The mirage of desires

[1]

Making a difference with new ideas [1]

There once lived a rich man in a villa. Right in front of the villa lived a poor man in a hut. Rich man’s wife used to observe that the poor man and his wife lived peacefully but neither she nor her husband were at peace. Once when her guru (spiritual master) visited her house, she sought to know as to why is it that even though they eat rich and healthy food they often fall sick, whereas the poor couple hardly eat anything yet remain healthy. She said that she and her husband had an air-conditioned bedroom, yet their sleep pattern was erratic, while the poor husband and wife slept like logs of wood even in the hut. She wanted to know that though her future was well secured yet her family lived under an unknown fear, while the poor couple looked very secure.
To answer her question, the guru asked the rich lady to put some gold coins in a bag and ordered it to be kept quietly near the poor man’s hut in the night. Next day he left saying that she must observe the poor man for the next two months. Couple of days later she noticed that the poor man, who used to come home early evening, has started coming late at night. Occasionally, she started hearing some quarrels between the poor man and his wife. She observed falling health and wrinkles of tension on the poor man’s face.
The rich man’s wife was amused at these developments as she thought that after getting gold coins the poor couple will look happier and healthier but the reverse had happened. Upon enquiry, she came to know that the poor man, after finding those couple of gold coins in his house, desired to add some more to them so as to secure his future, buy a house and other luxuries to enjoy. And for this he started working double shift, cutting down on his food and started consuming alcohol to overcome his stress. He also forced his wife to work and earn so as to save more money.
This change of attitude gave stress to the poor couple. They had no time for each other. They forgot what they had and started worrying about what others had. They forgot to live in the present and started living in the future, thus losing the secured zone of contentment. They forgot gratitude to God and instead got entangled in an illusory competition, eventually losing peace.
Just as wind causes waves in the ocean, desire is the cause of waves (disturbance) in the mind. Desireless mind is peaceful, calm and relaxed, but desires (including unfulfilled past desires) disturb this calmness. Unfulfilled desires irritate and frustrate the mind and fulfilled desire generates new desire, causing expectations, anxiety and worries. Out of new desires, some get fulfilled while others remain unfulfilled. Hence, we get caught in this vicious cycle of fulfilled and unfulfilled desires.
Everyone needs some basic amenities in life — house, money to buy food and clothing, a personal vehicle and savings to take care of future exigencies. But the confusion is how to differentiate between desire and necessity and strike a balance between them.
Necessity is out of compulsion to live, desire is out of competition. Desire springs up from the ever-active, dissatisfied senses and a comparison with what others have and what we don’t have. Desire is never constant; it’s ever increasing. A man running behind desire is like the deer who runs after an illusory mirage in the desert. Upon arriving at the identified spot, it finds nothing. But another mirage is visible farther away at another spot.

Sri Rameshji Jain is a modern age spiritual guru and founder of Poorna Ananda, a centre for spiritual evolution and joyful living. Visit www.poornaananda.org [2]