tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26177615.post709467751097713256..comments2023-10-20T18:47:34.841+07:00Comments on Religion, Sex & Politics: In Defense of DesireDr. Willhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09788468231312646543noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26177615.post-5461313520161515542009-10-02T01:42:21.275+07:002009-10-02T01:42:21.275+07:00Hi Will,
just found you while surfing on Shantiva...Hi Will, <br />just found you while surfing on Shantivanam. Remember the redhaired german woman December 2007?It´s me!!! When I read your blogs from India and Thailand I get a very big desire to travel again. What can I do?<br /><br />The best for you<br />G.GeNialhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05541095408624140772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26177615.post-18283780625923177452009-09-05T21:06:32.390+07:002009-09-05T21:06:32.390+07:00Maybe it's right at the point of cognition whe...Maybe it's right at the point of cognition where this whole perceived notion of a so-called self having desires only just seems to exist or feels like it does anyway(got a sense of self anyone?)... and that by being mindful and less self-ish, all desires, as well as every other tendency, would get into balanced harmony with everything else(and everybody else). The problem is that nowadays there are so many fabricated desires that were not around in the time of the Buddha...<br /><br />Plato: To do is to be.<br /><br />Aristotle: To be is to do.<br /><br />Sinatra: Do be do be do.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06745535120553330940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26177615.post-15156945869865217362009-09-02T10:22:10.876+07:002009-09-02T10:22:10.876+07:00Hi Will,
Great post, great questions, so well wri...Hi Will,<br /><br />Great post, great questions, so well written! Thank you.<br /><br />I've also struggled with this one. If desires lead to suffering and the way to end suffering is to end desires, then that sounds like a very nihilistic practice indeed.<br /><br />But, you know, desires DO lead to suffering. We are dragged around by desires, made to do stupid things by desire, act in destructive ways under the impulse of desire.<br /><br />So what the Buddha said, as far as I understand it, is to take a step back and watch those desires! Rather than chase them, watch them. Watch them arise, complain and nag (desires do complain and nag a lot in my experience!) and eventually pass away.<br /><br />And if, in the course of your observation, you see that some of these desires are worth acting on, then you can act on them. But YOU are in control of the desire - not the other way around.<br /><br />Here's some reading, from an excellent blog, published just today that might help...<br /><br />http://www.oxherding.com/my_weblog/2009/09/desire-attachment.html<br /><br />Oh, and by the way, I'm pretty sure the Buddha was a big fan of Aspiration, and Appreciation. Things quite separate from desire.<br /><br />All the very best,<br /><br />MarcusAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26177615.post-17668680332839600552009-09-01T20:41:41.593+07:002009-09-01T20:41:41.593+07:00"By denigrating the pleasures brought by the ..."By denigrating the pleasures brought by the senses, we demean the transient value of marveling at a beautiful sunset, the scent of cookies baking, the taste of mango, the sounds of a moving sonata or rock opera, and the love between two people that delights in physical expression."--This is the kernel of what keeps me from pursuing the practice of Buddhism--or can we as you say savor the transience of everything in the realm of the senses and then let it go--whether it's music or someone we love or our own physical power?Janet Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00725119277902212530noreply@blogger.com