Desiring what IS

Lord Buddha, the enlightened one, amongst numerous saying, also spoke about desire and suffering. He didn't speak about the degree of our suffering; he spoke about all of it. Every single emotion or suffering in a human-being is simply the result of his desire. Human emotions and desire are a very powerful energy. So, it would be worth studying and understanding this power, which is responsible for all the suffering we may have ever experienced.

Strangely, the most obvious phenomenon about desire that gets ignored or overlooked by us is that, every desire is based on illusion, which I would call as a falsehood. It is based on the thought that situations can be different from what they are currently or what they seem to be. However, that is never the case. Each moment is our 'present' and therefore unique. Soon enough, it would be our past. Reality of our present can never be different from what it actually is.

So, we need to accept the fact that reality is destined. It would be wrong to think we can influence events or dictate and direct the supreme force to influence what happens next. If someone says so, it would be a gross lie. Consider it from your personal experience. Delve in yourself and decide, how often have you been able to influence events or happenings of the future? How often did reality turn out exactly the way you wanted it to? But then, just by coincidence, it could happen sometimes.

If, once in a while, the things happen as we wish or desire, we need to believe it's purely by chance or by our good fortune and not due to some effort on our part to influence the event. Besides, if you desire a hundred things, every once in a while, something could happen, which matches your desire. Unfortunately, when that happens, we start believing in our power to influence and get hooked to that thought, like being addicted to a slot machine. By doing so, we would only be misguiding ourselves and should allow it to happen.

However, over time, when people start realizing this belief to be a myth, they start accepting the way things are. It's funny though; such acceptance often shows signs of resignation or defeat hidden in it. So, while we accept the events that transpire, we resent or dislike them.

I would therefore like you to change your perspective and look at it from another point of view. It may sound as a strange possibility, but you'll find the results to be wonderful. I suggest you try to redefine your desires and mould them according to your present circumstances, which is the actually reality. While doing so, have the same passion, as you would have had while accepting events, had they happened according to your desire. Meet this reality, the present, which even has the power to generate the suffering of this world, with the same passion and vigor. Bring the present to bear on truth instead of a lie.

There's another word to describe this - gratitude. It is different from acceptance. Accepting is a state of mind which is lifeless; it lacks passion or substance, which I call 'juice'. That's the reason why people, even though they accept the present the way it is, quite often they desire the "substance", which is having things their own way. When a person desires, he creates an emotion which has intensity, passion and life, even though it may ultimately results in suffering.

But then, there is this other possibility, which is like desiring the present, the truth, the way things are at that moment and desiring it wholeheartedly. While doing so, we must try and bring passion and liveliness in current reality. This would certainly bring you instant and unlimited happiness, because then, your every desire would be fulfilled.

The reason why people don't change their state of mind and make this simple and radical choice is, because it is so simple. This is because, by doing so, one doesn't have to raise even a finger or make an effort. Nothing is required. We simply accept what we get. People shy away from this because in doing so, they feel they haven't done anything themselves, which hurts their ego, and ego for them is supreme.

But then, there is a price one has to pay to create a desire for the present, and giving up the thought of being someone who can change the present. There is no longer any place for that. Trying to change something would only be working at cross-purposes to what you desire.

This is where one comes up against an inescapable paradox. While you wish what is happening to be different, you need to overcome this desire and accept things the way they are. You shouldn't forget that. One can't ignore all sorts of desires that arise within oneself, be it for some relationship or for more money, good health or even for some spiritual awaking or finding The Truth. You must meet them with the same vigor and gratitude. However, at times, when you realize that your own suffering has to be accepted with gratitude, it simply breaks your heart.

Quite often, when people are on a spiritual path or seeking the Truth, it could be considered as a more subtle or sophisticated or camouflaged desire, because Truth is our present, which is before us. No one needs to look elsewhere for it. We need to realize, Truth has always been with us. At times, people who seek the Truth are actually looking for something else, something better, rather than the one they already have. This is nothing but another form of desire. What is necessary is to meet even that desire with gratitude. You must seek the Truth, which is our present. Wanting it differently would be impossible and based on an illusion. Just open your eyes and arms and say 'yes'.

