Dear Bhante,

> I would rather say that rupa- arupatanha were forms of bhavatanha,
> ie
> as the Buddha said of his former teachers' practice that it
> led 'yaavadeva aaki~nca~n~naayatanupapattiyaa' (or words to that
> effect). If i recall aright, something of the sort may be inferred
> by
> a comparison of the 10 samyojanas and the 7 anusaya.

That's interesting, but it's hard for me to comment... as I say, the
Visuddhimagga seems to suggest that this is not correct.

> Dhammatanha, hmm, an interesting term. Is this like if someone says
> something about dhamma that i disagree with and i get all upset with
> them because i think i know the truth...????

:) surely this is jest? dhammatanha means tanha for dhammas (not
dhamma), commonly translated into English as "mind objects", being the
sixth of the six aramanas. Thoughts, ideas, concepts... craving for
them (but without believing that they are eternal or that they end
after death, because that would be bhava and vibhava tanha). Sorry,
maybe I sounded upset...

Respectfully,

Yuttadhammo