A yoga student asked me to please clarify why desire is bad — wasn’t desiring to be better at what you do or wanting hunger to end a good thing? The distinction is two-fold. First, desire pulls you out of the moment; being out of the moment makes it impossible to achieve a state of samadhi, or the union of all aspects of yourself to experience things as they are. Second, when you tune in to that state, and do what you intuit or decide is a good action — like working to be a good musician or to end world hunger — the intuition and the action are in the moment and are done without concern for the outcome. Desire is an add on, the want of what is not, and perhaps, for all you know, what should not be what you do or get. To be without desire is to work without attachment to the results. (p.s., this is not easy ;-)
28. I do not desire a large screen, nor do I desire an LCD projector.
29. I do not desire new clothes or boots.
30. I do not desire a vintage auto.
31. I do not desire a large turnout.
32. I do not desire recognition of my [talent/wisdom/accomplishments].
33. I do not desire agreement with my point of view.
34. I do not desire to win in the competition of the market.
35. I do not desire that more people read my book.
This is part of a 40-day practice to notice and sidestep desires.