Managing desire

There are some people who do little, but make others do a lot. Brahmn, the pure Consciousness, too, is actionless — but in Its presence, everything else works. Observe an infant. It does little other than kick about, cry and laugh but it spurs everybody into willing action. The mere presence of an infant brings joy.

What makes a baby so lovable, asource of joy for all? The answer is simple but profound: a baby is free of desires. It has biological needs like hunger and thirst but, other than these, ababy has no desires. Its eyes reflect its state of freedom from desires. The great scriptural texts have exalted the state of desirelessness as the ultimate state. Besides babies, only one other kind of being has eyes that reflect total desirelessness: the realised person.

Man begins his life without desire (as an infant), goes through life’s tribulations and, eventually, through spiritual evolution, once again becomes free of desires as a man of realisation. The first aspect of life management is desire management. Desire per se is neither trouble nor a cause of bondage, but when it increases in quantity and decreases in quality to unmanageable levels, it can destroy us.

The scriptures divide life into four stages and at each stage, there are specific rules to be followed. If each stage of life is lived by its founding principle, desire management will be spontaneous.

We move through discipline, spirit of service and self-enquiry to abidance in the Self, and achieve the transcending of desire to reach the state of desirelessness.