Ways to Uproot the Dominion of Desire

• ¶ 1. Honest Acknowledgement and Untwisted Raw Experience ↴
• ¶ 2. Waves and Cycles of Desire — Witness and Play Mindfully ↴
• ¶ 3.1 Mysterious Origins and Present Fields of Impact ↴
• ¶ 3.2 Removing Desire and Subject from the Central Pedestal ↴
• ¶ 4. Power of Attention — Reframe Your Perspective ↴
• ¶ Recap of Reflections — May Your Desire Find Peace ↴

Dealing with desire. These are supplementary notes to the longer Dealing with Desire talk, recapping some essential points and elaborating on aspects that are yet to be discussed.

1. Honest Acknowledgement and Untwisted Raw Experience ¶

Number one, first and foremost, is the need to honestly acknowledge the presence, the emergence, the manifestation of desire — including the hold it has over you. If you try to suppress it or start wrestling with it, it will simply grow louder and stronger — so don't go there.

Yes, the desire is an adversary, is an enemy — but not in its raw, plain nature. It becomes so when you allow it to drive you. If not, it simply is what it is, a state of stimulation that you experience. It is what it is in its nature — and it will not be anything else by imagining so.

So, simple, honest acknowledgement, even humbling acknowledgement before the manifestation of desire, in itself is a part of the solution. It strips the desire of a great part of its power. It stops being twisted, when you stop twisting it with the way you approach it. This is the first step in neutralizing desire.

2. Waves and Cycles of Desire — Witness and Play Mindfully ¶

And from there we come to point two. After acknowledgement, we recognize the nature of desire. We have discussed its coming and going in waves, and often in cycles as well.

These waves and cycles all have their origins. Some of them in our biological cycles, in which case there is part need and part desire. And another origin factor is in the stimulation we expose ourselves to. In environment, in entertainment, and even in our inner mental worlds. When we play games, we flirt with the desire, that in itself drives the escalation of the desire.

When you stop indulging in it, obsessing with it, it grows naturally thinner and thinner. So let the waves be waves. Let the waves pass. You don't have to go splashing around or looking for them. In there, with awareness of the inevitable coming and going of the waves of desire, and with their momentary presence, self-control is called for.

Some desires, even when not rooted in needs, they're fine. They are harmless, when they do not involve the infringing on the rights of anyone else. The fulfillment of a desire in itself is not a big deal. The bigger deal is the pursuit of desire — and more so obsession with desire.

And now, we all have different textures and dynamics to our minds. Some, with the taste, will fall into addiction, and others won't. When addiction, obsession, and consuming pursuit manifest, then it's time to put a halt to it — because you are in charge. Not the waves, not the stimuli of the world.

Self-control is called for, and self-respect is called for. Are you the sovereign — or are you led around by a noose around your neck? Reclaim your freedom of choice. Reclaim control of your mind. The waves come, and the waves go. Watch them, witness them. Own, acknowledge their impacts, and let them pass. That's all.

3.1 Mysterious Origins and Present Fields of Impact ¶

Then, point three, where do all these desires come from? Whatever cavern, abyss, is their origin? And yes, we may backtrack, we may reverse-engineer all of these desires to the beginning of the world, and to the end of the world. However, the more acute question is — wherever it is that they came from — why do they capture me so?

In other words, recognize their impact points. Recognize your receptors, your open backdoors, your vulnerabilities. What is it in you, in the here and now, that allows a desire to take the reins, to begin driving you?

Some desires of the most basal and vulgar grade, they operate on the instinctual level, biological drives. And in there, the bottom line is simple. This is an animal drive. Am I an animal, or am I a human being endowed with higher cognition, with an ability to stay on top of my drives? Am I a creature of the jungle, or am I a civilized spirit?

Again, desires relate to, and stem from, emotions. Emotional cravings, unfulfilled emotions. And yes, most of us need a certain baseline of emotional fulfillment. But do ask yourself, how needy am I, and how spoiled am I, as far as how I should be feeling? Feelings, too, come and go in waves and in cycles. Learn to live with them, instead of reacting to them.

Then, desires are also driven by the process of thought formation, by ideas. I could, maybe I should, what if I would? These thought games provide a certain scaffolding, a framework that drives us to the direction of desires, drive us into engagements that may or may not be necessary.

