ARANI SERIES
December 31, 2015
Spark 17
CAN WE LIVE WITHOUT DESIRE?
The sadhu was meditating, sitting on the bank of Ganga in Rishikesh. It was a morning of early mid February and the weather was quite cold. In a sense he was all right. a desire however rose in him. “Ah how nice it would have been if I had a blanket (kambal) to wrap around me,” he thought. A little while later, he saw a black blanket floating on the river. “Wow, the divine forces seem to have heard my wish,” said the sadhu to himself. Being a very good swimmer, he jumped into the water and swam fast towards the blanket. within a short time, he caught hold of what he had thought was a blanket. It was instead a bear, swimming towards some place!
Scared to the bones, he let go of the bear and swam back to the spot where he was, exclaiming within his mind, “I do not need anything!”
The above is certainly not always the case with our desires but it does happen once in a while. Desire can lead to unnecessary hassle indeed!
Can we live without desire?
Can we?
The whole 2016 is now available for us to find out.
Wish you Happy New Year!
May you understand the right place of desire in life!
Swami Chidananda
“It is desire; it is anger; it rises from the unrest within you; it is sinful; it devours everything. Know it to be your enemy!” – Geeta 3.37