Desires-Good or Bad?

I was born in a middle class and I always had a feeling that I had no desires.

Some of My Attitudes were:

• I never went shopping and I never had an idea to eat a delicious cake or chocolate when I crossed a bakery.
• I was not moved towards luxury and I was Contentment.
• Though I had some aim or thoughts to live better and healthier and I never used the word rich in my mind.

A Question on Desire:

When I was in my Final Year College, I happened to hear my friends speak very curious about money. One of my friend had joined a network marketing company and he tried to convince me for joining his network.

I was not moved by any of his words when he said you can get rich or buy a car. He showed me some checks and he pointed out few of his friends who had bought a car before even owning a degree.

Later after a month, one of my uncle called me and asked, ” Are you free on Saturday” and when I said “Yes” he quickly said “Bring my wife and kid to beach railway station” and he kept the call. I thought he would be in office and later take them for some hospitality and he asked some help to bring them carefully but I still had some confusion.

Then when I went there, he had taken me into a meeting hall and I could find men and women greeting each other and my uncle introduced me to them. All the people eyes were on me and I felt they are trying to act to me. Quickly I figured out that this should be some program about money.

As expected, a speaker came and addressed the issues about money, foreign trip, buying house and cars. Then the speaker asked a question who are all new for today’s sessions and I raised my hand. He addressed me that,You are about to recommend some products and earn money and proceeded with asking what is the recent movie you have seen?

I answered a movie name and quickly he asked was the movie good?

I answered yes and he asked whether you tell or discuss with your friends about the movie?

For this I answered No which he was not expecting and explained him that I don’t like to discuss about films or politics and that I like to be reserved.

He then quickly changed his questions on How much money to make and that you wont be able to get rich in your way.

I just answered that I would get a job(I already had an offer in hand) and I was confident that I would live my life happily with the job and the path I would travel and I also added that I don’t have any desires for money which had a meaning that I am not thinking to get into luxury.

After the meeting was over, a women came forward and asked me, “You don’t have any desires to get rich?” and then they saw me as strange which created a thinking, “Am I normal?”

Some of the people in the meeting said, we need to have desired in order to go forward in life.

In Think and Grow Rich, the author had written a burning desire is the key for riches.

Then I was deeply in thoughts for months, on what is my desire?

Desires – Spiritual View:

I  have read in some books that Buddha, a spiritualist had mentioned, Desires are the causes of sufferings.

I quickly checked if it is relevant in my life and I made a rewind

A Flashback:

When I was 6 or 7, one night I had a thought to eat drumstick and asked my parents and they said no shows were open now. Then I started to cry and then my parents had found them in our garden and prepared it.

I also cried for a toy gun after watching some action movies and the gun was broken in few days.

One night it rained heavily and asked my father to get a rain coat since its raining. He said I will get it tomorrow since it is raining now. I cried and said I want it to wear it for school tomorrow if it rains tomorrow. Then we went in rain and came wearing the rain coat once the rain stopped.

Later  these  desires  had disappeared and I no longer needed once I got want I wanted.

All these are silly incidents in childhood for everybody but a desire had taken a suffering before I had got anything I wanted.

A famous saying reminds me, “No Pain No Gain”

In Other words, it takes a pain to gain.

Desires – Philosophical View:

Once I heard a note about Socrates,a philosopher. It was mentioned that Socrates used to go to a shopping street and a person asked, ” I know you wont shop anything and why is that you are coming here?”

For it Socrates had answered,” I just come to see what things are there and How I am happy without those things”

Through this I inferred that Socrates might have had an attitude not to buy things and try to extract happiness through things which might not be necessary.

Benjamin Franklin had written, “It is much easier to suppress a first desire than to satisfy those that follow.”

It might be inferred that A Desire to get things and to extract happiness and again follow to make it a process. It might be wise enough to suppress a desire which is not so worth.

The Word suppress made me to rewind in my past.

A Flashback:

During my School vacation, my mother used to take me to some of my relatives home to stay for a few days or week. I felt that I was not treated good since I was made to do some household works and I was not given proper food. It had made me tears during my childhood and I used to cry separately where nobody sees me. My relatives motive might be to train me or making me to learn household things but as a child I had a pain and I started to suppress my desires from there. Whenever they had a food or bought a chocolate I neglected it even though I had a desire to have it.It then started to happen on every year vacation and it had rooted in my mind to suppress the desires.

Desire and  Sense:

If you have noted I was talking about food. Could We call a Desire for Food.

As some of them say, “Desires are the essence of Life.  A Desire for Food is always there and once its lost we will die.”

The Words, “Desire for Food” created a thinking in me.

There is difference between Need  and Desire and the meaning for desire seems closer to Want.

We Need Food to live should be a statement rather than We Want Food to live. So, a Desire would be I want a Tasty Food.Again, the Word Taste had made me to think further. The Word Taste has to do something with Sense Organs.

We have Five external Sense Organs-Eyes,Ears,Nose,Tongue and Skin. Hence, Desire has to be something associated with these external Five Sense Organs.

For Instance:

• He sees a beautiful girl and wants her to be his friend
• Her voice seems to be lovely and he is wanting to see her.
• When a food smell is good, he tries to reach it.
• He want to eat the food which is tasty.
• He touches her when he is romantic.

In this way, I believe Desires have to be associated with external sense organs.

The Eye is the most powerful sense organ in association with desire and creates influences on other sense organs.

For Instance:

• I read somewhere that Bill Gates has a great desire for beauty and he likes to surround himself with beautiful things.
• The Eye sees your favorite Food and it influences the Tongue to eat it and it may or may not be tasty as expected by the eye.

So What about the Saying-Desire for Money as money doesn’t seem to be attractive to sense organs.

Money is all about Need.

We need money even though the five sense organs doesn’t want it.

If people say, ” I have a desire for money” it is related with Need or indirectly related with external 5 sense organs to have money buy things they want to extract happiness.

Desires are therefore an emotion which will rise and fade away if they are satisfied by 5 sense organs such as eating too much of sweet fades away the taste.

The reason the philosophers and spiritualist infer Desires are causes of sufferings because it is when you try to extract happiness by wanting things we do not have or we cannot have and since you have raised the desire and it has not yet faded-you suffer.

Burning Desire for Success:

When Desires can cause suffer, How does Napoleon Hill says that,”Burning Desires are the key to Riches” The Word Rich is used in connection with success and not money.

Connection between Desires and Control:

• If External factors control you and when you try to extract happiness by external factors, Desires can cause sufferings.
• People who don’t react to external events can take charge of their life and can have better control

The Burning Desire is all about internal focus and to satisfy the mental image or the dream and not the 5 Sense Organs.

Napoleon Hill words should be inferred as- Burning Desire is about Becoming and not wanting.