I have thought a lot about the Buddha's idea that our suffering comes from our desires. Mark Epstein's "Open to Desire" is a wise and full look at the tendency to try to stifle desire, eliminate it. He introduces the book with this tale
One of my favorite stories comes from the Sufi tradition of mystical Islam. It is a tale that tells us exactly what we will have to face if we endeavor to walk the path of desire. A man sits in the center of a Middle Eastern marketplace crying his eyes out, a platter of peppers spilled out on the ground before him. Steadily and methodically, he reaches for pepper after pepper, popping them into his mouth and chewing deliberately, at the same time wailing uncontrollably. "What's wrong, Nasruddin?" his friends wonder, gathering around the extraordinary sight. "What's the matter with you?" Tears stream down Nasruddin's face as he sputters an answer. "I'm looking for a sweet one," he gasps.
Epstein, Mark (2006-01-05). Open to Desire: The Truth About What the Buddha Taught (Kindle Locations 77-83). Gotham Books. Kindle Edition.
It is easy to laugh at Nasruddin but we are like him. I have noticed Lynn and I like to be in the center of a good book (Wife of the Gods) or show (Season 2, episode 4 of Foyle's War) but we don't like the feeling of being lost in the desert looking for another book or show that is good. We often ask each other as we move into a new book (The Man in Wooden Hat) what we think of it. Basically, we are asking whether the book is good enough to take shelter in or must we continue to plod on, searching and searching for a harbor?
Epstein makes clear that for us, for you, for his patients, for Freud, for the Buddha, there is no getting away from desire, from wanting comfort, ease, security, love, etc., etc. Before he reached his enlightenment, the Buddha-to-be followed a Hindu path of extreme deprivation and punishment of the body, in an attempt to burn away those bothersome and recurrent desires for an endless stream of wants and goals and achievements. He was young and strong and very determined but he found that he would kill himself before he would be able to eliminate all desires. We as living, breathing, eating, loving, fearing animals are astride the horse of desire with our feet tied in the stirrups. Might as well enjoy the ride.
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
