PROBLEMS OF SPIRITUAL LIFE | SWAMI KRISHNANANDA

|| < : UNFULFILLED DESIRE AS OBSTACLE : > ||

Larry : As I begin my practice , what kind of obstacles should I be conscious of ?

SWAMIJI : Your own desires not fulfilled — they are the obstacles . If you have any desire that you have not fulfilled , that will come and stand before you as a creditor .

Larry : So , I should fulfill my desires and move through them ?

SWAMIJI : You have to face them by fulfilling , or not fulfilling , as the case may be . How you will handle them depends on the circumstances of the case .

But , they should not be there .

Larry : Will it not be that my desires have no end ?

SWAMIJI : They can be ended in one minute if you only know why they arise .

It does not take a lot of time to end them , provided you know why they have arisen . You must diagnose the case .

If you know why they are there , then , you will know also how to tackle them .

THEY ARISE DUE TO SOME MISCONCEPTION .

It is not that you really want anything .

Anyway , they can be handled with some caution .

Small desires can be fulfilled . Big desires also can be fulfilled , provided they are not going to be harmful or deleterious to your spiritual health .

And desires there can be which you cannot fulfill in this birth , for instance , if you want to be the ruler of the world . This idea may not be feasible .

If you want to be a huge business magnate , though it is not an impossible thing , the possibility is so remote that it may be an obstacle even to think like that . Such ideas should not arise at all .

All the desires should be within the reasonable limit .
If it is within reason , you may fulfill it .

BUT what happens to these desires is that once you fulfill them , they want to repeat themselves .

DESIRES DO NOT GET EXHAUSTED BY FULFILLMENT .

They sometimes become more intense after fulfillment due to the habit that is formed by the mind .

Certain desires may thereby extinguish themselves also ; others may repeat themselves on account of the pleasure that one feels in the fulfillment .

There are varieties of desires . They are not of the same kind or category . And you must know what are your desires .

Apart from the desire for creature comforts , what other desires are there ? Creature comforts are no trouble . Food , clothing , shelter — these are the minimal needs . But there are other things that rise out of egoism .

At present , why do you worry about all these things ?

You have no obstacles now .
Just now , you do not have any difficulty .
When they come , then only you think .

WHY ARE YOU IMAGINING THEM ?

SOURCE | SATYAVEDISM.ORG