The Illusion of Desires
The Illusion of Desires
by Swami Jyotirmayananda
Just as the eye of a hurricane shifts along with the whirling winds around it, so the ego continues to drift along with its numerous whirling desires. Neither the ego nor the desires are absolute realities. They exist on the basis of ignorance; and when ignorance is removed by knowledge, both disperse like clouds in the vast blue sky.
If you follow your desires, you intensify your ego-sense. The desires that seem so real to you at the present moment will not have any meaning for you as your ego changes its structure. Ignorant men continue to live in a world of desires, not realizing that they cannot be fulfilled even in numerous lives.
Desires are not real with reference to your inner spiritual nature; they are real only in relation to a certain form of ego. Since the form of your ego must continuously change in the process of your spiritual evolution, it is erroneous to pursue your desires day after day, month after month, and year after year.
Instead of dwelling in the illusion of desires, learn to perceive the emptiness in the objects of the world. Develop vairagya (dispassion). Allow you mind to turn inwards towards the Divine Self through meditation and devotion. When your mind begins to enjoy the Bliss of the Self reflecting in its internalized states, it will not be duped by the objects of the world.
Along with your efforts to renounce the objects of the world and to control the mental desires, you must seek the very source of your ego by enquiring “Who am I?” The ego-sense — the apparent personality of yours — is sustained by the drifting desires of the mind; it is a mirage and not a reality. It is like the blueness of the sky which, in reality, does not exist.
Your ego is real only in relation to your desires. Further, as your ego changes, your desires change. The objects and conditions that you desired so intensively some years ago are no longer your reality today. This being so, do not allow your mind to maintain its chronic habit of seeking happiness through the fulfillment of desires. Rather, introduce your mind to the process of calm relaxation out of surrender to the Divine Self, and to the calm reflection that results from seeking the source of the ego.
You are not the ego-self, nor do your desires really belong to you. The veil of ignorance has limited your vision of your own essential nature. You are the boundless ocean of Bliss. You are the infinite Self.
When you dream, you become confined to a limited world with certain realities, but these realities turn into unrealities when you wake up. In the same way, the world of ego and its quest for desires constitute nothing but a passing dream in relation to the transcendental glory of the Self.
Enquire “Who am I?” Discover the Self. Break the illusion of desires. Wake up from the long dream of the world-process. You do not have to worry about the past, present or future. Neither do you have to grieve over things you did in the past nor over things you did not do. You will rise above the clouds of karmas and soar in the limitless expansion of the Self.
Give up the sense of “I” and “mine.”
Give up the world of multiplicity. You are the Self — indivisible, eternal, and as vast as the infinite sky.
“International Yoga Guide” Vol.34, NO. 8, April 1997
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