Desire

The ancient problem of Desire: Should I control it, suppress it, renounce it? Should I pretend to be a monk? (Lots of monks are just pretending.) Or should I give in to my addictions? (Then I get to call myself a "victim.") How about "moderation?" (Good luck with that.)

No one has ever succeeded in moderation without becoming a bore. Most of us just oscillate between repression and binge. Desire cannot be controlled in any way, for Desire is an uncompromising and ruthless Goddess. She will only leave you alone when you allow her to burn you to ashes.

Desire is a sacred dancer who will not be disciplined. The only sin is to suppress her. She is a naked flame of burning beauty. When her dance is done, She dissolves into immaculate darkness. But She is in control of this dance, not you.

The only way to handle her is not to handle her at all, but honor her, and bow down.

Instead of regarding Desire as a problem, we can welcome her as the divine guest in our bone marrow, in our hips and belly, in our solar plexus and heart. Welcome her into the throat and She becomes a song, rich with sorrow and exultation. Welcome her as anger into the brow, then touch the forehead to the earth. Allowing boundless space for her fierceness softens arrows into petals.

Our only hope is hopeless surrender. Bow down until you become the stillness in which She dances. Then desire moves through you untouched.

Only what is empty can contain her. Space does not burn. Space remains free. This space is Shiva, ever welcoming the flame of Shakti. Desire is not obstacle, but energy. She is divinity at play. Just let her dance, and witness the beauty.  So'ham.