a mediating factor of theraveda doctrine, and it is intended to overcome the "realm of desire" (Wayman, 1976, pp. 1-28).
The attainment of insight in theraveda Buddhism is considered by some to be a paradox. Griffiths says that there is a tension between concentrative meditation and insight meditation because the techniques for achieving an experience of ultimacy differ so radically. He connects this tension to a similar tension of ideas about what the real cause of suffering is, ignorance (avijja) or desire (tanha) (Griffiths, 1981, pp. 605-20, passim). In either case, the experience is an ecstasy of emptiness, which comes of a liberation from worldly cares. We have seen that Buddhist doctrine in general sees desire as a fundamental marker of world reality, which is to say the reality of evil. Theraveda meditation comes very close to a vigorous concentration on relinquishing contact with the world utterly and thereby achieving ultimate insight. According to Bond, the Theraveda path to insight is really a path toward an affinity with death, where
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