The Narrative
Human desire is more than about emotion; it is a vital energy that keeps us longing and propels us into action. It sustains the very foundation of who we are and manifests pervasively in every moment of our lives. When we take a step forward, it is a manifestation of desire. And even if we choose to resist desire, it is still a desire. Without desire, this existence we call 'us' will quickly perish.
In a developed continent like Western Europe where we live, our desires are mostly disconnected from existential crises. Instead, they are often related to satisfying our hearts and pleasing our bodies. We don't face famines and wars. We are lucky.
But luck does not always turn out to be a blessing. If we look outside the box at our culture and education, we may realize that we are very goal-oriented creatures, taught and influenced since childhood. We learn skills and build supporting systems to achieve our goals. However, at the same time, we are not taught how to manage our own thoughts and emotions. Typically, when a situation goes against our wishes, our energy profile can transform into a vortex that sucks everything in. We think while eating, walking, and even toileting. Our mind is capable of operating restlessly like a wild beast, with few moments of consciousness and often under intellectual disguises. Sometimes, we feel that fulfilling a desire is more a journey of imprisonment, and the only way to liberation is to get what we want. We try hard in our lives. We make commitments, and most of them end up becoming our attachments. We are getting busier and fussier.
Moreover, we have tendency to blow the importance of our desires out of proportion. A little sand in our eyes, and we end up seeing it as a mountain. We are in serious need of recalibrating our perspective to glimpse our true counterpart, the boundless universe, and in doing so, discover the real dimension of our own existence.
When desire takes command, action quickly follows. Thanks to our superior reasoning power, we can freely justify what we do. However, this kind of freedom does not necessarily sharpen our perception of the truth. It rather helps to overlook the fact that we are not entirely free beings; we are perpetually propelled by our desires, and the depth of our hearts seems bottomless. When one is driven ceaselessly, true freedom becomes elusive. And so it is for all of us.
After all, we seek happiness and satisfaction. Distraction appears to offer the both. Media, social media, multimedia—we enjoy them. The endless list of consumables, at some point, pleases us. Our own scattered mind also helps to distract us from the present moment. Even a simple swipe on the phone screen brings the world to our fingertips, providing entertainment and making time fly. In this ocean of distraction, we may feel relieved and pleased. The effects are almost immediate, but they never influence the causes of our pain and joy. Instead, they may pull our attention away from the foundation of our existence and blind us to the underlying truth of each living experience. Gradually, distraction comes close to illusion and numbs our ears to the point where we can barely hear the call for inner fulfillment.
An unfulfilled heart agonizes in its own way. In our younger years, we are preoccupied with discoveries, finding external resources abundant for satisfaction. As we enter adulthood, especially when the effectiveness of distraction wears thin, unsatisfied heart manifests its pain by creating turmoil in various areas of life. One well-known phenomenon is the midlife crisis, where people appear unable to find joy by living simply just as one piece of life. Maintaining a routine while manifesting exuberance seems impossible to them.
Undeniably, desire is part of human nature. Its fulfilment often involves a quest for truth discovery and alignment with who we really are. For most of us, what we are attracted to is a result, but the stable result is more of a consequence of who we are and how we do things. When we ignore the existence of our inner self as the source of all resources, when we keep confusing source with resource trying to get as much as possible from outside to fulfil us inside, our happiness and satisfaction remain like raviolis. Yes, a ravioli in the teapot. It's clearly there when we shake it, but we will never pour it out!
But luck does not always turn out to be a blessing. If we look outside the box at our culture and education, we may realize that we are very goal-oriented creatures, taught and influenced since childhood. We learn skills and build supporting systems to achieve our goals. However, at the same time, we are not taught how to manage our own thoughts and emotions. Typically, when a situation goes against our wishes, our energy profile can transform into a vortex that sucks everything in. We think while eating, walking, and even toileting. Our mind is capable of operating restlessly like a wild beast, with few moments of consciousness and often under intellectual disguises. Sometimes, we feel that fulfilling a desire is more a journey of imprisonment, and the only way to liberation is to get what we want. We try hard in our lives. We make commitments, and most of them end up becoming our attachments. We are getting busier and fussier.
Moreover, we have tendency to blow the importance of our desires out of proportion. A little sand in our eyes, and we end up seeing it as a mountain. We are in serious need of recalibrating our perspective to glimpse our true counterpart, the boundless universe, and in doing so, discover the real dimension of our own existence.
When desire takes command, action quickly follows. Thanks to our superior reasoning power, we can freely justify what we do. However, this kind of freedom does not necessarily sharpen our perception of the truth. It rather helps to overlook the fact that we are not entirely free beings; we are perpetually propelled by our desires, and the depth of our hearts seems bottomless. When one is driven ceaselessly, true freedom becomes elusive. And so it is for all of us.
After all, we seek happiness and satisfaction. Distraction appears to offer the both. Media, social media, multimedia—we enjoy them. The endless list of consumables, at some point, pleases us. Our own scattered mind also helps to distract us from the present moment. Even a simple swipe on the phone screen brings the world to our fingertips, providing entertainment and making time fly. In this ocean of distraction, we may feel relieved and pleased. The effects are almost immediate, but they never influence the causes of our pain and joy. Instead, they may pull our attention away from the foundation of our existence and blind us to the underlying truth of each living experience. Gradually, distraction comes close to illusion and numbs our ears to the point where we can barely hear the call for inner fulfillment.
An unfulfilled heart agonizes in its own way. In our younger years, we are preoccupied with discoveries, finding external resources abundant for satisfaction. As we enter adulthood, especially when the effectiveness of distraction wears thin, unsatisfied heart manifests its pain by creating turmoil in various areas of life. One well-known phenomenon is the midlife crisis, where people appear unable to find joy by living simply just as one piece of life. Maintaining a routine while manifesting exuberance seems impossible to them.
Undeniably, desire is part of human nature. Its fulfilment often involves a quest for truth discovery and alignment with who we really are. For most of us, what we are attracted to is a result, but the stable result is more of a consequence of who we are and how we do things. When we ignore the existence of our inner self as the source of all resources, when we keep confusing source with resource trying to get as much as possible from outside to fulfil us inside, our happiness and satisfaction remain like raviolis. Yes, a ravioli in the teapot. It's clearly there when we shake it, but we will never pour it out!