sanjaygargish

· 16 Oct 2022

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Ways To Eliminate Superfluous Desires.

Of all the things, I have found that desires are main obstacles in the way of God realization.

As long as one is obsessed with desires for material things & beings, salvation is not possible.

Our sacred scriptures (शास्र) explicitly state that one can safely satisfy the following four desires:

(a) Hunger.
(b) Thirst.
(c) Sleep.
(d) Calls of nature.

If one tries to satisfy desires apart from the four mentioned above, then one would indubitably be in grief, in bondage!

People nowadays are trying to find happiness in fulfilling their superfluous desires. But the fact is that fulfilment of a desire gives only fleeting pleasure, not lasting joy.

So it's only by reducing one's desires that one can enjoy infinite bliss.

Is there any way to reduce one's desires?

Well, there are three methods to eliminate superfluous desires.

I have named them as:

(a) Filling The Void Method.
(b) Overlook Method.
(c) All Out Method.

(a) Filling The Void Method:

I have observed that desires arise only when there is a "void" inside. One then tries to fill the void with things, social media, friends. But the bottomless void never gets filled.
Yearnings go on multiplying!
So instead of craving for mundane things, one must hanker for the Supreme. It's only with His attainment that one gets contentment, one's "void" gets filled.

(b) Overlook Method:

Material desires are like an itch in the groin that causes an irresistible urge to scratch. If one scratches one's groin, one may get relief momentarily but afterwards the itch would be back with vengeance!

It's always wise to tolerate the itch for some time. Soon it would start fading and ultimately vanishes.

Likewise instead of trying to fulfill superfluous earthly desires, one must ignore them. Soon they will lose their potency.

(c) All Out Method:

Sprinkling drops of water on the fire will never extinguish the fire but a bucketful of water will surely douse it.

Likewise, overindulgence in lusty desires may sometimes mitigate such desires entirely.

It's only due to overindulgence that Rambola Dubey and Ratnakar saw the futility of fulfilling material desires and transformed themselves.

Rambola Dubey aka Goswami Tulsidas ji later wrote "Sri Ramcharitmanas" and Ratnakar aka Maharshi Valmiki ji later wrote "Sri Valmiki Ramayan".

Well, I personally believe that there's no harm in possessing material things but it would definitely be a tragedy if material things start possessing us!

~ Sanjay Gargish ~