Desire _ Part 1

Chandi Devi Apr 8, 2013 · 10 min read

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

In order to be successful in any undertaking- material success, spiritual success, financial success–three factors MUST be present. In Sanskrit these are Iccha, Jnana and Kriya. Or, Desire, Knowledge and Action. If any of these are lacking or weak, we cannot succeed. For the next few days we will read about Desire, from the author James Harvey Stout, with his permission.

What is Desire?

Desire is a magnetism-like attraction toward something, the possession of which is expected to create a personal benefit, e.g., a material gain, or a pleasurable sensation or feeling. It is the energetic bond between a material object and an element within one of our archetypal fields (i.e., “a-fields”). The material object might be a physical object, a person, a circumstance (e.g., a job for which we have applied, etc.). The energy which sustains desire is the same energy which sustains “attachment”; it is the energy that is created when spirit “fragments” into dualities (and thus it is somewhat analogous to the energy which is created when an atom is “split” in fission). The “dualities” are two complementary archetypes (e.g., Male and Female). This energy is then a bond between those dualities, drawing the two together (as in desire) and holding the two together (as in attachment) until the energy-charge has been resolved.

The dynamic of desire is composed of three parts.

The object of desire. We believe that this object will satisfy a need.
The magnetism-like force which connects us to the object of desire. The force’s effect is similar to that of a metal magnet in the familiar experiment in which we would place a magnet under a piece of paper and then observe the iron filings arrange themselves into a pattern on the paper. Analogous to that magnetic force, the force of desire, too, has an effect on matter — “arranging” our thoughts into its pattern (such that we think about the object, and we visualize it), and even aligning the physical conditions of our life such that the desired object eventually comes to us (if the force is strong enough, in contrast to the force which is associated with our other desires which also call for attention). The force arises when there is an “empathic resonance” between the object and something that is within us; this is similar to the resonance between the two tines of a tuning fork. We experience this resonance as an uncomfortable stimulation which we seek to stop by interacting with the object of desire — exchanging energy and information until the stimulation ceases. While this is a rather unromantic description of sexual desire, for example, the same dynamic also occurs in every other type of desire — for material goods, for activities, etc.
Our subjective experience of desire. Fundamentally, desire is simply an awareness of the magnetism-like attraction, like when we are aware of a noise. We personalize this impersonal attraction by implanting archetypal elements such as emotion (i.e., romantic love, which is felt as craving and hoping), and images (in our fantasies regarding the object), and thoughts (in our schemes to acquire the object, and in our plans for using the object once it is acquired). What we commonly call “desire” is usually the emotion which is in the a-field; if this emotional component is particularly strong in the a-field, we experience it as passion or lust (which are not “moral vices” but rather simply a state of intense emotion, perhaps to the point that they distract us from other input such as rationality and intuition — and thus they have gained their foul reputation in religion.)

Desire can arise from many possible sources. If desire is simply the attraction between two material objects (including the “material” which constitutes the mind), we can find many ways in which this dynamic occurs.

The physical body. For example, when we are hungry, we desire food. And if, as some metaphysicians say, there is also an emotional body (on what is called the “astral plane”) and a mental body (on what is called the “mental plane”), those other bodies would feel a sensation which is analogous to the physical body’s hunger.
Ego. As explained in the chapter regarding ego, our ego is not a bad thing; it is merely the part of us which is responsible for creating our human life. Its desires are to actualize the archetypal aspects of that human life: a secure and comfortable home, a physical environment which facilitates health for the body, a source of sex, etc. The ego contains an archetypal “blueprint” of human life; the elements of that blueprint resonate with external elements and thus we feel desire for material things which are needed for the construction of a human life.
Archetypal-field elements. As explained in the chapter regarding archetypal fields, we are constantly interacting with archetypes; they provide the underlying structure and force of life. Every archetypal encounter leaves a “residue” from each of the thoughts, images, energy tones, and actions which we committed during the encounter. If our thoughts, etc., were guided by intuition (which accurately perceives all dynamics in a situation), our actions were appropriate, and so the elements discharged their charge in the course of the interaction; the elements remain merely as memories. However, if our thoughts, etc., were not guided by intuition (but instead by a default, such as logic, or past experience), our actions did not connect with the situation as it really is, and so the elements remain in our a-field with their charge. This unresolved charge is one of the energies which powers our desire (and our attachment). In a future occasion when we encounter the same archetype, these unresolved a-field elements resonate with the physical objects which represent the archetype, and thus we are compulsively drawn to (and “desire”) the objects; for example, we find ourselves repeatedly in the same type of relationships because our a-field regarding the Relationship archetype has remained the same, and so it re-creates the same type of relationship in which the unresolved elements were created, so that those elements can discharge their lingering charge. Some psychologists (and teachers of metaphysics) have said that the patterns of our life will not change until we change our thoughts regarding the situations. Indeed, we would be altering our a-field, because we would be installing new thoughts and images and energy tones and actions into this a-field which is continually recreating our physical circumstances through the force of desire. These patterns are sometimes called “karma,” which — rather than being an abstract religious notion — is nothing more than the contents of our archetypal fields.
Soul. In backtracking through the dynamics of desire, to find its source, we come to the soul, the eternal, transcendental part of us. Because the soul is composed of the substance which we call “spirit,” and because that same spirit is within everything — the human and the object of desire — soul does not experience the dualistic attraction which is experienced by the human being; i.e., spirit cannot be “attracted” to spirit. Nor does soul experience the subjectivity which arises when a human desires and values one object more than another; instead, all things have equal value to soul, because it discerns the same spirit within all. Then what is the original cause of desire? Perhaps it is soul’s own creative decision to experience a particular archetypal situation, to learn about a part of itself by creating a material representation of that aspect; but because this is a world of duality, that part must be split into two parts — as in (1) the person who desires, and (2) the object of desire. When the split occurs — as in the splitting of an atom — energy is released, but instead of an “atomic explosion,” the energy persists as a bond between the two halves. This energy-bond gradually pulls us toward our other half, and the power is so strong that it influences our physical environment to facilitate our eventual meeting. We are drawn like a moth to a lightbulb, regardless of whether we are aware of the force, or whether we like what we are drawn toward; compulsively, we begin to value that object, and we “desire” it — and, as we think about it, and fantasize about it, and have emotions regarding it, we create a a-field constellation which fleshes out our personalized, human relationship to this archetype. Thus, desire — far from being a barrier to “spirituality” — is the mechanism by which soul sets into motion the circumstances in which it gains its spiritual education in the material worlds.

