Does Hinduism condemn all desire and passion as evil?

[rybak302]

I just read the Bhagavad Gita and it seemed to say that not only are desire and passion bad but are in fact the root causes of all suffering. But I like several of my desires and passions and would hate to have to give them up. And it seems that some desires and passions that are good. For example the desire to eat food and have sex is vital to the procreation of life. Or the passion a composer has to create symphonies, or a painter to paint? Are these types of passions really bad? Would it really be a good thing for a composer to be in a state of dispassion in regards to music?

I'd love to hear get perspectives on this issue. Thank you!

[devotee]

Namaste rybak,

I just read the Bhagavad Gita and it seemed to say that not only are desire and passion bad but are in fact the root causes of all suffering. But I like several of my desires and passions and would hate to have to give them up. And it seems that some desires and passions that are good. For example the desire to eat food and have sex is vital to the procreation of life. Or the passion a composer has to create symphonies, or a painter to paint? Are these types of passions really bad? Would it really be a good thing for a composer to be in a state of dispassion in regards to music?

See it depends on what you think of your birth and the world. It is different from being evil which means an act to wrongfully harm someone. The desires and fulfillment of the desires create impressions in our mind which are the seeds for our next birth. The birth itself has been considered painful and full of sufferings. Why should I have to remain in my mother's womb in utter helplessness and darkness for nine months ? Is it enjoyable ? Why should I have hunger at all for which I have to take pains how to earn my food ? Why should I have a bdy which is prone to sufferings due to change in temperature, why should I need to study laboriously at schools and do a job for earning ? Why should I need a sexual hunger at all for which I need a person of opposite sex and its satisfaction remains how that person behaves ? Please note that all enjoyment that we seek in any thing is dependent on our hunger ... if hunger is absent, we don't enjoy the same thing. After eating to your full satisfaction, you won't like to eat even the most desirable food. After having a good sex when there is no hunger for sex, you won't like to have sex even with the most desirable person in your life.

... If you think deeply ... all your enjoyments come from satisfying some hunger or the other and many a times, it depends upon others .... everything is not our hands ... and there is destiny which can create good or bad chances in our life. Your true Nature is Blissful and you don't need anything else to experience the highest joy within yourself. You are already all-knowledgeable and there was no need for you to be born ignorant and then go to school to learn. You are pure existence, consciousness and bliss ... but you are bound to this cycles of births and deaths due to MAyA, delusion.

So, the cycles of births/deaths into this world is like opening the door of sufferings. Unless we come out of it, sufferings won't cease. Now, the births are caused by our Vaasanas/ deep impressions in our minds which act as seeds for our good/bad births. That is why all worldly enjoyments are actually roots of sufferings.

You can't overcome it, you need not worry. It only means that you are not yet ready for it. Keep your Karma good and keep your mind fixed on God, a time will come either in this life or in life to come, when you will be naturally disenchanted from all these desires and hungers and the sufferings these bring in.

OM

[Sanja]

Namasté Rybak and Devotee,

... If you think deeply ... all your enjoyments come from satisfying some hunger or the other and many a times, it depends upon others .... everything is not our hands ... and there is destiny which can create good or bad chances in our life. Your true Nature is Blissful and you don't need anything else to experience the highest joy within yourself. You are already all-knowledgeable and there was no need for you to be born ignorant and then go to school to learn. You are pure existence, consciousness and bliss ... but you are bound to this cycles of births and deaths due to MAyA, delusion.

Thank you for this wonderful post, Devotee :-)


I also think that these desires are just compensations for what you really need. If we don't raise our consciousness to become aware of our blissful self, we start longing for it (since our birth really). But because we are bound to Maya with it's material expressions it's hard to realise what we are looking for and so we start searching fulfillment in many different ways, but we're never satisfied because it's all just a substitute for the eternal love and bliss within ourselves.
But I don't think these desires are "evil", they're just bad in a way that they keep you from reaching your true self. But this is all just a question of what you need at the time. So there's nothing to push yourself for, it all happens when the time is right for you.

Praṇām,

best wishes...

[rybak302]

Thank you two for your responses.

Where does this situation of Maya and suffering come from? Why are we made this way or why is it this way? Does Hinduism have an answer or a story explaining how/why this is?

[Amrut]

Namaste,

The catch is to max satva guna as the predominant guna.

We all have 3 gunas in different permutations and combinations with one guna is in max percentage (through major phase of life. That's one of the reason why some people though very aged cannot live without work)

Karma Kaad or yoga of action is to increase this sattva guna.

If a person has rajas guna as the predominant guna, then even the good work is triggered by rajas guna and rajas wants hot seat. So you will expect something from the work you do.

Rajas guna makes one doing work (activity), be it good or bad.

As you will progress in spirituality, sattva guna will increase and then things will change.

Only sattva guna has the quality of Tyaga (renunciation). So a person with max sattva guna can renounce, have minimum demands, keeps necessities to a minimum, stays contended with what he/she has, money is not the goal of life and wants peace of mind. Sattva Guna also has divine and spiritual qualities like faith, honesty, receptivity, surrender, etc. these are qualities needed for the one to meditate. More the sattva Guna, less is the activity.

An e.g. of a sattva guni will be 70 % sattva, 20 % rajas and 10 % tamas. It's just a rough e.g. Since gunas are invisible and so is mind (where they are desires recide), so gunas can be judged by actions of a person as action is grossest form of desire and desire is subtlest form of action.

Desires can only be uprooted when they are renounced and then are burned up by chanting god's name.

