Today Swami Kaivalyananda spent the whole class in a long discussion about desire.

This was sparked from the 22nd shloka of the 5th chapter in the Gita – Ye hi samsparshaja bhoga..’ Those enjoyments caused by contact with the sense-objects are the cause of suffering. They have a beginning and end, so the wise do not delight in them.’ Here, Swami said that a ‘budha,’ a wise person finds delight in the Self, not in the external pleasures.

There is a mantra in the Lalita Sahasranama, ‘kama svarupinyai namah,’ salutations to She who is the embodiment of Desire.’ Thus, in Tantra, we worship the Divine Mother in this way. This is because desire is the power which pulls us to samsara. Only if this desire is favorable can we enter spirituality, because it is desire for external objects that takes us away from our true Self.
Actually, the bliss we experience from external objects is like a reflection of the bliss of the Self. Having experienced that bliss, desire for external pleasures will dissapear. That is why the Yogi is described as ‘Atmarati, Atmatripta,’ – He delights in the Self, and is content in the Self.

Nov. 3, 2006
Piyush, USA