Desire brings upon suffering! But what are we left with if we take away desire? Renunciation and detachment bring upon liberation of the soul. But how to enjoy a life without any material possessions or objects of attachment? How about love? Is that a desire that brings about suffering too? We all know too well that all relationships that are considered loving bring upon suffering. So then are we to renunciate and detach from all loving relationships as well? What a miserable life that would be! A lifetime without any love! To love or not to love?! We are social creatures and communication is a basic necessity. A desire for a companionate relationship wouldn’t be all that evil would it? But what of the suffering of disease, bearing of pains and inevitable death of that loved object? Would it not be easier or happier, not to love? Why bear the suffering of the suffering of the inevitable frailings of the love? The desire of a love! So easy to love is it not? When we are young, it is so easy to indulge in sexual relationships, however as we age, we look for love … so much more complex! Say no to drugs? Say no to love! The wisdom of the ages cannot be questioned. Seclude, isolate and practice yoga till death. With not a soul to love, there is only escape for one soul at a time. At the time of death, the loved object, their soul will not travel together in the dream of souls of eternity. There is no such thing. Western naïve love bird concepts of souls for eternity is sweet, however flawed. Death is the end. Two souls cannot be connected. Till death do us part is as far as it goes. Then why? Why go through all the pains of loving? The norm? Is the carnal sex all that great? Is the companionship all that great? Why? Why desire love? No good can possibly come from it!! Better a life indulging in drugs!! The suffering from the desire of drugs is not as great as the suffering to come from a life of desire for love!!
Life then becomes pointless; meaningless. There is no goal for life. There is no desire for family or success. There is no desire to eat or drink. There is no need or desire to work; no desire or need to contribute to the civilization we live in. What do we really need? Once we take love out of the equation, what do we really need? Do we need to eat to survive? Do we really need to drink to survive? Shelter is really just a luxury that we do not really need if one does not live in Iceland. Shelter from the rain and cold would be nice, however we cannot all afford it. Once we establish a need, such as shelter, we need to work. But what is the purpose of work? Once we start to work, we need to nourish our bodies to enable us to continue to work. But why work? We need shelter. We probably all have some sort of family that we need to care for too. That’s the love conundrum! With family, we have purpose and meaning in life. Without family, we have the time to contemplate. So do we empty our mind of all thought or contemplate further? Do we just sit there in the lotus position and wait for death? What then is the purpose of life? No desire; No suffering! But what is the purpose of life? How many years practicing yoga in solitude with no happiness? How many years of starvation and homelessness have to be endured to understand?
The meaning of life?! What is the purpose of the life of suffering? Why would a loving God put us through this life of misery. We all have loved ones at some point in time. Most of us would have had parents and siblings and even a lover. Most of us would have had to endure suffering within these relationships. Why does an all-powerful, loving God put us through these pains? Why would he want to strain these loving relationships? Why not just bliss? If we have a loving mother and father, why strain these loving relationships? If we have a loving family with the addition of a lover, why not just eternity with these loved ones? Why strain? An all-powerful, loving God would not allow for misery would he? If we have been good in this life, the question of receiving karma of past lives must account for the misery! Why then, life after life in this miserable world? If we are bad in some way, we must be accountable for our ‘sins’. We must pay! That is a mean God! How bad must we have been in a past life to be paying for our sins in such a way? Lesions in our relationships that are inevitably bound to end through death. The death of the lover … the ultimate loss. An intimate relationship, one with or without children, intimate and close, to end. So short the time we have. Only a few measly years. Years with strain, possibly. Years with suffering and disease, the frailings of age. Can we stop it? To love, knowing the inevitable, or not to love?
If the wisdom of the ages are correct, renunciation and detachment are key to a happy life. A life in priesthood with no parents, lovers, children or pets would be ideal. An education on the ways of the normal people combined with an education of the vedas. An early realization that attachment brings upon suffering would eliminate so many problems that are considered norm. A life dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. The ultimate good, as per Aristotles’ teachings. A life begun with no attachment. No attachment to parents. No attachment to lovers. That is difficult. The teachers become the parents and a bond forms. Puberty needs some sort of relief. As one is to be educated in the popular cultures of the others, the ideal Hollywood and Bollywood romances’ becomes a dream and a problem. A desire would set in and culminate problems. Desire brings upon suffering. How to teach not to desire? That can only come from experience. One has to experience real desire and longing for love. One has to experience a fractured loving experience to understand. One has to endure multiple sexual relationships over a period of time, during the adolescent period as done in the west, to be able to find true love one day. Or it will only remain a deadly desire. And when that desire does get fulfilled, the excruciating pains of strain will be the only way to understand that desire does in fact bring upon suffering. And the contemplations alone of a bitter end with the death of the loved one will certainly send one certified insane!!
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