Vairagya (dispassion) is absence of material objects (in mind). So technically it's absence of desires. Practically, less the number of desires, more is the peace. More is the peace, more is ananda (happiness or bliss). So vairagya is also a kind of ananda or ananda and peace experienced out of vairagya is long lasting and more more deep and intense as compared to the ananda and peace experienced by enjoying and fulfilling desires.

Since this happiness does not depends upon external factor, but as a result of vairagya, it is long lasting. Vairagya due to intellectual renouncing (viveka yukta vairagya), results into being neutral to likes and dislikes, which later on results in detachment by the grace of God. Generally we do not experience detachment and hence the ananda and peace (shanti) experienced by it. After you have experienced this ananda and peace due to detachment, dispassion, surrender and strong faith in god, you will have 2 options.

1. enjoy desires - be extorvert
2. renounce desires and be at peace - be introvert

Until God does not make you to experience this state, you do not have option and so you do not have a choice. So you should have faith in God, Guru and shastras that this state is possible.

Now, all together renouncing desires is not possible for all, except for a few in lakhs (lacs). So first sattva guna has to be increased by doing social / spiritual work i.e. Karma kaad (yoga of action)

Practically, one turns 5 senses in service of God i.e. let my eye see God in everyone and serve everyone as God is inside everyone. Actually you are serving the God inside the person and not the person, else you get attached to the person whom you are helping, and not all revert back after their job gets done which may hurt you.

Let my hands clap and my mouth sing thy glories, etc. Let me surrender all work and it's fruits to God.

When you do not have experience of you should have faith. But one thing is extremely important infact the first compulsory desire - I want moksha and moksha and nothing else. You should be ready to surrender entire life to god. Only then you will be able to compare each worldly activity with meditation and spiritual activities and then decide to select one. Wise ones select spiritual activities.

To sum up, increase sattva guna and keep moksha as the only goal. Keep faith in God, Guru and shastras (as you have not experienced what they are saying), keep praying to God to show correct direction, increase faith, surrender, teach meditation (if you are doing it), give burning desire for liberation and give me what is best for me. Ya, give me what is best for me, let god decide what's good for you. He knows it better than you ... Rest will happen in proper time.

This is one of the reasons why Jnana marg is difficult. It is easy for pure mind (with max sattva). In bhakti, one can enjoy 5 senses and does karma as an offering to God and accept fruits of karma as his prasad, but a Jnani remains neutral and goes beyond karma by detaching himself / herself and be at peace. Bhakti is the essential thing. It is the foundation of spirituality. Even a sadhaka following Jnana marg should have bhakti. Sri Ramana Maharshi, in his earlier days, prayed in temples to give bhakti like Sri Ramakrishna and other bhaktas.

As one progresses on spiritual path, all paths become common, i.e. some things are common. Even a bhakta develops dispassion against worldly objects. There are many paths to reach mountain top which has one peak (destination). As one moves towards peak, all paths come near each other and you can even see other paths, as they are very close to each other. On reaching to Top i.e. peak one can see all paths.

The thing is to cling to cling to God then to renounce desires. Increase bhakti and desires will fade away, sometimes unnoticed. If you renounce desires only externally, but have them in heart, it's a dangerous situation. At one time, there will be a explosion, an outburst and you will not be able to control yourself, but will have to fulfill them to be at peace. You may feel that you have control, but it's just temporary. Renounciation is needed, but it should be internal, in our mind. It should not be by force like you avoid even if you are very hungry. Better eat food and then chant God's name. You need to control and renounce and it require an effort, but you should also increase devotion to god via spiritual activities and convince yourself and not force to renounce desire. Having only Moksha (jnana) or divine vision of God (bhakti) or union of incarnated soul with God (Yog) greatly helps. It is the deciding factor of the direction of your life and sadhana meditation)

Aum

[AmIHindu]

I just read the Bhagavad Gita and it seemed to say that not only are desire and passion bad but are in fact the root causes of all suffering. But I like several of my desires and passions and would hate to have to give them up. And it seems that some desires and passions that are good. For example the desire to eat food and have sex is vital to the procreation of life. Or the passion a composer has to create symphonies, or a painter to paint? Are these types of passions really bad? Would it really be a good thing for a composer to be in a state of dispassion in regards to music?

I'd love to hear get perspectives on this issue. Thank you!

Namaste,

From your post I think you are new to Hinduism, as you are surprised/shocked by some of the teaching/reading of BG.

I would like to ask you why do you want to move to Hinduism or what was the purpose of reading BG.

[Amrut]

In the beginning, you can enjoy fulfilling desires, but at the same time dedicate some time for God.

[devotee]

Namaste,

Where does this situation of Maya and suffering come from? Why are we made this way or why is it this way? Does Hinduism have an answer or a story explaining how/why this is?

You should read some basic books on Hindu Dharma. I think Eastern Mind, Sunyata, Indraneela etc. can help you.

You are asking very profound questions and to understand the answers, you should have deep study of VedAnta otherwise, you won't be able to understand important concepts which are used in VedAnta. MAyA is power of Brahman (which is the sole Reality ... you too are That) which projects this world and veils the real Nature of this world (you are part of this world and that is why your True Nature too is under the veil of MAyA).

It is not a story. It is the Truth. This has been experienced by many in the past. The Truth which cannot be experienced personally has no value. Whatever is being offered here can be realised by you within yourself.

OM

[devotee]

Namaste Sanja,

That was small but a very good post.

OM