Regulating
Desires
As humans we struggle in the whirlpool of desires from birth to death.
If we are deriving pleasures from these desires, then why do we suffer most of the time?
If the question is asked of any person, "What desire do you have?", he will perhaps
say, "Nothing". This is not true. The desires cannot manifest themselves when they
need not manifest themselves. This is particularly important to remember. When
they do not manifest themselves, it does not mean that they are not there.
Why do they not manifest themselves? Because there is no necessity, for reasons
of their own.
Is it wrong to have desires?
Fulfilling desires - good or bad?
On the other hand, suppressing desires, is it the right thing to do.
Why do we need to even think about these issues?
Why can’t we just enjoy everything that comes in our way like lots of people?
One of the major problems in our lives is that we just want to fulfill our desires and
we do not want any bad consequences. We need to have insight so that we can
assess whether we deserve a particular object in our life. People would like to
have anything and everything if possible. Even if we desire something, do we
put enough human effort into it so that we can acquire it?
When we are unable to perform to the standards that are required!
When we do not get what we want!
We get disappointed and our mind takes it the hard way.
Our scriptures tell us to control our desires and take control of our emotions
when they are not fulfilled. But this is a difficult task for most of us.
Sai Baba used to say “All my devotees come to me first with worldly desires,
but I bring them to the correct path by fulfilling some of their desires according
to past karmas. If they run towards the sensual objects, they will fall off the wagon”.
We must come out of the clutches of this vicious cycle and not fall for these worldly
objects. We must learn to accept what Baba wanted to give us. He wanted us to
thrive for knowledge (Jnana) rather than running after worldly desires. We need to
show faith towards God and walk the path that Baba showed so that we can
be free from these whirlpools of likes and dislikes.
Our desires have various stages and forms of manifestation, and they are incredibly
wise, like snakes. They know how to act when the time for action comes, and
they know how to withdraw themselves when it is time for them to withdraw.
Prasupta, tanu, vicchinna, udara are the four conditions of desire mentioned by
Patanjali; and we are always in one or the other of these conditions. It does not
mean that we have controlled the desires or subjugated or sublimated
them—nothing of the kind, because the moods that manifest in daily life will
indicate they are still there.
Desires which are sleeping may become causes of mental ill-health. There can
be a manifestation of peculiar complexes of behavior—susceptibility to sudden
rage or anger at the least provocation, and desire for silly things which a normal
person would regard as meaningless.
The prasupta condition is the sleeping condition of a desire. We cannot know
that the desires are sleeping, except by the complexes that we manifest in our lives;
and unless we are good psychologists, we cannot know what these complexes are
because they would look like normal behavior to us.
Sometimes, the desires become thin. They are not sleeping; they are awake, but they
are thin, like a fine silken thread.
At other times, desires are intermittent; they come, and they go. This is called
vicchinna avastha, while the thinned form is called tanu avastha. Today you
are angry, and tomorrow you are in a very pleasant mood. You have seen husband
and wife quarrelling. They will not talk to each other, but they do not really hate
each other. Even if they put on the appearance of disagreement, anger and a
mood of rejection, as it happens among members in a family, it does not
mean that they hate one another. They have tremendous ties of attachment
which can manifest at other times, under different conditions. It is a subtlety
of love, which gets suppressed by a fit of displeasure, at which moment it may
look that the desire has gone, or the love is absent, but it is pushed underneath.
It is not absent, and tomorrow it will come up. It is possible that today you may
be very affectionate, tomorrow you may be quite the contrary, and the day after
tomorrow you will be something else.
when every condition to manifest the desire is fulfilled, it can fully manifest.
That is called udara avastha. Then, it will come like a roaring flood and swallow us.
Understanding the desires & controlling them:
Passion towards objects or outward things:
The more we think about objects around us, the more we become interested in them
and our passion increases. Then we want to acquire that object. This fact was
emphasized in Bhagavadgita in the 2nd chapter.
Desire leads to action:
When we start thinking about an object, we will develop an innate need to acquire that
object. Then we imagine the happiness we can derive by having that object. This leads
to action where we are willing to do anything to fulfill our wish.
Unfulfilled desires lead to anger:
When we cannot fulfill our wish, we tend to look for reasons. We want to understand who
is in between this object and us and what factors are preventing you to acquire that object.
This leads to anger and acting out behaviors. When anger dominates, we lose abstract
thinking. When a person can think in an abstract way, he or she will make irrevocable
mistakes. They lose sight of good and bad. This is where composure is essential.
We need to control our emotions otherwise we will invite trouble. These consequences
will follow us forever.
When we suffer, we say, Why me?
Why do bad things happen to me only?
Why do I not have any luck?
