Ancient philosophy warns us that desire is a trap, something that keeps us entangled. In fact, desire is the impulse that propels us towards something greater. Without desire, would we even have the spark that drives human evolution and purpose.

I believe ancient wisdom warns us against desire because of the perils of scattered ambitions and the halfhearted efforts to fulfill them. Efforts which end up being exhausting in the long run. Desires don’t necessarily mean having a fancy car or taking that lavish vacation. It could mean enrolling into that new course that could give our career a new direction or even starting a new business, which we avoided due to fear self-doubt or lack of family support.

Without the desire to excel, the world would have missed out on a Messi or a Sachin Tendulkar. Mankind’s foray into outer space arose from our desire to know and understand beyond our present knowledge. All progress begins with an initial spark of desire.

What is required is not suppression of desires but the alignment of our desires with a focused action plan that guides us continuously towards our purpose. To be focused we need to be guided by our purpose. Our purpose can only be known by understanding our needs beneath the surface. Desires that can satisfy us at a deeper level. Desires that resonate with our core values, desires that truly reflect who we are.
When we shut out our desires, we end up shutting down our very senses. And when that happens, we lose our aliveness, falling into a monotonous automatic mode where our responses to situations are as per social conditioning rather than free will.
One way of knowing if we are living in this automatic mode is by connecting with our feelings truthfully. If you get this feeling of unfulfillment, a vague but persistent sense of something missing,

PAUSE AND REFLECT

Realize that you are the one blocking yourself from moving forward towards your true desires. Only by staying in touch with our feelings can we know our souls’ desires, only by knowing our deepest desires can we move forward with clarity and conviction.

You are what your deep driving desire is,
As you desire, so is your will,
As your will, so is your deed,
As your deed, so is your destiny.
~  The Brihadanayaka Upanishad.