Hari OM
Application - that is what 'Workings-days' are about!
Desire has long been known as an 'imp'! In the West, we know this imp as 'Cupid'. In Sanskrit literature, we learn of this being called 'Madana'. It was Madana alone who was able to bring Lord Shiva out of His intense meditation in order to notice Paarvatii… however, the Lord closed His eyes again and opened His fiery third eye, burning away the body of Madana declaring that the only way Madana would be known from that time forward would be in the minds of those weakened by the attractions of the world.
Madn pirhr iSwit< mdIye
Manis mukuNdpdarivNdxaiè,
hrnynk&zanuna k&zae-is
Smris n c³pra³m< murare>.30.
Madana parihar sthitim madiiye
Manasi mukunda-padaaravinda-dhaamni,
Hara-Nayana-kRshaanunaa kRsho'si
Smarasi na chakra-paraakramam muraareH ||30||
Oh Cupid, vacate your stay from my mind! My mind is the abode for the lotus feet of Mukunda. You were burnt by the fire from the eye of Lord Shiva. Do you not remember the power of Lord Muraari's disc?
The wise sage Tulsidas used to say, "where there is Rama, there is no place for kaama and where kaama is, there Rama will not stay!"
Desire is the basis of everything we do - it is part of the human condition. Learning to suppress our more base desires is a large part of spiritual saadhana. The biblical 'ten commandments'** also make this clear. In the first four we have the dedicated devotional aspect; "See Me, look My way and keep your focus here, do not be distracted by other images. Remember Me always, but also to keep one day for absolute dedication. At no time use My name in any way other than to call upon Me." Then there is a 'hinge' or a bridge between the command of focus and the warnings against how desire may manifest, with a command to honour one's parents. This can be extended to one's elders and teachers and any who might be considered wiser than oneself. Then come the warnings of where desire can lead us; "be careful that you don't turn your thoughts outwards and forget about Me!"
Desire is the very kernel from which all thoughts arise. The task of our intellect is to filter these thoughts and determine those which serve us best in our spiritual quest as well as in daily life. Even without spiritual consideration, if we are all the time being twisted, mentally, by our 'drives', we cannot operate at our optimum capacity.
We live in a world which seems to propagate obsessive, desirous behaviours. We are surrounded by images and short-form messages of anger, hate, jealousy, lust - all of which arise from a desire for something other than we have.
Viveka requires of us that we corral our thoughts and make sure they are useful to our growth. Exercise the intellect and ask of the thoughts "what desire is this and why is it here?" As Vedantins, the next logical question would be "who is having this desire?" In doing this, understand also that as we are currently manifest as ego beings, not all desires are to be wiped out. The ego exists within desires, so the next step is to ensure that the desires are those of noble quality which will take us along the spiritual path. Bhakti maarg is all about supplanting negative desirous thoughts with 'Love-The-Lord' thoughts. Replace a base desire with one more noble.
**NB: There are variations on the commandments according to faith structure. The essence serves the same purpose for our comparison here.