Enjoy desires through heart but not through sensory organs:
Baba never discouraged people from asking worldly objects. But he said through
grains story (Channa leela – Hemadpant);
“Before the mind, the intellect and other senses enjoy these objects; remember
me first so that they become an offering to me. The senses can never remain
without their objects; but if these objects are first offered to the Guru, the
attachment for them will naturally vanish.
If you desire anything, desire me only!
If you are angry, vent your anger on me only! Offer me your pride and stubbornness.
Be devoted only to me”.
Whenever we want to fulfill a desire, we should first try to understand our mental
state in that circumstance. We got used to using our sensory organs to enjoy any object.
If we can learn to feel this through our heart, it makes a big difference. When we enjoy
any object, what satisfies us is the satiety that we experience. We forgot to
really enjoy the relationships, objects and routine things in our life. We just acquire
objects. We do not pay attention to relationships. We shut down our bodily mechanisms.
Sometimes we just do things for other people. Other people’s needs become our priorities.
We forget that we are human too. We tend to become robots.
When we fulfill desire, we tend to move the vibrations of pleasure towards the objects
but not to the heart. This will deprive you from enjoying what you achieved.
When desires are understood with our hearts and soul, then we can move away
from these objects easily.
Baba’s teachings to control desires:
Baba said,
“Before the mind, the intellect and other senses enjoy their objects; remember me first
so that they become an offering to me, slowly.
The senses can never remain without their objects; but if these objects are first offered
to the Guru, the attachment for them will naturally vanish.
If there is the slightest desire for the enjoyment of these objects; and you think that Baba
is close by, the question whether the object is fit to be enjoyed or not will at once arise.
The object that is not fit to be enjoyed will be easily shunned. In this way, the
devotee’s vicious addictions will disappear and an aversion towards the undesirable
will develop.
When such a habit is developed, the thoughts about enjoyment of the sense objects are
weakened. The desire for the worship of the Guru arises and pure knowledge will sprout.
When pure knowledge grows, the bondage of body-consciousness will break and the
intellect will be merged in spirit consciousness, leading to infinite bliss.
When you serve the Guru with a pure heart, desire for the objects of senses will be
destroyed from the root.
The mind will become pure and sinless and your “Self” will manifest with effulgence.
Sai Bandhus!
Let us understand our desires.
Let us analyze the real need for these desires.
Let us stop running for the things that we do not need.
Let us turn our attention to Sai.
Let us get Sai’s grace and walk in the path he showed.
As humans we struggle in the whirlpool of desires from birth to death.
If we are deriving pleasures from these desires, then why do we suffer most of the time?
If the question is asked of any person, "What desire do you have?", he will perhaps
say, "Nothing". This is not true. The desires cannot manifest themselves when they
need not manifest themselves. This is particularly important to remember. When
they do not manifest themselves, it does not mean that they are not there.
Why do they not manifest themselves? Because there is no necessity, for reasons
of their own.
Is it wrong to have desires?
Fulfilling desires - good or bad?
On the other hand, suppressing desires, is it the right thing to do.
Why do we need to even think about these issues?
Why can’t we just enjoy everything that comes in our way like lots of people?
One of the major problems in our lives is that we just want to fulfill our desires and
we do not want any bad consequences. We need to have insight so that we can
assess whether we deserve a particular object in our life. People would like to
have anything and everything if possible. Even if we desire something, do we
put enough human effort into it so that we can acquire it?
When we are unable to perform to the standards that are required!
When we do not get what we want!
We get disappointed and our mind takes it the hard way.
Our scriptures tell us to control our desires and take control of our emotions
when they are not fulfilled. But this is a difficult task for most of us.
Sai Baba used to say “All my devotees come to me first with worldly desires,
but I bring them to the correct path by fulfilling some of their desires according
to past karmas. If they run towards the sensual objects, they will fall off the wagon”.
We must come out of the clutches of this vicious cycle and not fall for these worldly
objects. We must learn to accept what Baba wanted to give us. He wanted us to
thrive for knowledge (Jnana) rather than running after worldly desires. We need to
show faith towards God and walk the path that Baba showed so that we can
be free from these whirlpools of likes and dislikes.
Our desires have various stages and forms of manifestation, and they are incredibly
wise, like snakes. They know how to act when the time for action comes, and
they know how to withdraw themselves when it is time for them to withdraw.
Prasupta, tanu, vicchinna, udara are the four conditions of desire mentioned by
Patanjali; and we are always in one or the other of these conditions. It does not
mean that we have controlled the desires or subjugated or sublimated
them—nothing of the kind, because the moods that manifest in daily life will
indicate they are still there.
Desires which are sleeping may become causes of mental ill-health. There can
be a manifestation of peculiar complexes of behavior—susceptibility to sudden
rage or anger at the least provocation, and desire for silly things which a normal
person would regard as meaningless.