As a matter of fact, you can never be grateful enough, because the present is always changing; each moment is evolving and is new. So, be grateful. The past can never become present; whatever is happening now could have never happened before. Our emotions, thoughts, sensations and experiences that we go through today are completely new. You have this opportunity to meet the present, passionately and with gratitude. And, with so much and so many things happening, there's never a dearth of opportunities to be grateful.

And as you start accepting your present reality, an interesting development begins to take place. You begin to accept the future as well, along with its uncertainties. By willingly accepting the present, you step into a flow or a mental mode, which leads you through this mysteriously unfolding, ever-new moment. While, on the one hand, the powerful force called desire will lead to all the suffering in the world accepting the present the way it is, has the incredible power to lead you to happiness and satisfaction.

When that begins to happen, it's easy to get overly intrigued with it. It really becomes a fun thing - to apparently be manifesting or creating something. It's a complete mystery as to how those two forces are interconnected, your wanting something to happen and it actually happening. Perhaps it would be right to say that it is just a form of premonition.

So, when such events start to happen, one is intrigued by it and may even attempt to play with it. The moment you start believing that things are getting easier, it's like feeling grateful. It is easy to be grateful when you are in that mental mode and there's nothing wrong with it. But if you get too involved with it and turn away from the present without showing gratitude, your thankfulness is no longer unconditional.

You must be wholeheartedly grateful for your present and also your past, when it becomes a distant memory. That's where life is, where the juice is emanating from, even if it may seem different. It is possible that at times, the shortest route between two points passes through Hell. So, if you feel that this flow looks like a flat tyre, fix it, or find a remedy really fast, for you might discover that the flow has its own different view, about how much time you'll spend on the side of the highway and how late you'll be for your next appointment.

It's never up to you to decide how much you suffer, which obviously is bad news, especially when you try your best to get out of this suffering. But, the good news is that it's upto someone incredibly and profoundly wise and strong, someone who can see that the shortest path between two points goes through Hell, to decide. And then, at times, the path goes through Heaven as well. You don't have any choice. Just accept how events unfold, with gratitude. That's what's been happening all along anyway. Has your life ever stopped evolving in spite of your belief that it's not going anywhere? Has it ever stopped evolving, in spite of it not going where you wish it to? Despite everything, it moves on, right? Someone is there, someone supreme, who is guiding it, steering it and unfolding it.

It's not some Truth of the past that we need to be grateful for, or some Truth which will show up sometime in future. We need to be grateful for our present, what is right here, right now. Realizing that present is here only for this moment, it's only available for a moment and it would never be the same again, gives us this juice, this passion to meet it with gratitude.

The reason we don't show our gratitude, in moments of suffering or grief, is because there is a mistaken belief that if we did so, things would remain the same. We think that by loving this moment in its present form, along with the accompanying pain or grief (if that's what the present is), we will get stuck with it. Actually, truth is just the opposite. When we resist reality, it sticks around. When we embrace the moment, it naturally moves on and unfolds the next moment, exposing us to our next new experience, which may be different.

For example, it may seem to make sense to fight our present situation, which is the cause of all our sufferings. But, by acknowledging this situation, you are actually exaggerating something, which may not be true. You are transforming it into something, which perhaps influenced your being.

However, if you embrace your present situation instead of fighting it, you can easily see how ridiculous it is and you will laugh it away. It then loses its power. It doesn't remain a problem anymore, as it no longer controls you. When it arises you say "Great, wonderful, what a gas?"

Thereafter, it doesn't get a chance to transform itself into something called suffering. The event appears and so does the conditioned reaction, followed by a complete merger of both, so any possibility of suffering is immediately eliminated. We aren't unfamiliar with this process, this happens whenever something goes right. Each moment can be like this, where everything shows up, but there is no problem. Then, nothing can control you.

To avoid suffering, forget your desires, forget the future and simply live in the present. There is no complicated formula to this; simply meet the present with passion and gratitude and that's it. It really isn't upto you how many times your situation reoccurs. For, if it was so, you would have attended to it a long time ago. Right?

So, I'd like you to try and find out for yourself what happens when you are willing to waste your desire on the present. Don't accept my words on face value. For just this moment you can see and feel reality, and accept it with a passionate embrace. And then see whether you can truly find any suffering in this moment.