The Fire of Desire

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The Fire of Desire

Most things in the world have prescribed limits but the fire of desire

and anger is limitless in its hunger. Whatever fuel you give to fire,

whether it be wood, oil, or anything else, it will never have enough.

But even the most destructive fire eventually burns itself out and

becomes extinguished when it uses up its fuel, whereas this fire of

desire and anger knows no such limitation. It has a voracious

appetite that is endless. It will not exhaust itself. It cannot be

appeased. It will never be satisfied. This fire of desire and anger

has no contentment at all.

That being its nature, is there any way to control it? The Lord

declared in the Gita, "You can conquer anger through love and you can

conquer desire through renunciation and sacrifice." Where there is

love there can be no anger. If you develop your love, then there will

be no room left in your heart for hatred and anger to take root. The

heart is like a chair, there is room for only one occupant at a time.

Therefore, only one quality can establish itself there. It leaves no

place for another to enter and occupy it at the same time. You must

make every effort to establish love and only love in your heart. You

must never allow your heart to become like a 'musical chair', giving

room for love at one time and for anger and hatred at other times.

If you want to conquer anger through your love then you must develop

your love in a most magnificent way. Love is always prepared to

shower itself freely and to overlook the defects and weaknesses in

others. Love has this extraordinary quality, it lives by giving and

forgiving, whereas the little ego-self lives by getting and

forgetting. Where there is love there can be no room for selfishness,

and where there is selfishness there will be no love