We all know this truth. We experience it in everyday life. Yet we continue craving things that we don't possess, postponing the experience of happiness and full enjoyment of the gift of life till we obtain the object/s of our desire. The objects of our passionate desires may be quite legitimate, as, e.g., an "ideal" partner, whose characteristics we have built in our imagination and most probably such a person does not exist in real life, wealth, possessions, fame, academic success, you name it...
Millions of people worldwide are stooping for hours in front of their computer, endlessly browsing Dating Sites in order to locate and capture the attention of the "ideal" partner and experience "happiness"! So they reckon... Outside the sun is shining, the plants have blossomed and the flowers invite them to enjoy their fragrance and experience divine bliss, but NO! They cannot afford to spare the time; they keep on searching for the "ideal" match, and then they could enjoy life together! Others spend their days searching for quick ways to become millionaires, and then to enjoy life, and so on and so forth.
This way, our days, our weeks, our months and years go wasted, while we are endlessly chasing some chimeras, in order to be happy, of course. We look around and see people who seemingly have achieved everything in life and we envy them, whispering, "Oh, how lucky they are!"
"Why not me?" we cry out in angry despair. Why indeed? Of course, most people nurture the illusion that happiness is something that comes from without, from other people and material things, and hence they consider it their right and their duty to pursue it externally.
Unfortunately, very few humans suspect that true bliss comes from within, from one's awareness and harmonic relationship with his/her Higher Self. The "Lord's Prayer" in which we are advised to seek only our "daily bread" and, the most, not to be led into "temptation", means nothing to most Christians. And the last, but not least of the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament says: "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's." (Exodus 20:17) What a great philosophical truth is included in these few words!
Coveting, intense desire: the sure road to confusion, frustration, workaholism, exhaustion, anger, envy, disappointment, misery, wrong decisions, and even evil acts... And all this, while pursuing happiness! We humans must have completely lost the essence and meaning of life, if we ever found it... The best among us even know and quote what sages and mystics have said about true happiness and how to find it, but, all the same, they follow the same slippery road, hand-in-hand with the ignorant. Obviously head knowledge is not the same as heart knowledge. True knowledge that liberates us from the bondage of desire comes also from within, where the true Light is shining, but, alas, we have covered our divine "lamp", lest we awake from our deep sleep and realize our divinity...
Let's face it: we live in misery because we insatiably covet and we endlessly desire things that we cannot attain. Besides, every desire that has its roots in ignorance will surely lead to hell on earth. Have we not made our beautiful planet a hell just because of desires stemming from ignorance? Look at the ozone depletion that our criminal "civilization" has caused to the earth's stratosphere, mainly during the past thirty years of unprecedented technological "achievements"! Look at the new diseases, which have appeared and torture millions of humans, in spite of medical "progress". Look at the pollution of the atmosphere, of our seas, even of space! Look at the contamination of the water we drink and the food we eat. And all this while pursuing the fulfillment of desires that stem from ignorance and can never bring true happiness to mankind.
Well, it is obvious that we must urgently check our desires, individually and collectively. We must come to our senses. Right desires can only derive from right living, i.e. from the quality of our being and conscious living. When we live in a wrong way, our desires will be wrong and harmful to us personally, to society and the environment. What we currently witness within and without is but the result of the aggressive pursue of wrong desires.
Nobody said that we should have no desires at all, that we should live like idiots and not be concerned about the future. But our desires should be healthy and logical, stemming from Self-knowledge, wisdom and love for fellow human beings. Of course all humans have an inherent desire for progress, for evolution, but we must learn what real progress is and then pursue it wisely, steadfastly and patiently.
Now, some may ask, "Will all our healthy desires be fulfilled, if we pursue them patiently, without been obsessed by them? The answer is NO! Why? First of all because man in the current state is not omnipotent and there are other antagonistic forces around that may frustrate, and often do, our plans. We are not isolated islands in this world. Besides, according to sages, there are also didactical lessons in the frustration of even some right desires. Could it be, then, that the frustration of our desires leads us closer to our spiritual awakening? Could it be that if we had all our desires fulfilled, we would never seek the Truth? Hindu sages say that within an earthly paradise there is no road to the Truth, and that only misery, agony and pain liberate us from the bondage of illusion. If this is true, it is hard and painful to accept. But it could be true, and in any case it is for our benefit to accept it that way.
So then, if we want to pursue and experience lasting happiness, we should stop craving the wrong "things" that we do not possess. We should be happy and satisfied with our present circumstances, because life is in the "NOW". Nobody knows if tomorrow will be alive and well. Why not enjoy the present, i.e. every moment, as best as we can? And when I am talking about enjoyment I do not mean indulging in the gratification of one's senses and animal instincts. If one invests one's time and energy in those, the same will soon find out that happiness has slipped out of his/her hands. He/she then will desperately seek fulfillment in sexual perversion, drugs and other self-destructive means.
Life is, should be, a healthy celebration and not an anxious effort for "success" or sensual indulgence. If we begin to innocently and purely enjoy every moment, meditating on unity among all beings - instead of postponing being joyful in the future, when we might have achieved our plans and fulfilled our desires that mainly stem from ignorance, antagonism and a sense of division - then we have widely opened the door for God to enter our hearts and we will be truly blissful. If we live in the light, then we will be the light and others will be attracted to follow the same road, without any conscious effort from us to influence them.
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About the Author
Maria Seferou was born in an agricultural family of Dendron, a small village of Peloponnese, Greece. She studied Civil/Structural Engineering at National Technical University of Athens and had a successful 20-year professional career both in Greece and in England. For the last 21 years she has been a writer of non-fiction books and articles on religious, philosophical, political and social issues.
