How desire takes control of our life — Desire management series 1 – Suppose we get into a car and start it to go somewhere. Suppose further that next time when we get into that car, it starts on its own and takes us toward our last destination. Suppose eventually that car drags us in whenever we are anywhere nearby and then races toward that destination even if we didn’t want to go there. 

We all are constantly dealing with such a peculiar car: the car of desire. Let’s see in three stages how desire may take control of our life:

We activate desire: When we contemplate some sensually titillating imagery, that contemplation triggers desire, which then starts pushing us toward indulgence. The Bhagavad-gita (02.62-63) outlines how desire can bulldoze its way from casual contemplation to self-destructive gratification.  

Desire activates us: When we pander to a desire, our actions create inner impressions which impel us to indulge again. Whereas earlier we might have sought sensual images to trigger that desire, now those images pop up on their own inside us and goad us toward gratification, often more gratification than earlier. 

Desires use us to do their own activity: When we habitually pander to a desire, the resulting impressions impel us so subtly and swiftly that we find ourselves indulging without even realizing what we are doing. In fact, we may not even enjoy that pleasure much, yet we become almost passive spectators on repeated rides to that unfulfilling indulgence. To our horror, we realize that desire has become a shackle (16.12) — we are addicted. 

Thankfully, desire itself is value-neutral; it can drive us to both terrible places and terrific places. It’s we who need to carefully choose desires that are constructive, not destructive.

One-sentence summary:

Desire is like a peculiar car: first we activate it, then it activates us, and then it uses us to do its own activity — carefully select the desires we engage with. 

Think it over:

  • How do we activate desire?
  • How does desire activate us?
  • How does desire use us to do its own activity? 

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16.12: Bound by a network of hundreds of thousands of desires and absorbed in lust and anger, the demoniac secure money by illegal means for sense gratification.

 

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