05-04-2014, 03:31 PM
If desire is based on some judgment and attachment then how would that explain the desire to serve and the desire to just be? I agree with xise that the term has a bad rap, esp among the buddhism/eastern philosophy realm...
To me sometimes the desire to serve becomes a let down bc I set my expectations high. Yet the desire to serve is kind of neutral but how I interpret or understand my experience can be the source of my discontent... so it's not really about the desire but the judgments or assessment of self in light of this desire to serve.
In a psychological sense I'd like to reiterate that desire is synonymous to needs, which is considered a natural part of human developmental experience. We have certain needs - for food, for safety, for companionship, etc., and in itself those needs/desires are neither good nor bad. Suffering can occur when we have unconscious desires having major impact on what we do, which can create situations that we find difficult. The goal is to make unconscious desires/needs to be more conscious bc there may be certain tendencies that hinder our developmental process (i.e., process of maturing). An example is one's desire to serve may be from this unconscious desire to be needed by others bc person is feeling lonely. In other people this desire to serve may be due to this sense of being unable to trust life's process or other people to resolve their own problems so there is a need to interfere with others' progress by doing things for them. Lots of examples.
To me sometimes the desire to serve becomes a let down bc I set my expectations high. Yet the desire to serve is kind of neutral but how I interpret or understand my experience can be the source of my discontent... so it's not really about the desire but the judgments or assessment of self in light of this desire to serve.
In a psychological sense I'd like to reiterate that desire is synonymous to needs, which is considered a natural part of human developmental experience. We have certain needs - for food, for safety, for companionship, etc., and in itself those needs/desires are neither good nor bad. Suffering can occur when we have unconscious desires having major impact on what we do, which can create situations that we find difficult. The goal is to make unconscious desires/needs to be more conscious bc there may be certain tendencies that hinder our developmental process (i.e., process of maturing). An example is one's desire to serve may be from this unconscious desire to be needed by others bc person is feeling lonely. In other people this desire to serve may be due to this sense of being unable to trust life's process or other people to resolve their own problems so there is a need to interfere with others' progress by doing things for them. Lots of examples.
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