What Happens to Desire

Over the years I've read a lot of texts about getting rid of desires as a path to enlightenment. Heaven forbid! That's putting the cart before the horse. Results of an event don't indicate the path. If a forest fire results in no trees left standing, you don't go cut down all the trees in a neighboring forest to start a fire.

There is absolutely no need to get rid of desires as a path to realization. Once pure Awareness is recognized as one's own very Self, desires just begin to fall away on their own. There is no effort involved. In fact, trying to get rid of desires will only strengthen the ego and keep you on the treadmill longer.

Stick to the very basic pointers of the great sages: Socrates said, "Know thyself." Ramana Maharshi said, "Look for the source of the I." Nisargadatta said, "Stay with I am. Not this or that, just the sense of I am."

If you are even on the path to enlightenment, you will notice certain activities diminish. You will simply find certain activities just don't have the same appeal. Especially activities that take you away from the drive for internal time. Time alone for introspection just becomes more attractive.

This one learned a long time ago that one doesn't have to work at changing. What one needed was to increase awareness. That is all. The only sin any of us maintain is ignorance. Awareness is a light that when it shines in our dark spots, the shadows can be seen. More light and the shadows disappear.

When one realizes that one is Awareness itself, the resulting changes may be effortless. Effort may come in later when one has to make adjustments due to the effortless changes. More like cleanup duty.

Once Awareness is experienced as the self, there may be some tremendous effects, but there will be no you working on this -- no you thinking there are desires to be disengaged from.

Desires don't actually go away, they just lose their energy. When you are that which you have always been, and that which you will always be, what more could you need, or possibly get? It's the end of the road as far as gaining anything.

You go to do something that you used to do, and you realize the drive is just no longer there to pursue it. All that's left is what is needful, food, water, shelter. Fancy houses, fast cars, etc, are just nice if you have them, but not necessities.

So, what do you do now? All you can do is sit back and wait to see what happens. You may find that your energy just seems to remain internal. It doesn't project like it used to. Without the coloring of ego, there's a lot less to defend and less to uphold.

Once realization hits, it's like you sit back and watch as everything falls away. What you need isn't out there! You already are what you need.You wake up each day and count what has fallen away. This is how simplicity takes over and complexity diminishes. It's effortless, but it is noticed.

As the energy internalizes and goes out less and less, the world takes on more and more the feel of a dreamscape. It still needs to be dealt with, but the simplicity of that which is essential, is so visible, so clear, that all the rest is just a parade that one can't get involved with. You don't try and stay out of it, there's simply no energy to get involved with it, period.

What can you gain when you are already all that is? Nothing. You just remain as Being. You are the parade. You just play your part without effort, without resistance. You know you are not an individual doer. You are the doing of everything.


maury lee 4/24/08