Kāma – desiderio

«The desire of living-liberated men (jivan-muktas), is not properly any desire at all, since it is the pure desire relating to universal weal and happiness.» (Yoga-vasistha,3.22.5).

A mukta is a man who has achieved spiritual realization and has thus freed himself from suffering by exiting the cycle of rebirths by nullifying the effects of his own karma. The word mukta in a broader and more common sense also means “relaxed” and “slack”. Being the highest degree of emancipation, a relaxed man is an emancipated man.

You probably want, indeed the claim, to experience the lightness of summer. You want holidays, lazing around and maybe summer adventures. However, observe how much of all this is dictated by a need and how much by desire. The need is real and if you do not satisfy it it will aggravate the situation with greater consequences. The desire, if it is not that of the jivan-mukta, is illusory as well as transitory, it originates from some emotion and serves to repay some debt or credit of karma.

IN PRACTICE  

Utkata-āsana, powerful pose

I understand that such a heavy pose is in contrast to lightness and the desire to relax that you have. Every now and then, however, stop for a moment and look inside yourself what is well founded, rooted just like this position.

Awareness exercise

In moments of fatigue, physical or mental, pause in silence for five minutes. Sit down if possible and look inside. Can you find the real remedy for this fatigue?

Mantra of the month

«Need or desire?».