Desire

 

Its amazing to see the great power of desire and the changes it causes in the world of the mind, it is responsible for making a selfish guy who likes only himself to love another probably a new found crush at his college, it is responsible for a routine-work-stressed housewife to break free and go on a pilgrimage trip or vacation, it is responsible for making an employee switch to a different job in search of better financial and work prospects, it is responsible for another employee to quit the job and start his own business and be his own boss, it is responsible for "change" in the external world when things are routine.

When a person gets something he desires, it can trigger a reaction in others around him/her, some might end up getting a “desire” to be like him/her, thus giving a waterfall effect to the creation of desires in those individuals, some might get jealous by observing this person and comparing with their own unfulfilled life. This can in turn trigger other sorts of negative thoughts about oneself and others close to him by the person which in turn can lead to changes in his/her life. Meanwhile the person who has successfully met the object of his desire would have slowly lost the sense of achievement of the desire and would have moved on to pursue a new desire and the pursuit of happiness continues for him.

Thus desire keeps the individual in the conscious mind, every day, every year, every lifetime for many many lives. It is said by my guru that only when most of the desires have been achieved does the soul actually starts desiring for enlightenment. Thus the very power of desire (in the world of the mind) is the thrust which jolts the soul towards non-desire of the world, towards the ultimate goal of self realization.

Related Post: The donkey and the carrot.