When I initially heard the Buddhist teaching that desire is the root of suffering,
I couldn't accept it without asking some questions first.
Isn't the desire to alleviate suffering the very motivation behind Buddhist practice?
Wasn't the Buddha driven by a strong desire for a deeper understanding?
Doesn't desire propel us toward enlightenment?
The answer,
It turns out,
Is both yes and no.
A desire for world peace,
For example,
Can motivate us to continue choosing a peaceful course of action even while we understand worldwide peace is unrealistic.
But if we desire anything to such a degree that we are miserable unless we achieve it,
That desire ignites and fuels our suffering.
Perhaps better stated,
It's not that desire is the source of suffering,
It's that true happiness is the absence of desire.
Consider the cause of your anxiety.
It stems from wanting things to be different than they are.
The antidote to that desire is acceptance.
But acceptance is not approval.
Accepting things like war,
Racism,
Global warming,
Or animal cruelty doesn't mean we stop doing what we can to minimize the harmful ripple effects of our actions.
It means we accept it all as part of the current reality while we remain peaceful.
Because if we don't,
We become part of the problem we are trying to eradicate.
When you hate the hater,
You become a hater.
So while it's true that desire is at the root of our suffering,
It's not the whole truth and nothing but the truth,
So help us Buddha.
Anytime a teaching is reduced to bite-sized quotes,
We don't get the full context of its meaning.
This is yet another invitation to realize that happiness is not something we need to pursue.
It isn't out there in the distance.
We simply need to remove whatever obstructs our access to happiness,
Like fear,
Expectations,
Greed,
Hatred,
Ignorance,
And yes,
Desire.
And voila,
There it is.
When we want less,
We suffer less.
