Desire is the fire in the butt of the universe! It is that locomotive force that propels this universe. It is the continuous expression of universal energy in various forms including human beings.

We being a small part of the same universe, have the same fire inside us that propels us both horizontally and vertically. When this desire makes us move horizontally we find ourselves caught up in the material world and the same desire, the same energy, helps us move vertically and transcend this world.

So desire is simply a surge of energy within our being. And this energy we express in the form of various thoughts and actions. Whether it is the desire to buy a car or a desire to have freedom, it’s the same energy requiring different expressions. And the kind of desire that takes birth inside us (the direction in which the upsurge of energy proposes to propel us) depends on the kind of mind that we have.

 

Is desire good or bad?

This question is as meaningless as the question ‘Is energy good or bad?’ Energy is energy, it is neither good nor bad. Similarly, desire is energy and it is neither good nor bad. It simply is. It is our mind that colors it and gives it different shapes. And even these shapes are neither good nor bad. Everything simply is.

Our religions advise us to be desireless! But since we can’t be energyless until we die, they indirectly want us to suppress the surge of energy that takes place inside us in the form of desire. They indirectly prohibit the expression of desire. And even the upsurge itself is condemned. The desire itself causes a feeling of guilt inside.

There are many saints who claim that they have lost all their desires. But then they must be either dead or simply perverts who are running away from their own selves. Unless we die, we can’t be desireless. Even to wake up in the morning we need a subtle desire in the heart that propels us to get out of the bed.

 

What’s the perceived problem with desire?

Desire is wrongly considered to be problematic. But as seen above, there is nothing wrong with desire.

However, desire needs management. Just like a child’s energy that is overflowing needs to be managed, just like a child needs to be managed, we need to manage our desires. But if the parents themselves are unmanaged then how could the child be managed?

Parent gave birth to the child and now not being able to manage him! There is nothing wrong with the child but he is often perceived to be the problem. We say that the child is problematic when the actual problem is the parents who are not able to manage the child.

Similarly in our case, the mind that leads to the birth of desire in the first place, is itself so unmanaged that it is not able to manage the desire and the blame is loaded onto the head of desire. Mind knows how to produce desire but doesn’t know how to manage it.