Does "Being free from desire" mean "not to have desire" ?

Can one have desire(dream) and also be free of that?

Does free man suffer?

Stick to the joy of Perception

It was asked:
Does "Being free from desire" mean "not to have desire" ?

The idea of "not having" seems quite clear, but to find out whether these two mean the same thing, we need to find out what is meant by "being free from" and "desire" here.

Let us start with "being free from." What is it to be free from something? One might hear that someone was "freed from captivity" or "freed from slavery." This usually means that captivity or slavery was in some way hindering their freedom. And what does this "freedom" mean? Is it not (what some group of people consider as) the right to do certain things or behave in certain ways? So captivity or slavery were restricting the person in some way - restricting them from doing something or behaving in some way. So can we say that "being free from desire" means to be unrestricted by "desire?" Is this what was meant in the original question?

What is meant by "desire" here? Is it simply wanting something? We can want candy, fast cars, or other physical things. We can also want success, admiration, or other psychological things. Are all of these things part of the "desire" in the original question? Or perhaps it has was intended to have an even wider meaning?

If we take the liberty to assume that the above are acceptable, then "being free from desire" would mean not being restricted by the wish to have things, good feelings, or whatnot. So now we must ask whether this is the same as "not having" these feelings of want. To find out, we need to look into whether having these feelings is the same as being restricted by these feelings. Can we desire something without being restricted by that desire? Or does that action of desiring create conflict, division? There is something that I don't have, and I want to have it. Can we think like this without creating conflict, division? If not, then being free from desire must also mean not having it.

Perhaps we need to look at what is meant by "not having" after all. Does "not having desire" mean that desire never enters the mind, even for an instant? Or does it mean that desire is not allowed to take root in the mind?

DESIRE ( the right desire, the right beyond the right and wrong)

This is she who has the vision and she awakens man and
makes his paths easy to travel and walks in his front. How
large is her chariot, how vast and all-pervading the goddess,
how she brings Light in the front of the days!

gb

We are watching, not waiting, not expecting anything to happen but watching without end. JK

This post was last updated by ganesan balachandran Wed, 07 Oct 2009.

Nathan Yeldell wrote:
Can we desire something without being restricted by that desire? Or does that action of desiring create conflict, division? There is something that I don't have, and I want to have it. Can we think like this without creating conflict, division?

It is exactly my question!! can we desire but not create conflict(fragmentation)? is conflict in the origin of desire or is it in the way that we desire? and this question is exactly what you said: can there be desire but not take root in the mind?

but there is something that I should have considered before asking those three questions, and it is: where do these questions rise from? did I ask these questions because I WANTED to be able to have desire?!! I really don't know!

Stick to the joy of Perception

It was asked:
can we desire but not create conflict(fragmentation)? is conflict in the origin of desire or is it in the way that we desire? and this question is exactly what you said: can there be desire but not take root in the mind?

If desire is that thought - there is something that I don't have, and I want it - then has it not created division, conflict? There is the you that wants, and there is the thing which is not yours so it must belong to another. So there is now you and the other, and to get what you want you must in some way acquire it from the other.

What is meant by "the way that we desire?" Is not the way we desire part of that word "desire?" If the way were to change, would it still be the same "desire?"

If we are aware, being perceptive, then as soon as we see something and think "I want it," if we are aware then will we not immediately see that as desire? And knowing that this desire creates conflict, division, if we truly know that would it not end there? If the thought ends as soon as it arises, then it can not take root, can it?

What do you think about it?

I would not worry about being free from desire. Your body will always desire things it needs to continue, and your mind will always desire something because if it did not it would not exist, searchings and becomings right?

All you have to do is learn to notice what that pesky mind is doing and why it is doing it and in time everything will work out for you.

Just practice. Every day that you catch your self up to something and go "aha!", you are practicing. Today you catch one thing, tomorrow you catch two things, you get better and better until one day you are so good at it that your mind just goes about it's business and amuses itself.

The day will come when it will be natural for you to know what you are doing, that is self-knowledge.

The more you see yourself in operation, the less time you will spend tilting at windmills and wasting energy, and the more time you will spend living.

In this way will you tell me how to approach an habbit. Should we watch while indulging in habbit or without it.
Jk says habbits have got deeper significance and while in watching dispaasonately the significance will surface out with the ending of that habbit.

gb

We are watching, not waiting, not expecting anything to happen but watching without end. JK

In this way will you tell me how to approach an habbit. Should we watch while indulging in habbit or without it. Jk says habbits have got deeper significance and while in watching dispaasonately the significance will surface out with the ending of that habbit.

What is a habit? If I chew my fingernails, is that a habit? Perhaps we need to be more specific. If I chew my fingernails often, is that a habit? When does it become a habit? Is it not when we do it without thinking about it, without realizing it? Before I know it, my finger is in my mouth and I am biting the nail. Before I know it, my fingernails are all gone. Perhaps you have heard someone say that we should "make a habit of saying thank you" or something similar. Doesn't this mean that we should say thank you whenever the proper occasion arises? Someone does something for us or gives us something nice, and so-on. But if we truly feel thankful will we not express our thanks without making a habit of it? So is not the aim to automatically produce the thank you whenever the proper condition arises?

If so, how can we watch while indulging in habit? If we are watching, attentive, then will we not see that what we are doing is simply out of habit? Having seen that it is habit, will it not end there? Perhaps to answer that, we need to look into whether habit needs to end at all. Is there a need to end habit?

Nathan Yeldell wrote:
Perhaps to answer that, we need to look into whether habit needs to end at all. Is there a need to end habit?

will it mean one is destined to have this habbit and destined to have this habbit withering away.Many times I too have wondered is there need to end habit.
Thank you
gb

We are watching, not waiting, not expecting anything to happen but watching without end. JK

ganesan balachandran wrote:
will it mean one is destined to have this habbit and destined to have this habbit withering away.Many times I too have wondered is there need to end habit. Thank you gb

I think habit has to end.It must end.Krishnaji has explained about habit.IWhat he has said is not in my mind now.Any how it is one of the main point to see truth.One is not sensitive to beauty suffering and so on is due to habit.

jothi

To do something out of habit means to perform mechanically. It means to act without paying attention to what one is doing. In a sense, it means that one is asleep to what he is doing.

It is hard to see where habit can be helpful under any circumstances, and in some situations habit can actually be dangerous.

max

rajaratnam retnajothy wrote:
I think habit has to end

the resistance to habbit should not become one more habbit.

gb

We are watching, not waiting, not expecting anything to happen but watching without end. JK

I think we should take more concrete examples, if we're going to discuss habits....such as smoking, routines, images of people, what we eat- so many things that we do but don't pay that much attention to...

If to which one habit iam addicted and goes off itself when I also watch the resistance forming one more habit, all other things go away with that . it is mutation.
gb

We are watching, not waiting, not expecting anything to happen but watching without end. JK

This post was last updated by ganesan balachandran Thu, 26 Nov 2009.

Yes, GB, I see.. the resistance is another habit, right? Or becomes one.