LUST: Desire judged by the unfree minds
Rumi, the adored Persian mystic, mused on the purpose of desire. Before him, most Eastern philosophies and religious dogmas entertained the trade offs of lust. Taoist, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, and many other guiding principles emerged. Most concluded that asketism rather than boundless indulgence benefit humanity.
I wonder, isn’t a balance between discipline and surrender to some cravings better for the mind though?
I love Rumi’s poetic view of soul as “the taste of pure water”. Usually most appreciated when one is very thirsty. Life’s necessity that is more if you lend it your awareness.
My poem was inspired by all the above as well as by my intuitive picture mandala I created in California:
A fine line our soul
A net of emotions
Caught between desire
and
Quenched thirst
we crave
we judge
we feel
and dream about
the unattainable
I craved adventure
I judged silence
I wanted freedom
The first sip awakened my lust for more
dreaming about swimming in the air
bubbles of oxygen carrying my body around
the world, weightless, without judgement
and pain
Let it rain, let it be vain, floating
in the tender vibrations of surrender
my soul opened —
Sound is not silent as now I crave
the nothingness of ether, not my grave
Everywhere – even in my thoughts
no regrets
just a mirror of my pure self
~RB
Pure surrender feels so different from the tight, preconceived discipline when control directs our every step. Try it for yourself. Taste freedom through meditation or being alone in nature — this kind of solitude liberates my mind.
If you are interested, I recently mused about the meaning of sound in our life and its scientific concepts and wrote a poem here.
Lust is not an ideal guide for everything, yet desire is judged by the unfree minds especially perhaps too harshly. Without passion and cravings we would not be genuinely happy, we would not go beyond ourselves to create and to invent. Love without passion is friendship and companionship, not fire in your heart. Sometimes, we need that fire to warm us inside. Therefore, indulge passionately, but keep the measure balanced with restraint. The planet is sufficiently populated already, plus one cannot put as much love into a dozen offsprings, one or two can retain and perhaps even appreciate our loving attention more likely.