Expert: Joe McSorley - 2/22/2007

Question
Hi im in a philosophy class and im learning about bhuddism, and i have a few things that im confused about.

Im somewhat confused on the subject of ridding oneself of all desires.  I understand the pain desire can bring, and the necessity of getting rid of that in order to obtain nirvana, however, its seems that the striving for enlightenment and the perfection of the self is a form of desire.  Can you help me clarify?

If one was able to fulfill every desire that they had, and therefore recieved no suffereing from unquenched desires, would that man be happier, as happy, or less happy then a man who had no desires, and therefore also no suffering from unquenched desires?

A little while ago i was asked posed the following question:  If you were given the oppurtunity to have your brain removed and put into a vat, and through chemical and electrical stimulation, you could have your every wish and fantasy come true, and it would be as real to you as life is today, and you were guarenteed this for the rest of your natural life, would you do it?  I couldnt find a simple answer to this question.  Every rational fiber of my being tells me to say yes, and this seems like the logical answer to this question, however, i think if this situation were actually presented to me, i wouldnt do it.  But i cant think of one reason why.  How would you answer this question, and why?
Thank you very much for giving me your time.

Answer
Hi Phil,
      You’re right the natural question that arises is: if desire is bad then what about the desire to get rid of desire?   Buddhism is about awakening to our true nature, the true self that exists before desire and alienation.  You can master many desires but what about the desire to eat, breathe and sleep?  You can only go so far with this.  If you get rid of all desires are you then a robot or a rock?  Ultimately, what is desire?  Desire is the attempt to fulfill a craving through any means of gratification yet fulfilling the craving never truly satisfies that desire.  Once you get what you thought would fulfill your desire you realize that it has not fulfilled it ultimately but only temporarily and the desire will rise again. Those who have had every desire fulfilled (think Elvis and Britany Spears) are still left unfulfilled somehow.  We confuse fulfilling a physical desire with personal fulfillment.  Desire is a contrivance of our consciousness that thinks that when we gain the object of our consciousness we will be satiated, but we never are.  This creates a never-ending cycle of want/desire/craving that never realizes the object of its desire. It always remains outside of us so when we pursue a desire it never really gets fulfilled.  We always want to be a better athlete or scholar or whatever and never get there.  It’s because we think that we will know ourselves when we get the desire.  Who is it that has the desire?  Desires block us from seeing the root of our self.  So to overcome desire is to pursue our goals without being defined by those goals.  You can’t just pick out some desires and make some bad and some good.  Sexual desire is an important part of nature and is instinctual in most creatures. It can also be way out of perspective and run our lives.  Animals don’t have this confusion, they are not defined by the desire, it is just a part of their natural existence.  They do what they do in harmony with their nature.  To be free of desire is to be yourself fully in the moment without craving for something else.
  So the idea of desire in Buddhism is that we create these things in our mind that we think will fulfill us but we do not see reality as it is.  So long as our minds go on wandering about and creating these thoughts we will not see from the ground of our existence.  Before a thought arises there is a reality that is obscured by the dualistic mind.  When our minds get involved we create all kinds of constructs about what reality is but never see it.  In doing so we think so many things will satisfy us and they don’t.  To stop this process is to live in the present and see what is, here and now, without any mental contrivance.  To want to be free of desire is ultimately self defeating because it itself is a desire.  This is not unlike wanting to do something wholly and unconsciously like playing an instrument or a sport.  In the beginning you are very conscious about what you are doing but it is only through practice that you lose yourself to the ideal and become the ideal.  By training the mind to be in the moment you eventually lose this desire and become the moment, free from the desire.
   You make an interesting point with the brain because you say “my brain” which begs the question, ‘who is the ‘my’ that has a brain’?  This immediately implies a separation between who you think you are and your brain.  Just trying to satiate pleasure centers is no different than what a drug addict does or a rock star.  This doesn’t remove any problem it just creates the illusion of solution.  If you don’t know who you are it does not matter how much you numb yourself with pleasure, eventually you will be tortured by ‘who am I’, ‘what happens when I die’ and other existential questions. In this drug induced euphoria you will still know that you will die. This anxiety is at the base of human existence and cannot be overcome by pleasures.  You are going to grow old and die so how does stimulating pleasure centers overcome that reality?
  I hope this helps you.  Take care,
           Joe