The prasupta condition is the sleeping condition of a desire. We cannot know
that the desires are sleeping, except by the complexes that we manifest in our lives;
and unless we are good psychologists, we cannot know what these complexes are
because they would look like normal behavior to us.
Sometimes, the desires become thin. They are not sleeping; they are awake, but they
are thin, like a fine silken thread.
At other times, desires are intermittent; they come, and they go. This is called
vicchinna avastha, while the thinned form is called tanu avastha. Today you
are angry, and tomorrow you are in a very pleasant mood. You have seen husband
and wife quarrelling. They will not talk to each other, but they do not really hate
each other. Even if they put on the appearance of disagreement, anger and a
mood of rejection, as it happens among members in a family, it does not
mean that they hate one another. They have tremendous ties of attachment
which can manifest at other times, under different conditions. It is a subtlety
of love, which gets suppressed by a fit of displeasure, at which moment it may
look that the desire has gone, or the love is absent, but it is pushed underneath.
It is not absent, and tomorrow it will come up. It is possible that today you may
be very affectionate, tomorrow you may be quite the contrary, and the day after
tomorrow you will be something else.
when every condition to manifest the desire is fulfilled, it can fully manifest.
That is called udara avastha. Then, it will come like a roaring flood and swallow us.
Understanding the desires & controlling them:
Passion towards objects or outward things:
The more we think about objects around us, the more we become interested in them
and our passion increases. Then we want to acquire that object. This fact was
emphasized in Bhagavadgita in the 2nd chapter.
Desire leads to action:
When we start thinking about an object, we will develop an innate need to acquire that
object. Then we imagine the happiness we can derive by having that object. This leads
to action where we are willing to do anything to fulfill our wish.
Unfulfilled desires lead to anger:
When we cannot fulfill our wish, we tend to look for reasons. We want to understand who
is in between this object and us and what factors are preventing you to acquire that object.
This leads to anger and acting out behaviors. When anger dominates, we lose abstract
thinking. When a person can think in an abstract way, he or she will make irrevocable
mistakes. They lose sight of good and bad. This is where composure is essential.
We need to control our emotions otherwise we will invite trouble. These consequences
will follow us forever.
When we suffer, we say, Why me?
Why do bad things happen to me only?
Why do I not have any luck?
Enjoy desires through heart but not through sensory organs:
Baba never discouraged people from asking worldly objects. But he said through
grains story (Channa leela – Hemadpant);
“Before the mind, the intellect and other senses enjoy these objects; remember
me first so that they become an offering to me. The senses can never remain
without their objects; but if these objects are first offered to the Guru, the
attachment for them will naturally vanish.
If you desire anything, desire me only!
If you are angry, vent your anger on me only! Offer me your pride and stubbornness.
Be devoted only to me”.
Whenever we want to fulfill a desire, we should first try to understand our mental
state in that circumstance. We got used to using our sensory organs to enjoy any object.
If we can learn to feel this through our heart, it makes a big difference. When we enjoy
any object, what satisfies us is the satiety that we experience. We forgot to
really enjoy the relationships, objects and routine things in our life. We just acquire
objects. We do not pay attention to relationships. We shut down our bodily mechanisms.
Sometimes we just do things for other people. Other people’s needs become our priorities.
We forget that we are human too. We tend to become robots.
When we fulfill desire, we tend to move the vibrations of pleasure towards the objects
but not to the heart. This will deprive you from enjoying what you achieved.
When desires are understood with our hearts and soul, then we can move away
from these objects easily.
Baba’s teachings to control desires:
Baba said,
“Before the mind, the intellect and other senses enjoy their objects; remember me first
so that they become an offering to me, slowly.
The senses can never remain without their objects; but if these objects are first offered
to the Guru, the attachment for them will naturally vanish.
If there is the slightest desire for the enjoyment of these objects; and you think that Baba
is close by, the question whether the object is fit to be enjoyed or not will at once arise.
The object that is not fit to be enjoyed will be easily shunned. In this way, the
devotee’s vicious addictions will disappear and an aversion towards the undesirable
will develop.
When such a habit is developed, the thoughts about enjoyment of the sense objects are
weakened. The desire for the worship of the Guru arises and pure knowledge will sprout.
When pure knowledge grows, the bondage of body-consciousness will break and the
intellect will be merged in spirit consciousness, leading to infinite bliss.
When you serve the Guru with a pure heart, desire for the objects of senses will be
destroyed from the root.
The mind will become pure and sinless and your “Self” will manifest with effulgence.
Sai Bandhus!
Let us understand our desires.
Let us analyze the real need for these desires.
Let us stop running for the things that we do not need.
Let us turn our attention to Sai.
Let us get Sai’s grace and walk in the path he showed.
OMSRI SAIRAM!
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