In Buddhism, there are some common misconceptions about what to do with various machinations of the mind. In meditation some people think they are supposed to get rid of thought entirely. Or in their daily practice, purge desire entirely. Both of these approaches are not only impossible but a waste of effort. Today I only plan to talk about the desire portion, though.
We have to remember that the dissolution of desire is unrealistic and impossible while in human form (or animal, or any other form of physical existence.) The transmutation of our desires from unwholesome desire into desire which strives to relieve the suffering of all living beings either directly or indirectly as opposed to feeding, selfishly, the ego is much more reasonable and attainable. In fact, it is a natural part of the process of awakening as one begins to practice Buddhism/Yoga/Any form of Tantra with a pure heart and comes into being naturally and on it’s own when Bodhicitta begins to manifest.
Bodhicitta – commonly translated as ‘compassion or love’ is much, much more than this. It is a divine, boundless, ineffable ocean of love, compassion and joy. Not the transient kind, but the type that we feel when we return to the Source of All. The desires that arise from the manifestation of Bodhicitta seek to relieve suffering instead of leading to suffering.
This happens to be the point of both Tantrayana and Sutrayana. Tantrayana has it base within Sutrayana and, in fact, for Tantrayana to be effective it is required to have a good grasp of Sunyata and the Nature of Mind before pursuing Tantrayana. In the end Tantrayana just tends to work at an accelerated rate; this of course makes it unsuitable to many. But those it is suitable for, it is a wonderfully enlightening tool, pun intended.
The only way we can truly free ourselves from desire, wholesome or otherwise is to not reside in material form. To do this and make it count we have to reach Buddhahood and escape Samsara (the cycle of death and rebirth) forever. So, until then, we must transmute our desires by way of mantras, meditation, contemplation, mindfulness, Yoga of all kinds, etc, etc. Whatever tools work for each individual person. Through our actions we transmute our own desires into gold, working the alchemy of the soul.
With enough time and right effort, eventually our desires simply become right desires all on their own. It’s like when your mother told yo ‘If you make that face for long enough, it’ll stick that way.’ Well, she was right in a way. So get out there and make a ‘face’ that generates Bodhicitta, and if you make it long enough it’ll stick that way.
