Vibhava-trishna, by contrast, is the oppressive desire for self-oblivion or self-destruction, prompted in Buddhist psychology by the revulsion with life that comes as the fruits of selfishness turn rotten or bitter. This self-destructive urge is often not consciously expressed, but when it does find expression, it in no way ends one’s separate existence; it only draws a temporary cover of oblivion over the burdens and stresses of selfish behavior. A person who jumps off a bridge to end his life, the Buddha would say, simply gets reborn to face the same desperate situation all
