D E S I R E S

 

D E S I R E S

Dictionaries define desire as a strong wish to have or do something. The word also refers to a person or thing that is wished for.

Want, fancy, inclination, preference, longing, yearning, craving, hankering, eagerness, enthusiasm, predilection, aspiration, predisposition, lust and  passion are the synonyms of desire.  But we should not ignore the fact that no two words in a language have exactly the same meaning.

The word desire is also used to mean sexual attraction. A person who is our desire is the one with whom we want to have sexual relationship.

What is desired may also mean what is necessary, required, proper, right, correct, exact, suitable and preferred. If a person is desirous of success , he/she is wishful of or hopeful of or ambitious for success.   

             Desires are also looked upon morally. But before we look at them strictly from this angle, let us see some of the general views about them:

(i). Desires are the pulses of the soul; as physicians judge by the appetite, so may we by desires. (ii).The reason that so many want their desires is that their desires lack reason. (iii) Some desires are necessary to keep life in motion; they whose real wants are supplied, must admit those of fancy. (iv). Those things that are not practicable are not desirable. (v). Where necessity ends, desire and curiosity begin. (vi). The passions and desires, like the two twists of a rope, mutually mix one with the other, and twin inextricably round the heart; producing good, if indulged moderately; but certain destruction, if allowed to become inordinate. (vii). By annihilating the desires, we annihilate the mind. (viii). Our nature is inseparable from desires. (ix). When a man’s desires are boundless, his labours are endless. (x). It should be an indispensable rule in life to reduce our desires to our present  condition. (xi) The soul of man is infinite, in what it yearns for. (xii). In moderating desires, not in satisfying them , lies peace.

            The ugly side of desires is that they tend to multiply. They go on increasing.  They enlarge our appetites . gratifications lead to the hunger for more gratifications. Satisfaction is, more often than not,  alien to them. Morally speaking, they are the enemies of contentment.

            When asked by a questioner: What is the root of evil? Lord Buddha  replied: Desire is the root of evil, hatred is the root of evil, illusion is the root of evil; these things are the root of evil.

            And  when asked what is the root of the good? He replied : Freedom from desire is the root of the good, freedom from hatred and freedom from illusions, these things are the root of the good.

            And to the question what is the origin of suffering, his answer was: It is lust, passion, and the thirst for existence that yearns for pleasure everywhere, leading to a continual rebirth! It is sensuality, desire, selfishness; all these things are the origin of suffering.

            One of the most distinguished Persian poets, Saadi Shirazi (1213-1291),  writes in the account of his life, it is not man’s situation in life, but his attitude towards life that makes him happy or unhappy; and this attitude can even make such a difference that one man would be unhappy in a palace while another would be very happy in a humble cottage. The difference is only in the horizon that one sees. There is one person who looks only at the circumstances of his own life; there is another who looks at the lives of many other people; it is a difference of horizon which is dependent upon the number of one’s desires in and expectations from life.

            And finally, a  quotation from The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan (London, 1963).  It runs as follows: In the Hindu tradition there is a very well-known concept , that of the tree of the fulfilment of desires.  A man in India was told that there was a tree of the fulfilment of desires. He went in search of it, and after going through forests and across mountains he arrived at last at a place where he lay down and slept under a tree without knowing that it was the tree of the fulfilment of desires.  Before he went to sleep, he was so tired that he thought, ‘What a good thing it would be if I had a soft bed to rest upon and a beautiful house with a courtyard around it and a fountain, and people waiting upon me!’ And with this thought he went to sleep. And when he opened his eyes, he saw  that he was lying in a soft bed and there was a beautiful house and a courtyard and a fountain, there were people waiting upon him; and he was very much astonished, for he remembered that before going to sleep he had thought of all this . But as he went further on his journey and thought deeply about this experience, he realized that he had actually slept under the tree he was looking for, and that the miracle of that tree had been accomplished.  

             Commenting on this story, Hazrat Inayat Khan rightly observes: “The interpretation of this legend is a philosophy in itself. It is man himself who is the tree of fulfilment of his desire, and the root of this tree is the heart of man. The trees and plants with their fruit and flowers, the beasts with their strength and power, and the birds with their wings, are unable to arrive at the stage which man can reach; and it is for this reason he is called ‘man’, which in Sanskrit has the same root as the word ‘mind’.

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22^nd June 2021                                                                             G.R.Kanwal

           

     

  

WALKING: SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS

 

          WALKING: SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS

                        If you look up a dictionary to find out the meaning of ‘walking’, it may  tell you something like this: walking is movement on feet with at least one foot always on the ground.

                        This definition is so simple and so short. It is the briefest description of lifelong physical activity, which is natural to all living beings. As for humans, they have to walk till the last step in their journey of life,  

                         Walking is one of the best exercises.  I once asked an old man in his nineties how he treated his ailments. His reply was “By walking”.  ‘‘All ailments?”  ”Yes all.” It surprised me but he was quite sincere in his reply.                   

Experts on walking believe that we pay a heavy price for the comforts and conveniences of civilisation. We get into a car and are trapped by the whims and peculiarities of the road makers.

Whereas  the medical profession is sharply divided on running, it is unanimous on  the value of walking, a medicine that costs nothing and has no side effects.

The delights of walking and its dividends to the body and the mind are too valuable to ignore.

                          British novelist Charles Dickens (1812-1870) says:” Walk and be healthy. The best way to lengthen out our days is to walk steadily and with a purpose. The wandering man knows of certain ancients, far gone in years, who have staved off infirmities and dissolution by earnest walking --- hale fellows, close upon ninety, but brisk as boys.” Add  to this quotation a short verse by William  Shakespeare (1564-1616):

“Jog on, jog on,  the footpath way,

 And merrily hent  the stile-a;

A merry heart goes all the day,

Your sad tires in a mile-a.

This is what Walt Whitman (1819-1892) said in his Leaves of Grass:

                        Afoot and light-hearted I take to  the open road,

                        Heathy, free,  the world before me,

The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good fortune,

Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,

Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms,

Strong and content I travel  the open road.  

             

And finally, an anonymous piece The Road quoted by the Indian writer  Mulk Raj Anand (1905-2004) in his autobiographical novel Seven Ages: “I love roads, I Iove lanes and streets: I love to walk, walk, walk, for it is an opportunity for thought developing into a clear process, often leading to self-illumination and discovery, thanks  to the sound of one’s own footfalls. Walking is not merely physical exercise keeping the body fit; it  is a spiritual training leading to the preservation of the being itself.”

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5^th June 2021                                                                                                                           G.R.Kanwal