Desire: The Cause of All Suffering SELFISHNESS is the great curse of the human race. The person who desires nothing suffers nothing. Think about it even for 10 seconds and you will see the great and powerful truth of this teaching. Selflessness, rather than selfishness, was one of the main things Buddha was trying to put across in his teachings. “Indeed, O foolish and afflicted mind, you want and crave for all and everything. All this together will rise up as pain itself, increased a thousandfold. Since this is so, the wise have no attachments; from such cravings fear and anguish come. And fix this firmly in your understanding: all that may be wished for will by nature fade to nothing.” The only aim and ambition that is really worth having in life is to help and to serve humanity. Unfortunately, in a world that is becoming more and more selfish by the day, this type of statement and spiritual teaching is becoming more and more unpopular by the day. The idea of anyone actually being able to be free from all personal desire sadly seems impossible and extreme to many spiritual people today, whereas even more extreme and impossible sounding teachings such as manifesting a gigantic mansion for oneself through the power of the mind are often readily and unquestioningly accepted as being plausible and worthy of attention. Such is the age we live in! “Illusion” has become a popular buzzword today in many spiritual circles but it seems that many of those who go around saying that everything is illusion are still buying into the illusion themselves, as evidenced by the continuation of their personal desires and ambitions. If you REALLY know and believe that everything material and objective is illusion and impermanent, then you will desire nothing. Your only wish will be to help and to serve others. This is the only true and unending source of joy and this is the way to freedom from suffering. The desireless person is not a joyless person. In fact, he has more joy than anyone else because he is attached and attracted to nothing, knowing that all things are passing, fleeting, and temporary, in the world of the senses. Because he has no personal desire, no personal aims and ambitions, no personal goals and self-centred intentions, he can enjoy all things that come his way while they last, knowing that nothing lasts forever. In the words of the Isha Upanishad, “you should enjoy all things, after giving up the desire for them.”
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 18:26:38 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015