Desire is denounced by religions. Among the many impulses which lead us toward action, desire is the one which is most often condemned by eastern religions; it has a similar dynamic to that of another spurned phenomenon, attachment. In our attempt to be “religious,” desire does cause problems (each of which is reframed into a positive value later):

It focuses our attention on materiality. While our religion might be telling us to seek only God, desires pull us into the material world. Our thoughts and physical actions are directed toward the objects’ acquisition, retention, and maintenance. And when we develop obsessive a-field constellations regarding possessions, we tend to cultivate attributes such as greed, lust, and envy — which might not be “evil” in themselves but they are distractions from the other activities which we could be engaging in the wholeness of our life, and they lead us to unbalanced behaviors such as lying, defrauding, stealing, and fighting (and they also give cause for the emotion of fear that we might not acquire the object of desire, and the emotion of anger that someone might be trying to take the object from us). Even when we are trying to be “religious,” desire might be present as “spiritual materialism” — the craving for mystical experiences and for “religious” personal traits as though they are trophies.
It maintains our sense of duality. While our religion might be telling us to seek “oneness,” desire is a reminder of our duality (i.e., the person who desires, and the object of desire). Even the noble goal of “desiring to experience God” is commonly recognized as an impediment to the experience itself; the desire can lead us to use the spiritual practices which bring us close to the experience, but finally the desire itself must be dropped as we enter the experience of oneness with our own essence (i.e., “spirit,” which is not God itself but rather the essence of God such that we do not become “one with God” but rather we become one with this essence which God and soul have in common).
It precludes emotional and mental stillness. Desire generates wishes, daydreams, suffering, and other inner activities.
It precludes passionless objectivity. We no longer see the item-in-itself; we see an item-to-fulfill-my-particular-desire, because we are looking at the object through the mist of our thoughts, projections, emotional energy (and the bonding energy of desire itself), and our valuation of the desired object as more important than objects which we do not desire.
It precludes contentment. Desire is a continual function; it ceases only at the moment of acquisition of the desired object, but then it immediately points toward new objects of desire (and toward a repetition of current pleasures). The perpetual presence of desire assures that we are never satisfied except during the instant of acquisition; during that instant, our joy is not due to the object itself, or to the appropriation of it, but instead it is due (in part) to the transient awareness of soul’s divine wholeness (and the opportunity to experience life and energy through our interaction with this object). In addition to other motivations (including the pragmatic drive to acquire the goods which we need in our life), one motivation in our desire for objects is our craving for that spiritual experience when the two halves of a duality come together.
It precludes discipline, and control of the mind and emotions. With the will, we cannot stop desire itself, nor can we cease its creation of thoughts, emotions, and other psychological activity, nor can we control the subject-matter of those thoughts, etc. (e.g., fantasies about a new computer when we are trying to meditate on a “spiritual” topic).
It removes us from an experience of “living in the moment.” Desire directs our thoughts and imagination toward a future time when the desire will be fulfilled.
In addition to the religious values which have been considered so far, desire is denounced for other reasons:
- It is experienced as a type of pain.
- It can be viewed as a disruptive influence in a sub-culture which values tranquility, passivity, and complacency.
- It allows us to be controlled by other people. We succumb to the temptations of advertisers and manipulators (and, some would say, “the devil himself”), thereby losing our freedom, our dignity — and our money.

to be continued in Part 2