Desire is the greatest obstacle on the path to enlightenment.

I've been noticing how desire controls people. Those who give into desire are led by it's horns on a leash and chain. Unfortunately this chain has a tight grip on 99% of society which is strangling them, yet they just don't know it.

When society is not on the chain, then they are on the leash, there would appear to be no escape for them because they are unconscious of this bonding. The bonding is so great that they assume it's always been that way, and so always will be.

The beast needs to be tamed, and yet the temptation not to give it up is great. Surrender to the Self yes, but not desire, desire is part of the ego, part of our false sense of Self. Surrendering to the ego is what society does, surrender to the Self is what the mystic is.

I would say the ego is fed and built upon desire so those who give into it suffer the most because they've built up re-inforced ego's.

The only way to tame and eventually defeat the beast is by becoming conscious of it, see how it sneakily weaves it's way through your consciousness,

changing your thoughts and emotions in the process. It has been said seriousness is a disease, so too is desire.

Why is it so deep rooted? Because people unconsciously believe that desire is the source that leads to happiness, it will cure their pain, it will take away their ills. Desire is the illness. Desire is the source of unhappiness.

Desire and attachment are like mother and son in eternal unison. Desire gives birth to attachment. Attachment gives birth to desire. The cycle strengthens and becomes harder to break.

Awaken from this slumber and step forth in awakened consciouness. Throw away the chain and live free. Free in soul, free in mind, free in body.

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--- Rick wrote: > Desire is the greatest obstacle on the path to enlightenment. > Desire and attachment are like mother and son > in eternal unison. Desire gives birth to > attachment. Attachment gives birth to desire. > The cycle strengthens and becomes harder to break.\

What gives birth to desire?
Fear.
It's the ancestor of all obstacles.
But fear of what?
Of Death.
It's the root of all fears.
What does this reveal about the cycle?
It is a cycle of living and dying.
In the cycle of living and dying, we are dying as much as we are living.
Fear arises; we attempt to arrest the cycle.
Is it possible to break the cycle?
No, because of how it defines itself; It is, however, possible to see beyond it.
:)

Nina

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> > Desire is the greatest obstacle on the path to enlightenment. >

Not if that desire is a desire to be on the path to enlightenment.

Personally, I found one of my biggest mistakes in life was "fighting" desire. It felt unnatural and got me absolutely nowhere.

There's so many different things that people want and so many different reasons that they want them. Maybe being clear on what we mean by "desire" would help.

In my western view, desire is what gets us up in the morning to do the wood and water thing. It makes me tell my girlfriend how good looking she is. It fuels the economy and has made for some classic entertainment.

What gave me more freedom was a fundemental shift in my *relationship* with desire. (It's a long story that many of us here share).

Thank you for the thought provoking post.

Paul

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Paul writes:

>What gave me more freedom was a fundemental shift in my >*relationship* with desire. (It's a long story that many >of us here share).

I might add: Let your states of Mind/Emotions (desires or whatever) become your tools. Don't let consciousness be a tool for their use.

Jason B

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Rick writes:

Desire is the greatest obstacle on the path to enlightenment.

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Dear Rick,

We've been through this all before, right? Something is stuck in this "desire" space? When you think about it, isn't the desire to negate the desire a desire? For some reason, I keep coming up with the same answer, as I did before: We are human beings; we have desires. It's what drives us on. Desire could equate with hope, no?

Your dialogue could actually be attributed to Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson or Saddam Hussein. Please, don't take offense, just take note. How is the Catholic church any different in squelching "desire" than are activist Muslims? One will demand penance, the other burkas. Are these actually solutions to desire? So, and why aren't they?

Because appearing in this human body, this human meat suit, we all possess the same feelings, emotions, DESIRES, as every human feels. Jesus felt a desire to continue living, at the end, in a conversation with God at Gethsemane. Or, if not a desire to live, a desire not to go through a crucifixtion.

Rick, nothing needs to be tamed. That's the talk of ego. The ego/s will be awakened -- in time. It's not for us, now, to be impatient. If you will, we live a dream, an illusion. We can change the dream any time we want by deciding what we want. If you decide to attain "enlightenment, " then do so. Everyone else will catch up, it's not your call. In time, they will realize as well. God has nothing but time. ;-) And, for that matter, it's all happened.

Freedom, to me, is knowing that I only have to change what's inside of me. I don't need to care about anyone else. Yes, that's tough sometimes, but true. Change what's inside of you and you change the world. This is what the great Gandhi taught. And he did! ;-)

Love,

Hety

The beast needs to be tamed, and yet the temptation not to give it up is great. Surrender to the Self yes, but not desire, desire is part of the ego, part of our false sense of Self. Surrendering to the ego is what society does, surrender to the Self is what the mystic is.

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> Freedom, to me, is knowing that I only have to change what's inside of me. > I don't need to care about anyone else. Yes, that's tough sometimes, but > true. Change what's inside of you and you change the world. This is what > the great Gandhi taught. And he did! ;-) > > Love, > > Hety

Good talk Hety
This is one thing I struggled with for many years is to give up desire, the truth is I was giving up my identity. Still letting go of my control over "I have to DO this so I can get there", or I need to change them or convince them of that so I can be free.
The need to control my desires, I believe, is coming from a perspective of lack. Practicing the art of allowing is one of the most important experiences we have on earth (I allow you to be who you are while I allow myself to be that which I am.)

I would say "I deserve to have and be anything I desire, following that path, I get to understand who I am and what my intentions are that I hold for this life time. However, sometimes I get stuck in unreal desires having some little fun with bubbles when I catch them they pop, it is ok, it is my process of growth and I am freer than I've ever been." Today I believe if something negative happened to me, no body did it, it is me not judging myself just knowing that i am the one and only one able to change my world. That knowing is the ultimate freedom and joy and I need not to change others from what they intending to experience.

Mohamed

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Desire is part of a cycle if you think about it. This is how the Buddha put it:

1 Mental obscuration/ignorance gives rise to
2 karmic propensities which give rise to
3 consiousness which gives rise to
4 name and form to
5. the six senses
6. contact
7. feeling
8. craving
9. grasping
10. existence
11. birth
12 old age and death.

Break the chain and you break the cycle of pain and emotionality that prevent true enlightened compassion and freedom from shining through.

H-twin