Unwinding Desire

[Daniel]

1 hour ago, manitou said:

Desire is only a problem when it becomes craving.

Tell that to my wife....

[manitou]

On 7/6/2020 at 5:50 PM, Daniel said:

 

  We have a name for it, but, ... this is going to sound weird ... I can't say it's name. 

 

 

 

What aligns with this is the very first line of the Tao Te Ching;  The Dao that can be spoken of is not the true Dao. 

I guess the thinking in some traditions is that if it is spoken of, it's concept is confined just by the word.

[skyblue]

Desire is not a problem. You exist because your spirits desire to experience life. You exist because each of your cell desires to be alive. You exist because your parents had desires of their own. However, uncontrollable desires are the problem.

 

Being uncontrollably desirous of anything causes entanglement with that thing/person, and then, YOUR internal state starts confirming to their presence or absence. For eg, when your desire of a certain person/food/ source of entertainment reaches to a point where your heart starts throbbing when you are refrained from experiencing them, that is the source of all suffering.

 

I am not exactly an expert of any one religious practice, but from what I have experienced, desire is actually a physical manifestation of your being craving for infinity. This is also a reason why it can be dangerous. Because it keeps on manifesting itself in one form or the other for ever.

 

Now, quite a lot of people around seem to think that a life without desires, passions would be through and through monotonous. This is most certainly wrong, however. If your body and mind can keep giving out feelings of bliss and joy no matter what you see, hear or feel, isn't that better than getting the same feel out of selected things? If that can be the case, you can see things like the Heaven and Earth do, treating people and things equally. A life like that will propel you towards what's right for you, materialistically and spiritually.

 

If you can do that and treat all people and things with equally great amount of love, it will do wonders in clearing your emotional blockages. I have heard from quite a few enlightened beings that being unbound to emotions and thoughts can actually increase your sensitivity to your energy body (DanTian and meridians) and all further subtle bodies and layers of existences.

 

 

[Daniel]

Thank you @CataclysmicSky, I agree.

[dwai]

In the Hindu traditions, desire ‘kama’ is not wrong when approached through the dharma lens.

 

In Hinduism there are four pillars for a normal person to achieve. First is dharma, which provides the guidelines for correct way to live life. Second is artha or material success, which needs to be earned in a dharmic way (dharmic means in harmony with, according to dharma). Third is kama (sensory fulfillment, which includes desires of many types),  which too needs to follow rules of dharma. Fourth and final goal is moksha, which is the ultimate objective of breaking the cycle of reincarnation.