kentonwhitman.com

You’ve probably heard that the root of our suffering is desire. And you can see it in action all the time. Just observe the actions of other people, or better yet, your own actions!

Some of us have obvious desires. We long for a home in the Caribbean, for a million dollars, and for more respect from the people around us. So we work harder, stressing ourselves out every day in an attempt to get more. We can’t understand how we’re losing the respect we desire, but if someone would be straight with us, they’d tell us that they can’t respect someone who works constantly, throwing their present moment away for some future that might never come. And if it does come, and we get our million bucks and the tropical home, we find that we’re infused with new desires.

Other people have more subtle desires, which are more difficult to recognize. They spend their energies trying to keep their ego in its shell, so that no one can see how powerless and frightened they really are. Frightened of losing their wealth, their health, their loved ones . . . life can become a tenuous struggle to maintain a security that will never exist, and these people can suffer from what we might call ‘Chronic Low-Level Fear’.

Most of us have a combination of these desires. As I’ve mentioned before, you can test your desire level by asking yourself this question – Is there anything you’d change in your life right now if you were given three wishes?

Of course, this is a trick question, as I’ll explain below.

No Desire?

When we hear that life can become transformed if we have no desires, we can feel an immediate rebellion.

No desires? Then my life would become terrible! I’d have no motivation! I’d just sit around and drink beer and stare at the wall! Yuck!

Here is our dualistic mind at work. If desire = the drive for more, then no desire must = becoming a lazy slob.

As usual, our dualistic viewpoint is missing the whole truth of the matter, because it has divided life into two halves and insists that life must be either one or the other.

Non-dualism, of course, is pointing to something else entirely. I’m not talking about having desire or no-desire. I’m talking about seeing Desire for what it truly is, and awakening to that realization. Then desire won’t rule our lives any more, and will lose its ability to make us miserable.

Let’s Want!

What if I told you that an awakened person had just as many desires as anyone else? They can still try to get that house in the Caribbean, and make a million dollars. You see, the problem isn’t the desire itself, but the way we desire.

Imagine Your Life If . . .

You can transform the way you desire by spending a little time imagining your life in different scenarios.

Imagine that you have your home in the Caribbean. Awesome, right? But really start to think about it. You’ll soon find that you will have just as many things to complain about there! The plane ride back and forth to visit friends or relatives. The fear when hurricane season rolls around. The lack of good medical care if you have an emergency. The troublesome neighbors. Too much rain, or too much sunburn.

Try the million bucks. How much time will you spend thinking about your investments? What will it feel like when the market crashes and you lose $50,000 dollars in a few hours? Will your friends like you for you, or just for your money?

We can all be seduced into thinking that something else is going to be better. Most of us do this our entire lives. No matter what our present situation is! You see, your life isn’t determined by what you have. It’s determined by your underlying attitudes. If you’re coveting a million dollars, what you’re really doing is nurturing your habit of wanting more, more, more.

When you get your million dollars, you’ll be happy for a little while, but then your underlying attitude will spring into action, and you’ll realize that a million dollars isn’t really that much after all. Now you’ll wish that you were in the big leagues and could call yourself a billionaire.

You can play this same game with any desire you have – for health, spiritual enlightenment, security, or love. It’s an endless cycle, and you won’t find happiness until you step out of that cycle.

Desperate Grasping

The problem is not that we have desires, but that we determine our self-worth and happiness based on the fulfillment of those desires. After you’ve imagined enough ‘alternate lives’, you’ll see that it doesn’t really matter how much you have. You’ll be happy not because of more security, health, money, or relationships, but because of how you view life.

Then things can transform. Suddenly, you realize that where you are, right now, is as good as it’s ever going to get! No amount of gain is going to make you happier. When this happens, it’s as if a huge weight is lifted. You don’t have to try so hard any more! Before, your desires felt clinging and desperate. Now, things feel relaxed and easy.

Remember how I said that an awakened person has just as many desires as anyone else? Here is what I mean. When you are no longer clinging desperately to your desires, you can desire in a new way. You can desire in a playful manner.

After all, it would be fun to have that house in the Caribbean! But now that you know it’s no better than anything else, you’re no longer chasing illusions. You can pursue the tropical house, and if you get it, you can enjoy it. If you don’t, you can enjoy the chase.

You see, this transformation – seeing that where you are is perfect as it is – makes everything in your life amazing. Even the process of wanting, of having desires. It will feel good to want, instead of tight and frustrating.

This is the secret to life that so many of us are missing out on. We’re think we’re chasing happiness, but all we’re really doing is ensuring our own stress and frustration. Your ticket out of the merry-go-round? See that Where You Are is amazing and perfect Just As Is. You’ll find this to be obvious if you can shake free of your habits of desire. And how to shake free? Just look. Pay attention to your actions and your mind’s activity, instead of simply following in the path of everyone else. It’s something you must do for yourself, and no one else can make it happen. If you look, and see through all the things you take to be ‘real’, you’ll find that you’ve been struggling for a long time, for no reason at all.

Now is a good time to see what’s going on.

Explore posts in the same categories: Awakening and Reality, Understanding Dualism

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 10th, 2007 at 2:43 am and is filed under Awakening and Reality, Understanding Dualism. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will be queued for moderation and posted as quickly as possible.