Desire in Buddhism, “Child People” and “True Adults”

Desire is a significant problem in all traditions of Buddhism, from Southern Buddhism (Theravada) and Northern tradition (Mahayana) to Vajrayana yogic tradition (a specific branch of Mahayana). Despite these traditions’ peculiarities (which will be considered here through the prism of their notions of desire), there are common foundations, mainly in the field of philosophical anthropology. Besides the Buddhological approaches that traditionally address this topic, this article will try to analyze the problems of desire in Buddhism in connection with the educational concepts of “Child people” and “True adults.” ¹ These concepts reveal a model of human personality development, including interpretations of phenomena such as desire, mentality of attachment/ or - attachment, satisfaction, self-deceit, freedom, and bliss.