Desire and Fear

In my opinion the ultimate purpose of every person’s life is to discover lasting joy and to share that lasting joy with others. It is a joy that comes from the sense of freedom, of creativity, of flow, of beauty, of connection to all that is, of love, wonder and being. It is a joy that always lays dormant within us waiting for the opportunity to be lived.

This joy cannot be attained by someone who never looks within. You will move away from it if you allow yourself to be ruled by your fears and your desires. However it is important to understand that the solution is not to resist your fears and desires because they are sinful and bad, the solution is to accept them and not be ruled by them at the same time.

You cannot approach a hungry child in Africa and tell them to simply live off of prana (life force), like the yogis in India who barely need food. The solution is to first feed the child, and to keep feeding them. You must allow the child to feel that food, nourishment and support are at their fingertips, and then you must wait for the child to no longer want to eat for fulfilment. You must allow the child to recognize for themselves that food alone does not bring lasting happiness and can be detrimental to their health and state of mind. Only then will the child be ready to see food as a necessity that can be enjoyed in life, rather than a purpose for being.

A person cannot be forbidden from judging. Without judgement they will never learn. A person must be allowed to judge first, and then, when they are ready, they must be taught how to not be attached to their opinions and how to be kind.

The same logic that applies to desire applies to fear. The way to overcome a fear is not to avoid it or suppress it. It is good to lend negativity less of our attention, but if a fear has already become deeply entrenched in you, then the way to overcome it is by gradual exposure. Sooner or later you will realize that your fear was always worse than the thing that you were afraid of.

People were never meant to suffer. People chose to suffer, by choosing to not be free. The strongest and happiest individuals are those who can easily meet their basic needs, but who remain trusting, authentic, confident, detached from a dependence on external stimuli and aware of the fact that happiness come from within.