Desire

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Greetings Advaitins,

 

In anticipation of reading Chapter II of

the Gita, I would like to raise for

discussion the subject of desire and

what to do about it. For me the teaching

of Gita on this question is summed up in

verse II.70:

 

He attains peace into whom all desires

flow like waters entering the sea

Though he is always being filled he is

always unaffected

And not one who cherishes desire

 

My understanding of this is that there

is nothing wrong with having desires or

striving to fulfill them as long as we

keep the precept of karmayoga in mind.

The preceding verses (II.62--69) suggest

that desire is problematic only because

it may result in the 'destruction of

intelligence' (II.63). There is no

suggestion in this passage that desire

ought to be repressed but I am well

aware that there are many other passages

that suggest (or seem to suggest) that

desire has to be extirpated root and

branch.

 

I strongly disagree with the latter view

but rather than try to develop this

theme myself, I would like to quote the

Enlish poet and artist, William Blake.

For Blake, the highest vision is that

which sees the world as One Man whom he

calls Jesus Christ; individuals and

nations stand in the same relationship

to this One Man as the cells and organs

of our bodies do to us. Thus:

 

Jesus Christ is the only God and am I

and so are you

 

God appears and God is light

To those poor souls who dwell in night

But does a human form display

To those who dwell in realms of day

 

Blake's One Man is the Supreme Self of

the Gita and the vision of the world as

the divine body of Christ is Krishna's

manifestation of the World-Form to

Arjuna (Chapter 11 of the Gita). To what

extent Blake was directly influenced

by the Gita nobody seems to know.

However it is known that he was one of

the very first Europeans to read the

Gita (in the eighteenth century Wilkin's

translation) and he coined the most

beautiful formulation of the idea of

karmayoga that I've ever encountered:

 

He who binds to himself a joy

Does the winged life destroy

But he who kisses the joy as it flies

Lives in Eternity's sunrise

 

So much for Blake's bona fides. Now a

major theme running through all of

Blake's poetry is that the repression of

desire is evil. There are many well

known lyrics to this effect in the

_Songs of Experience_ and the _Marriage

of Heaven and Hell_ but perhaps the most

forceful statement is in the _Vision of

the Last Judgement_. In reading this

passage, bear in mind that 'heaven' is

*this* world seen through the eye of

vision, the vision of 'one Self in all

beings and all beings in the Self'. This

way of seeing is acquired by developing

what Blake calls the *intellectual

powers* and not by doing as you are told

or by professing doctrines that you

don't understand or by repressing your

God-given desires:

 

Men are not admitted to heaven

because they have curbed or governed

their

passions or becaause they have no

passions but because they have

cultivated

their understandings. The treasures

of heaven are not negations of passion

but realities of intellect from which

all of the passions emmanate uncurbed

in their eternal glory. The fool

shall not be admitted to heaven be he

ever

so holy. Holiness is not the price

of entrance into heaven. Those who are

cast out are those who, having no

passions of their own because no

intellect,

have devoted their lives to curbing

and governing the passions of others

throught the various of poverty and

cruelty of all kinds.

 

Naturally, this will not appeal to all

members of the list but I'm curious to

know if anybody thinks that Blake is on

the right track?