As we continue the Science, Mysticism, and Spirituality… series, it is important to face the issue of desire. Many mystical traditions have described desire as an impediment to enlightenment.
Some describe it as ‘the’ impediment to enlightenment…
Is desire really that big of a problem?
Let’s take a closer look at desire… then we will develop a better perspective from which we can examine it.
Desire is necessary for any action or change. All action is precipitated by intent. Intent is simply focused desire.
- I want a cup of coffee
- I desire a cup of coffee
- I intend to have a cup of coffee
The only difference in these statements, is that the third sounds a bit more serious, and may have an action plan connected with it.
So what is wrong with desire?
I’m thirsty… I desire a glass of water. Am I doomed to dwell in un-enlightened darkness forever due to my desires? What if I want to use my blog to reach more people and help them? That’s more desire. What about the more common desire to have a ‘good’ life (whatever that means for you)? What if I want material things (having a house is nice)?
All theses things come through desire… or more specifically, through intent…
All that comes into life is manifested through intent!
Keep in mind, when I say ‘intent’, I am only talking about focused desire.
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To make this sound a bit more spiritual, let us look at the possibility of enlightenment (a very vague term, I know, but we will have to leave it that way for the time being). There are schools that advocate a quest for enlightenment… you have to search for it… you have to work to find it. Then there are other schools that advocate the idea that you are already enlightened, and if anything, you only need to reconnect with it.
Whether you chose to ‘quest’ or merely to ‘reconnect’, you will have to formulate an intent to do so.
Sitting on a zafu and closing your eyes requires intent. Staying there for 20 minutes, an hour, or more requires a lot more intent!
But all this illustrates is that in order for anything to come about, there has to be an intent, which is nothing more than a focused, action-ready desire.
So why the classical disdain for ‘desire’ in many classical spiritual and mystical traditions?
The answer is simple. Most of us can’t separate desire from attachment, and attachment is very problematic.
Just to be clear…
Desire is okay!
But attachment is to be avoided. Attachment is connecting yourself to a mental construct of the past or future. Now the mental construct isn’t bad (visualization is a very useful skill for achieving goals among other things), but being attached to it, feeling like you have to have it, will not only lead to suffering, it makes the goal harder to achieve.
- “I wish we could go back to the way things were!”
- “I just have to lose 20 twenty pounds!”
- “This day couldn’t get any worse!”
In all of these examples, the speaker was attached to an idea of the way things should be. Now this happens to everyone (one of the most powerful changes that has taken place in me, was when I chose to pay attention to my attachments and begin to let them go)… and it is occasionally very challenging to notice the difference between just having a goal, an intent, and an action plan to achieve it…. as opposed to having all the same along with attachment to outcome. So we must release ourselves of any judgment for attachments we may have (judgment is another attachment).
This is where the second magical skill of mindful meditation comes into play.
Acceptance negates attachment!
This will work whether you accept the many possible outcomes aside from your desired outcome (although it is best to focus primarily on your desired outcome), or if you decide to be mindful of the fact you have attachments, and begin to accept those attachments.
An important note: Attachment will almost always lead to tension in the body… so as you use acceptance to further and further relax the mind-body, you might notice that tension of attachment melting away…
Attachment isn’t really that bad a villain. In fact, many people don’t know how to get what they want without it. It does lead to suffering, though. We all want people to like us (oh come on… admit it). There is nothing wrong with this. That is a part of our natural social instinct. Not only does this desire cause no problems in its pure state (just the desire by itself), it can lead to many positive things… friends, camaraderie, love, the ability to have a powerful impact, etc. When we are attached to one or more of these outcomes, though, we have opened the door for suffering… and suffering tends to beget more suffering.
The reduction or elimination of attachment sought by Buddhists, Taoists, as well as western mystics has been described as a state of ‘non-attachment’ & ‘non-disinterest’. You have the desire/intent (or interest if you like)… but you have to let go of the attachment. It is as if you say “This is what I choose to bring forth in the world…”, and leave it at that.
This allows for free will. This allows for creation, change, and when necessary, efficient destruction.
This allows us to pursue dreams in bliss rather than suffering…
Even if we never attain those dreams. The desire/intent creates no suffering. The attachment creates much suffering… whether the goal is achieved or not.
And incidentally, letting go of attachment will make the outcome much more likely in the first place!
In my next post in this series, we will examine methods of releasing attachment while maintaining intent. In order to add science to your spirituality, we must have specific techniques… and thus we move down the path of mysticism.
keep smiling,
ben
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Dear Ben,
The topic on “Science, Mysticism, and Spirituality: Desire?” is good to read.
To my knowledge there is no link between science, which is only few hundred years old with spirituality. Comming to Mysticism is an offshoot of some spiritual practices not all. A true spiritual leader does not believe in mysticism. Comming to science it may take some more trillions of years to understand what is spiritual science. Present scientific and enthusiastic workers are interested only in breaking and making use of materials, this includes biological materials also. They have not come upto the age of combining them again. Even if they try it is highly costly and may not be in reach of common people. Unfortunately there are so many expert fields specifically with super specialities, but none of them are competent enough to assemble the materials, they way they were earlier. For this they have to go more and more nearer to the nature, unfortunately they are all very very far away from Nature. Better not try to link these terminologies Science, Mysticism, and Spirituality: Desire?, more specially with desire.
Hi D.B.,
Very Interesting… Thank you for your thoughts!
To begin with, if you haven’t read the first post in this series, it is where I define these terms as I will be using them. Many misunderstandings can occur when we don’t define our terms.
As for the origins of science, depending on what we are talking about, it has been around since the dawn of mankind. People observe, seek to understand, and work to get better. This is part of human nature. This is science in action.
Again, I am using Mysticism as “a scientific approach to spirituality”. By this definition, virtually every spiritual or religious person is using mysticism to some extent.
As far as our connection to nature, we are only as far from, or as close to nature as we allow ourselves to be (which depends on how we view ourselves). But this is one of the dualities that is dissolved on the path of the mystic.
As for your final note on using these terms together, I have to respectfully disagree. I think there is power in seeing past our programmed desire for division. There is great power in seeing past apparent contradiction. There is also great power in understanding subtle differences.
What did you think of the subtle difference between attachment and desire?
keep smiling,
ben