“Meditation is possible only when the mind is free from attachment. In fact, you need not even practice meditation if your mind is completely free from all selfish desire. You will see that you are always at ease; you will never become restless and never dissapointed…you need the practice and the non-attachment; and, of these two, the non-attachment is the more important.”
–The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
Sutra (Thread) or Lesson 15: Drstanusravika Visaya Vitrasnasya Vasikara Samjna Vairagyam
Drsta: seen, experienced | Anusravika: heard | Visaya: object | Vitrsnasya: of him who is free from cravings | Vasikara: mastery | Samjna: consciousness, clear knowledge | Vairagyam: non-attachment
Desire can be a beautiful thing when it is paired with non-attachment and comes with a foundation of discernment.
When desires are controlling a person instead of that person simply responding to their desires from a place of choice, however, then this lost control/corruption of the mind and senses will create a situation where that individual is perpetually trapped in a cycle of suffering. When everything that a person thinks about, does, and maybe even speaks of, is based on an uncontrollable urge as opposed to a controlled power over themselves or their urges, he/she can never be at peace. Instead, this person will be in a state of constant grasping for fleeting experiences of pleasure as opposed to peacefully receiving, and constantly enjoying, the blissful pleasure of simply being alive.
In order to achieve peace in the constantly-unfolding present moment so that one can eventually attain enlightenment, one needs to be free from desires; free in the sense that one is not attached to these desires, even though absolute renunciation of desire itself is not required for this freedom to be achieved.
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