Buddhism: The Role Desires Play In Our Everyday Lives

Desire is defined as, to wish for, to want, or crave something very strongly, and even to request something that brings enjoyment and satisfaction. In regards to the history and study of Buddhism we find that its culture teaches man how to control their desires. Controlling desires can be very hard to do but it is not impossible. Some people are able to control their desires for long periods of time and there are others who fail because the desires are so strong it takes over, and the mind and body has to react to them. There are also instances where the body may ache when trying not to act on desires that we strongly long for.

Desires play a very important role in our everyday lives. That yearning or thirst can cause problems in our lives that may not be in our best interest. We often choose to over look signs that are caused by desire and end up hurting someone or even ourselves for the sake of satisfaction. Our hope is that desires along will bring us enjoyment and satisfaction once they are accomplished. Not being able to attain certain desires can also lead to a state of greed and suffering.

The more desires we achieve the more we want to seek out. We are never satisfied with attaining one desire; it leads to wanting to look at how we can accomplish more and bigger ones. Most of the time without thinking man starts his/her day off with desires as the goal of the day. Our daily desires can sometimes be a positive thing, especially when it encourages us to resolve a problem. An example would be, if there is a problem within the work group and the manager would like to have a resolution before the close of business the next day, you may have a desire

BUDDHISM

to be the one who come up with the resolution so you ar...

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...lief of Buddhism does not allow for negative inner spirits to exist.

The practice of the Buddhist Religion does not want you to have desires of the common man. It is their belief that if those things exist within you, it can only hinder you from attaining the eight noble paths.

References

Alt, W. (2001). There Is No Paradox Of Desire In Buddhism. Retrieved October 29, 2009, from www.buddhismtoday.com.

Fisher, M. (2008). Hum 400: Living Religions(7th ed.). Boston: Pearson/Prentice Hall

Gyatso, Geshekelsang. (2007). About Buddhism. Retrieved from www.aboutbuddhism.org/historyofbuddhism.htm.

Lewis, G. R. Buddhist Lifestyle (2006). Retrieved October 23, 2009 from http://buddhistfaith.tripod.com/beliefs/idis.html

Zukenan, P. (2002). Buddhism. Probe Ministries. Retrieved October 29, 2009, from www.leaderu.com/probe.