A ‘Desire’ to quote it just right!
A ‘desire’ to quote it, just right!
Last week’s questions and discussions on the current spiritual scenario: On youth, desire and spirituality:
“Desire is the root of all evil. Ancient wisdom says, stay away from desire”
Now this line caught my notice which said, Desire is the root of all evil.
Desire is never evil. What you desire and the approach in which you desire might lead you to evil. The issue was uncomplicated and yet had lot of depth in it as the master’s quote read: “I may always desire more than I accomplish – Michelangelo”
So, now the person, who had laid this query to us, perceptibly did it with an intention to set off something in me. Probably a nerve which was tickling my funny bone or may be a nerve that held my tolerance level high.
In any way, I thought of jotting this down by asking the same question to few others in the last 24 hours in the Q n A session on – current spiritual scenario: On youth, desire and spirituality.
An overall gist of people’s response was like this:
• Desire, if you do not, there is no need to live.
• If you desire more than you can, you will always be unhappy.
• If I do not desire, then nothing in life I deserve.
• Divine and spirituality is for old and retired people.
Ok. So there was a slight repairing or oiling required may be.
This is for all our youth out there today, saying ‘another day, another dime earned.’
First of all, desiring something is the whole basis and idea for survival.
Reason, the person who asked me the question had no job putting this personal question before me. But he desired to do more than his job profile demanded. So he asked.
I desired more, to know what people had to say, even though I am going to jot down at the end and express my views on the same, because I desired the need to bond and get in touch with all of them and get into their minds. And at the end still hold the power to speak and express….. hey, it is my blog!
On a more serious note, I did it to know and feel their pulse on the same.
So when we take a look at a term like desire, we see that desire is nothing but convincing. Convincing others or yourself. But this time, convincing that, there could be more to life. Convincing that this is how it has to be or not to be.
Desire is why a society stays alive. Desire is why we have grown beyond a religious or spiritual round table conference and are able to do this online today. Because someone desired to do more than there was.
Now coming back to the divine part, Desire is never bad.
The holy books have always shown us the technique to get what we yearn for. Being spiritual does not mean giving up on worldly pleasures. It means understanding what the earliest knowledge has left for us to learn and be paramount in whatever we ‘desire’.
I have been born into a very religious family. But luckily I never followed or obeyed the customs nor was I asked to. I chose to follow them by choice. I am not religious, but definitely spiritual. It helps me concentrate better than I can, which is fantastic.
Believe it or not, religious customs and traditions are what gives us more discipline and focus in life. People tend to take it in the wrong way.
A person who reads and is able to understand the books of such immense knowledge, can accomplish whatever he or she wants out of life.
You want to be rich, you want to be a superhero, you want to have a castle, you want to get a Ph.d.?
It’s all in there.
But, you take it and drink it as a whole. Do not try to take the gist of it. You cannot just smell your food and say whether it is perfect. You have to taste it and eat it properly to know.
I feel hilarious when people say, spirituality means giving away worldly desires or when I hear that these things are for those who are old. I feel sorry for both of them. Not because they do not believe in it.
Each of us has a choice to lead a life that we want to live, as we ‘desire’ (no pun intended).
I know that those people are already brilliant and talented enough to such an extent, that these disciplines if they acquire, each of them could have what they desire or seek out of life faster than they would.
And like one of my management lessons quoted: ‘A dime earned today, is more than a dime earned tomorrow’. So let us build our passion with the words of the wise and use it in our foray.
And mind me; it is also not something that is gained over just five to10 years. It’s an on-going process. It’s like having an MBA and applying that to work for 10 years to become the CEO instead of just doing it with a bachelor’s for over 20 years and ending up being a manager at 60.
At the end of it all, it’s each one’s choice and each one’s way of life. But it is always good to know, that there is something out there for us that can help us reach our goal faster than we desire.
So desire with spiritual knowledge or self-realization is great. Is victory. Is success. So let us desire and stay alive, kicking and winning. There are no regrets when you desire and dream.
So let us Desire, Dream and De-stress!
Happy reading.
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Ananthanarayanan V
techdivine@gmail.com