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  • Recorded on: 12 Apr 2008
  • Language: English
  • Length: 0h 03m

The Nature of Desire

Desire is a fundamental force of creation, inherent in all life. It is given by the Creator; without it, existence and progress are impossible. All beings, from trees to humans, possess desire. The key difference for humans is the capacity for discernment, or viveka, which allows us to minimize our needs and desires. Fulfilling a desire is like adding fuel to a fire, preventing its extinction. True minimization comes only through logical discernment. For instance, hunger is a desire that ceases upon satiation. Yet, a complete absence of desire equates to death. Paradoxically, even after physical death, new desires are said to arise concerning the body's disposition and the soul's journey. Desire is not solely sexual, though the mind often reduces it to those lower impulses.

"Without desires, you cannot exist, proceed, or improve."

"if you want to fulfill it, you are putting petrol on the fire."

Desires are part of our life; they are created by the Creator. Without desires, you cannot exist, proceed, or improve. Without desires, creation itself cannot continue. Therefore, desire is a part of life. It is nature, and in nature, there are desires. So whether you are a human or a tree, it is no different. The tree has desires, and the human has desires. The difference is that the human can, through viveka (discernment), minimize their needs and minimize their desires. On the other hand, desire is like this: if you want to fulfill it, you are putting petrol on the fire. It will never be completely extinguished; only through your viveka, only through your logical thinking, can you minimize it, that's all. For example, when you are very hungry and you are going to eat, when the stomach is full, you will say, "No, thank you, really, it's enough." So there comes a time when you will say, "It's enough; I am not suffering." You are not longing for that anymore. But you cannot live without any desires. When you have no desires, then you are dead. But after death, again you have desire: someone should bury you or burn you or pull you; you are there. The next desires will awake: in which world you want to go and how you will come back. So desire is created by the Creator; it is part of our existence. And if this desire is... you have no desire? Desire means, don't think only of the sexual; when we are talking about desires, immediately your concentration goes to Mūlādhāra and Svādhiṣṭhāna.

This text is transcribed and grammar corrected by AI. If in doubt what was actually said in the recording, use the transcript to double click the desired cue. This will position the recording in most cases just before the sentence is uttered.

The text contains hyperlinks in bold to three authoritative books on yoga, written by humans, to clarify the context of the lecture:

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