🎯 The Great Paradox: Why We Want What We Want 🎯
PART 1: An Awesome Problem From the standpoint of our everyday mind, having a desire feels like launching a thrilling quest. A new goal pops up, a promotion, a beautiful new home, a certain relationship, and suddenly, we have purpose. We embark on the journey, driven by the promise of an incredible reward, a moment of ultimate bliss when we finally get the thing. And yet, we all know the catch, don't we? The problem with desire is, it's short-lived. That sensation of triumph and fulfillment after achieving a long-sought-after goal? It’s rarely as lasting as we anticipated. The high is often fleeting. Before long, the new car is just "the car," the dream job is just "work," and we’ve already started taking that hard-won prize for granted. It seems we are fundamentally approaching desire with a wrong notion, that the thing itself is the source of the lasting joy. Let’s dive deeper into what might actually be going on. __ PART 2: The Soul’s Game of Hide and Seek Imagine, for a moment, that your deepest self, your Soul, or Source, is already complete, full, and perfectly joyful. From this perspective, the entire process of desire is just a beautiful, divine game of hide and seek. So let's take a look at the journey of desire from the perspective of the soul. 1) The Disconnect: A desire suddenly appears in your mind. This moment is like a momentary amnesia, a deliberate disconnection from the wholeness of your Soul. You momentarily forget that you are the fulfillment you seek. 2) The Quest: The human mind, feeling the lack, immediately dedicates itself to fulfilling that desire. It doesn't know it's trying to return to its source; it just thinks, "I need that thing to feel whole again." And so, we strive, hustle, and achieve. 3) The Return Home: The moment you finally get what you want is the moment you are free of wanting it. The illusion of separation, that you lacked something and needed this external object, is broken, even if only for a brief second. This instantaneous release from the need is why we feel bliss, relief, and joy. It’s the feeling of momentarily returning to your complete, non-striving self.