[Gem]

Originally Posted by davidsun

The author of The Bhagavad Gita thought so too, though he (obviously) believed in a transcendental 'Self'. 'who' or 'which' he advocated relying on - that 'approach' doesn't 'work' for everyone, however:

"Arjuna asked: My Lord! Tell me, what is it that drives a man to sin, even against his will and as if by compulsion?

Lord Shri Krishna: It is desire, it is aversion, born of passion. Desire consumes and corrupts everything. It is man’s greatest enemy.
As fire is shrouded in smoke, a mirror by dust and a child by the womb, so is the universe enveloped in desire.
It is the wise man’s constant enemy; it tarnishes the face of wisdom. It is as insatiable as a flame of fire.
It works through the senses, the mind and the reason; and with their help destroys wisdom and confounds the soul.
Therefore, O Arjuna, first control thy senses and then slay desire, for it is full of sin, and is the destroyer of knowledge and of wisdom.
It is said that the senses are powerful. But beyond the senses is the mind, beyond the mind is the intellect, and beyond and greater than intellect is He.
Thus, O Mighty-in-Arms, knowing Him to be beyond the intellect and, by His help, subduing thy personal egotism, kill thine enemy, Desire, extremely difficult though it be.”

It seems cause of suffering or that which corrupts (defiles) is seen the same in Buddhism, but perhaps the approach to resolution is somewhat different, because we don't want a situation where we have aversion to desire, or IOW, desire there not be desire. Indeed the Buddhist approach examines the sensation and the aversion to discomfort and desire for pleasure but only by becoming conscious of that operating, and understanding it deeply. No attempts to kill desire are prudent for that indicates an aversion to desire. The reactivity which is aversion/desire is dissipated through the conscious awareness of its depth. The resolution is difficult non-the-less. Indeed willingness is often harder than willfulness.