The ancient religions warned us about our desires, while modern day sages tell us to follow our passion, what is this desire and how does it come to shape the course of our lives?
Desire is a strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen a certain way.
If life is already unfolding in that way, do we still have desire or merely pleasure and satisfaction?
How often does the reality presented to us, match our desires enough for us to remain satisfied?
How do we know reality exactly? via our memory or via our senses?
To compare reality to our memory, do we in fact have to leave our senses or can we be present to both simultaneously?
What happens to the quality of our attention when we try to divide it between presence and thought? Does that feel as satisfying as being "lost" in the moment?
Or is it the other way around? Do we come out of the moment and get lost in our thoughts?
Rather than comparing reality to our memory and thoughts of how it could be so that we can achieve our desired state of satisfaction. What if we did something different?
What if we paid deep attention to what reality was offering right now, and chose to make that the object of our desires?
What would that feel like?
Hang on...just going to try it...
Damn..its actually pretty good.
So many shades of green, birdsong, a distant chainsaw, some happy people chatting as they work, my breathe able to move more freely as I drop the tension in my chest and stomach. The heat from my keyboard, the taste of coffee..
Right now is actually pretty bearable, think I might do it again..oh I am...lol..
There is so much rich detail, texture, contrast in the realm of my senses, why would I leave this world for the relatively dead one of my head noise? The endless stream of my thoughts?
Well now life is not all sipping coffee and "zenning out" - Man's gotta work, got bills to pay, responsibilities.. kids to feed.. blogs to write...lol...
A Man's (Person's) got certain needs..
The more of those needs that have to be met, the more one must enter the fray of everyday life.
The more we respond to desire, the more we will have to work within systems designed to harvest, process and exchange natural resources.
Those resources may have began as natural, but in the synthetic world of ownership, manufacturing, trade and values, everything has a price and a cost.
Some have a great deal of fun navigating this, some not so much, lets face it, each day is different.
Sometimes we get what we want, sometimes not**. If we are still alive, then we are getting what we need to survive, but to know joy, we must first pass through satisfaction, through acceptance of what is. Exactly as it is.
Reality, Acceptance and Desire, will these stars ever align for us?
Why yes..but only we can decide when our needs are being met.
When our intention matches the objects of our attention.
Which bring us to the next Act - @Tension
Thank you again for yours
=8-P
** I do not mean to sound "flippant" about this, suffering is both very real and of incredible intensity, it is perhaps why I wish to share this journey of thought experiments. If your doing it tough, truly you have my empathy, for what that is worth. Do not give in or give up, but please do allow yourself the grace of deeply feeling the underlying "aliveness" within whatever your life situation is.
This artwork is not supposed to leave hunger or dissatisfaction, rather an appreciation for how incredibly diverse and powerful biology is...in all of its temporary forms... for they are temporary..when we can allow that fact to be...we may simply enjoy the sensation of life passing around and through us... now get back to work lol..
Wisdom as Action Series
Act 1 - Do you remember?
Act 2 - What is Love?
Act 3 - Feeling Swell
Act 4 - Bound to be Free
Act 5 - Trust Issues
Act 6 - Knowledge
Act 7 - All you Desire