And beyond that, finally, we come to our ego, our identity. The ultimate nexus and reference point for desires. Your instinctual drives, your emotional cravings, and your wired thought-forms — they all evaporate like vapor in the wind, when the subject container, your identity and your ego, are not there as the gluous membrane.

You, yourself, with your self-conception, and with your preoccupation with the different levels of your being, are the master of tar, the creator of every sort of stickiness. Remove this subject shell, this fractured identity, from the equation, and all the rest of it resolves of its own accord.

3.2 Removing Desire and Subject from the Central Pedestal ¶

Then, what exactly is it of this identity of mine that makes me prone to desire, that makes me vulnerable to the pushings and pullings of desire? Well, to each their own, we are manifold. But it does boil down to the bottom line stance. I am entitled to enjoy desires. In other words, I am the enjoyer. 99% of the human race are somewhere on the spectrum of hedonism, admitted or otherwise.

Few and far in between are those who do not look at their enjoyment as the first and foremost concern, who first look at what is, and what is needed by the collective, by others. When you, however, embrace the shift of paradigm — the true needs of others before the pursuit of my personal desires — that reframing of awareness is a significant force of transformation and purification.

For as long as you keep on putting your desires on a pedestal — because you keep on putting yourself on the pedestal — for that long, you are royalty so driven by your urges. When, on the other hand, you surrender and live in service, a certain clearing force comes to pervade all the levels of your being. A purging of desire takes place progressively, more and more pervasively. To a point where desire, in itself, has no independent power over you.

You may have desires, residual longings, and they will, in their time, perhaps meet a fulfillment. But if not, then all is well. We need not pursue them. Let them pursue us — because we are the sovereign in our freedom. We are not driven. We drive.

And then what is it that we drive? Not our agendas. What we drive is the collective agenda, from the fulfillment of basic needs to actuation of our potentials. With every step we take, with every choice we make, we advance the evolution and well-rounded well-being of all sentient beings. And with that engagement, the feedback loop that is affected from our life of service is an order of magnitude greater and more powerful than any individual's trivial desires may ever be.

So do not only look at yourself, and into yourself, in resolution of your troubled desires. Also reach out, broaden your perspective, pour yourself out into the world, into the universe. Reflect upon the all that is, the everyone, instead of simply being preoccupied by yourself. And in that, in that shift of perspective, there will also be relief from your desires.

4. Power of Attention — Reframe Your Perspective ¶

With that, we come to point four. Your attention. Where you direct your attention. Desires are empowered by your attention. As noted, and as a reminder, do not attempt to suppress artificially. And that includes strategies for diversion.

Well-rounded engagement and the full pouring of your attention into greater things, however, is not a matter of suppression or diversion. It's a matter of the engagement of the greater part of your potentials. The rewards and the fulfillment that follow are much greater and much more satisfying than the pursuit of desires and the pleasures that follow.

Then, do not remain in the wrestling pit. Reframe your perspective and reconsider your platform. With that, you will gain so much more than mere freedom from the vexation of desire.

Recap of Reflections — May Your Desire Find Peace ¶

Then, to recap today's supplement to dealing with desire.

1. Point number one — honest, humble acknowledgement. Do not react, push and pull, wrestle with the desire. Recognize it. Witness it. It is what it is.

2. Point two — recognize the waves, the coming and going of all things. Also recognize the cycles in which these waves come, and recognize the waves and cycles that unfold on the different layers of your being. Yes, trace the origins to the depths and the heights — but do not forget to trace the present. Recognize your openings, your vulnerability, and your exposure.

3. Point three — reflect upon your ego and your identity as the facilitating container, the sticky membrane to which all things stick.

4. And the fourth and final point for now — rise beyond the paradigm of yourself as the entitled enjoyer. Clarity and purity emerge in service to the true needs of others. Do not be the belly button of the universe. Your preoccupation with yourself and your reactions to your own contents are the churning drive of your desires.

With these reflections, the hope is there will be some release, some relief, some peace of mind arising from insight, detachment, realization.

May our attention be duly directed to all that, which brings about the complete consummation of our potentials. This happens alongside the fulfillment and consummation of the ultimate potential of all other beings. There is no conflict, so do not make it so.

May your desire not be a matter of conflict — but rather, may joy and pleasure emerge in harmony with all other beings. Be at peace, be happy, and be free.