Is desire always bad?
What if it has good effects?
For example,
What if the desire for a better job gets me to go to school and I get a degree I can use to help other people?
So when I'm making value judgment on whether desire is good or bad,
What we are saying is laying out the equation that suffering comes as a result of desire.
So if you suffer,
That's because of desire,
Then you have to let go of the desire.
But if you can live with the suffering that comes as a consequence of desire,
Or there is no suffering that you feel because of desire,
Then it's fine to keep it.
So when we have a desire to do something or to not do something,
There are four alternatives.
There's a situation in which you want to do something and you can't do something.
A situation that you want to do something,
But you cannot do something.
And the first case is a situation where you can do something and it will bring about benefits or profits.
And the second case is you want to do something,
But you shouldn't or you can't do something because it's going to bring about a loss.
Same thing in those cases that you don't want to do something.
So the situation is you don't want to do it and you don't have to do it.
And the fourth situation is you don't want to do it,
But you have to do it.
Similarly,
In a situation that you don't have to do it because you don't want to do it,
It means that there's no loss that comes with you not doing it.
And the fourth and the last case is if you don't do it,
It does bring about a loss.
So in the first and third case,
When you want to do something and you can't do something,
Or you don't want to do something and you don't have to do something,
It really doesn't matter whether you're successful or not.
Or if you're a spiritual practitioner or you're just regular folks and whatnot,
Just because it doesn't pose a conundrum,
It doesn't pose a challenge.
However,
In the second and fourth case,
Where you want to do something and you can't,
Because it's going to bring about a loss,
Or you don't want to do something but you have to because of the same reason,
That's what really challenges the wise person.
A wise person in that case is somebody who doesn't go ahead and act on his or her desire because he or she knows that they'll bring about a loss.
But a foolish person actually goes ahead and acts on their desires and then regrets it.
Same thing with those things that he doesn't want to do but have to.
A wise person would go ahead and do those things that he or she doesn't want to do because he'll bring about a loss.
But a foolish person would say,
No,
I don't want to do this even though he or she knows it's going to bring about a loss if they don't do this.
And that leads to regrets and suffering down the line.
That's why we have to practice stopping ourselves from acting on our desires when that desire,
Acting out that desire is going to bring about a loss.
So as the questioner asked,
Desire is not something that's always bad or always good.
There's no absolute there.
However,
We do have to understand and practice ourselves stopping from incessantly chasing desire without regard because some desire when acted upon is going to bring about loss.
So in Korean,
We make a difference between desire which is your normal everyday desire to do something,
To act on something.
However,
When desire is exaggerated,
It becomes obsession.
In order to force you to do something when you know it's going to bring about a loss,
There's a different term that's used and that's akin to obsession or foolish desire.
So that's why since foolish desires are the source at the root of your suffering,
If you want to get free yourself from suffering,
You have to let go of your foolish desires.
So as the questioner said,
Wanting to do something,
If you define that as a desire,
Sometimes it's good,
Sometimes it's bad.
So there's no kind of value judgment you can make up front.
But if that desire turns into a foolish desire,
Then you know it's going to bring about suffering.
Then you have to know how to pause and stop.
A bodhisattva actually also has a form of desire.
It's a desire that's more akin to an aspiration to want to save everybody from suffering.
And what's the difference between an aspiration and a foolish desire?
So the difference between aspiration and desire is that they're both wanting something.
However,
An aspiration does not lead to suffering even though that end state was not achieved.
A desire does lead to suffering if the end state is not achieved.
So a desire that does not lead to the wanted achievement will lead to despair and disappointment.
But somebody who has an aspiration to do something even though that end state is not achieved,
That does not lead to despair or disappointment,
But leads to further exploration and further investigation and innovation to find different ways to get there.
And that investigation follows every failure and repeats itself so that every time you fail,
It actually leads to a more capacity building for that person.
So if you have an aspiration,
Then that process of getting there will lead to capacity building for yourself.
And that process and the strength and the capacity that you gain as a part of that process is called aspirational power.
So a bodhisattva actually does not become a slave to his or her own desires.
It actually masters the desires by turning them into aspiration.
So once again,
Going back to your original question,
Desire is not a good or bad.
It's just a natural phenomenon that a human being has.
But it's neither an obstruction to practice or a facilitator of practice.
But it is something that can bring about joy to yourself or suffering.
But because people are so addicted to joy,
They willingly accept the suffering as well.
But a spiritual practitioner,
In order to free yourself from the suffering,
Willingly gives up the joy.
So in other words,
You're not denying the existence of desire.
You recognize it,
But you're freeing yourself from its attachments.
And let's conclude there.
