The Goal of All Desires
Desires are completely natural in our lives. They can lead us to growth, more happiness, and a better life.
Desires arise when we feel a lack of something in our life; naturally we try to eliminate that discomfort by attaining what we believe we are missing.
When we fulfill a desire—whether superficial or profound, whether minor or life-changing—we feel satisfied for a while. But we all know from experience of a lifetime that we don’t remain satisfied—another desire comes and then another, endlessly. Abiding happiness seems elusive.
The reason is simple: everything in the world, including our thoughts and emotions, changes. What brought us happiness yesterday is not enough today. Identifying or affixing our goal to something in the material world will never give us sustainable gratification. True sustainable fulfillment, the goal of all desires, must come from a resource beyond the ever-changing world—one that is eternal, self-sufficient and unassailable—transcendental to the boundaries of space/time. This is the field of consciousness.
What is consciousness
Consciousness is the most fundamental field of life. Consciousness is that by virtue of which we are conscious of anything. It is never changing, impermeable to moods, perception and any outer experience. It is absolute, beyond our relentless ever-changing thoughts and desires.
Scientists, spiritual leaders, philosophers, and poets all refer to this experience, even if by various names, as heavenly and blissful. For example:
Saint Teresa said,
“There sometimes springs an interior peace and quietude which is full of happiness, for the soul is in such a state that it thinks there is nothing that it lacks….”
Philosopher James Allen wrote,
“The spirit of man is inseparable from the Infinite and can be satisfied with nothing less than the Infinite.”
A great sage of our age, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, said,
“The bliss of this state eliminates the possibility of any sorrow, great or small. Into the bright light of the sun no darkness can penetrate; no sorrow can enter bliss consciousness, nor can bliss consciousness know any gain greater than itself. This state of self–sufficiency leaves one steadfast in oneself, fulfilled in eternal contentment.”
A tool to develop consciousness
How do we transcend the active field of thoughts, in which our mind is always engaged, to experience this most fulfilling unchangeable, infinite field within?
There is one simple, effortless, scientifically verified way to achieve this goal. The Transcendental Meditation technique is a direct way to enliven the full potential of consciousness.
The TM technique not only allows the mind to experience inner consciousness but the cumulative benefit of repeated transcendental experience is that the brain becomes more orderly; energy and good health increase; and stress is reduced—all promoting maintenance of this inner state of fulfillment as a feature of everyday life.
This excerpt from a sonnet by the poet William Wordsworth alludes to the value of attuning the mind to the eternal transcendent rather than depending on fulfilment from transient circumstances:
Not loth to thank each moment for its boon
Of pure delight, come whencesoe’er it may,
Peace let us seek, to steadfast things attune
Calm expectations, leaving to the gay
And volatile their love of transient bowers,
The house that cannot pass away be ours.
Desires for this and for that are limited in their scope. Their fulfillment gives us moments of joy and fulfillment, but it isn’t until we take recourse to the infinity within our own selves that fulfillment is limitless.
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About the Author
Lesley Goldman is the retired director of a non-profit educational organization.
