part of the dukkha (dissatisfaction, suffering, pain) doctrine in Buddhism. Upādāna is the Sanskrit and Pāli word for "clinging", "attachment" or "grasping", although the literal meaning is "fuel". Upādāna and taṇhā (Skt. tṛṣṇā) are seen as the two primary causes of dukkha ('suffering', unease, "standing unstable"). The cessation of clinging is nirvana, the coming to rest of the grasping mind. In the Sutta Pitaka, the Buddha states that there are four types of clinging: sense-pleasure clinging (kamupadana) all views clinging (ditthupadana) rites-and-rituals clinging (silabbatupadana) self-doctrine clinging (attavadupadana). The Buddha once stated that, while other sects might provide an appropriate analysis of the first three types of clinging, he alone fully elucidated clinging to the "self" and its resultant unease. The Abhidhamma and its commentaries provide the following definitions for these four clinging types: sense-pleasure clinging: repeated craving of worldly things. view clinging: such as eternalism (e.g., "The world and self are eternal") or nihilism. rites-and-rituals clinging: believing that rites alone could directly lead to liberation, typified in the texts by the rites and rituals of "ox practice" and "dog practice." self-doctrine clinging: self-identification with self-less entities (e.g., illustrated by MN 44, and further discussed in the skandha and anatta articles). According to Buddhaghosa, the above ordering of the four types of clinging is in terms of decreasing grossness, that is, from the most obvious (grossest) type of clinging (sense-pleasure clinging) to the subtlest (self-doctrine clinging). Buddhaghosa further identifies that these four clinging types are causally interconnected as follows: This hierarchy of clinging types is represented diagrammatically to the right.