The last teaching of the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, is the Eight Great Awakenings. In this series we investigate the great awakenings. The awakenings each build upon and influence each other, allowing for development based on solid foundations.
The first awakening is to have few desires. To refrain from widely coveting the objects of the five sense desires is called “few desires.â€The Buddha said, “Monks, know that people who have many desires intensely seek for fame and gain; therefore they suffer a great deal. Those who have few desires do not seek for fame and gain and are free from them, so they are without such troubles. Having few desires is itself worthwhile. It is even more so, as it creates various merits. Those who have few desires need not flatter to gain others’ favor. Those who have few desires are not pulled by their sense organs. They have a serene mind and do not worry, because they are satisfied with what they have and do not have a sense of lack. Those who have few desires experience nirvana. This is called “few desires.â€
To “have few desires is to avoid the craving for “stuff.†Stuff such as a commanding position among people, wads of money, a five-bedroom house, a Ferrari.” (from ZenTalks).
This is an interesting starting point to awakening. We often look far away for what to do, how to progress, and the next step of our journey. This awakening, however, brings us right back to the here and now. It says to reach nirvana, have few desires. We can access this teaching through many levels, psychologically, philosophically, but most important physically. And this has been my own experience based on living my practice in the world. The more desires I let go of, the less ‘stuff’ I feel I need, the less trapped or enslaved by it I am, the more free and liberated I feel in the world. Less really is more.
In future posts we will investigate more of the Great Awakenings, with reflections from Zen Reflections, and commentary. As always, I’d love to turn this into a conversation and hear your input and ideas, and how this teaching speaks to you. Please feel free to leave a comment.
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Hi Wade, I note that you refrain from giving any insights on how to achieve such a desire less state or perhaps you are keeping that for another post. However I suspect there is no how-to since this would imply that in order to adopt the how-to one would have to have a desire to become free of desire, a conundrum. But perhaps this paradoxical conundrum is re-assuring since such seems to be the way of the Mind.
And I suspect that trying to discipline our egos into not having desires will invariably strengthen our egos through conflict. Not to mention the likelihood that the desire will be even stronger. As I’ve stated in previous comments on another post, I don’t know, I am just wondering.
Is it even possible to choose to have no desire? Isn’t choice illusionary anyway? If Mind is all there is then that includes desire and if desire is linked to suffering then it includes that too. Does it not? I understand that even Mind is a concept the way you said “life” is in a response to another comment but concepts are all we have to understand that which cannot be described.
You also said, in the same response, that everything just is. That must include desire or lack thereof. So in the end rather than eliminating desire is it not better to simply understand it’s nature namely that the object being desired, the action of desiring and the subject which desires is all Mind?
Thanks.
Hi Cedric, again with the great questioning; thanks for the opportunity.
You’re totally right about trying to force anything on ego, it will only strengthen the power. Between forcing letting go, and following/falling into desires, is the middle way; that is the path we tread. A path of neither pushing away, or running to. A place not of action or grasping, but a letting go. It’s not an active state there’s no thing being done, no action or reaction is caused. The desire is simply ‘let go’.
The aim is not to eradicate desire, but the attachment and compulsion to be a slave to it. You are right, it is a natural state of mind, the practice is not about removing anything, but developing acceptance and space, so we no longer have to live in a re-actionary world. And this is as you have said, to simply understand it’s nature
“To observe a lovely sight is joyous; to cling to it is pain, suffering, dukkha.” (http://buddhism.about.com/library/weekly/aa021403a.htm)
Again, thanks for your comments.
May all beings be happy, may all beings have peace.
Gassho,
Wade