We hear of philosophy and religion whose goal is to create
peace of mind and serenity and tranquility……… especially
in philosophy……… we are suppose to use philosophy to gain
that serenity and peace of mind……. in the same way that
the Buddha tried to create a peace of mind by making people
aware of their desires which is the cause of suffering…
we suffer because we cannot achieve what our desires demand…
by removing desires, we no longer chase after the empty
and unfulfilling objects of our desires………and that eliminates
suffering…
Or said another way, we are addicted to our various objects of
desire, we are addicted to our materalism, we are addicted to
our need for more and more and more in our life…
to achieve peace, we must eliminate the desire for those
things like materialism and sex and drink and food and fame and money,
that we pursue and crave…
It is kinda an all or nothing thing… this demand for peace and serenity…
to achieve it, you must give up all you desire…then, then you can
achieve tranquillity and serenity…
But I offer up a different solution… We can say yes to materialism
and to lust and to greed and to desire… if, if we find a balance in
our lives… a place where we can naturally act upon our desires without
turning that desire into suffering by having balance in our lives…
that there is a place for desire cannot be doubted, but we also must
be able to say no…….when the time is right…… sometimes desire is
right and appropriate and sometimes it is not………
to find our balance we must become aware of who we are and
our surroundings… The very act of desire is not by itself bad or
evil, it is in how we desire that become the question… does
that desire take over our actions and thoughts? Does achieving
that desire become the only goal? then desire has become bad,
unwanted…… but I desire and you desire and it is in the way
we respond to our desire that make it either right or wrong…….
I desire understanding, knowledge and in so desiring, even
though money is rather tight right now, I still am buying books
on philosophy and history and what it means to be “modern”…
my desires has influenced my shopping habits but it hasn’t overwhelmed
me, it hasn’t caused me to spend our food money on books…… I am
still in balanced with regards to my buying books……
gaining knowledge, understanding is a priority for me, I desire it,
but I still try to keep balance in my life……… My desire hasn’t
taken over my life…….I can say yes to buying books as long as
I understand, recognize that I cannot buy as many books as I so desire,
I must limit my book buying to what we can afford… I have balanced
my desire for knowledge with the realities of my life…I have said yes…
in a practical and balanced fashion…………
I can achieve peace of mind within the boundaries of what I desire
and what I do as a father, husband, breadwinner…………
My desires are simply one aspect of my life, the desires have
a set and organized place in my life and I can say yes, as long
as I practice moderation in those desires…….I have peace of mind,
serenity, tranquility because my desires are part of, part of my
existence, not desires denied and not the totality of my existence, just part of…
and that part is practiced in moderation…
We can achieve our desires without causing suffering if we
engage with our desires with moderation and balance…
Kropotkin