Lust and happiness.

All humanity seems to be on a quest to be happy. Yet happiness eludes us, why?

The answer probably lies in lust and sexual repression.

To have sexual desire is the most natural of our traits. To condemn this itself is so sinister that man is condemned to be unhappy.  

What greater punishment we inflict on ourselves?

No matter what we try, eventually nature always triumphs. Yet we force ourselves to  try and live in unnatural ways. That is why humans have become cruel and violent. Rape, abuse, exploitation of the weak, violence, war, etc., are the products of a repressed sexuality. 

Priests quoting from their respective holy books of organised religion, inform us that, lust means the desire for sex. They  say that sex is taboo and even in marriage sex is regrettable. 

Priests preach to us, to abandon the lust for power money and sex which is forbidden, which we can term as 'bad lust'. They instruct us to deactivate our minds, ignore our hearts and surrender much of our wealth to their religious institutions, so that we may properly chase religion and God. This is what could be termed as 'good lust'.

It is true that Prophets, Messiahs and the Gurus advised us not to lust. There is great depth and relevant meaning behind these statements. Unfortunately priests have twisted this statement to assume lust means only sexual lust.

As per the priests, to crave for sex and wealth is bad but to crave for religion and God is good.  In reality there is no difference between the lust for power, sex, wealth, and lust for religion and God. 

Lust, is an intense craving. Lust means to desire, and to desire something passionately if not desperately. Desperation and passion are both blinding. 

Only a heart and mind which is at peace and calm can progress on the spiritual journey. But a heart possessed by a craving, any craving is always unsettled and in turmoil. Turmoil occupies and ties us down, calmness releases us.



Imagine our individual being, as a pond. 
Any object thrown into the water will cause ripples. 
Similarly a craving thrown into our being will also causes ripples and hence turmoil. 

It matters not, whether we throw an ordinary stone, gold nugget or even a diamond into the calm waters of the pond. All objects cast into the water will always cause ripples.

Our lust, our craving constantly creates ripples in our mind and therefore our mind is always in turbulence. How can we ever achieve peace and divinity with a  turbulent mind and spirit?

It matters little, whether we crave sex, wealth, power, enlightenment or God, all craving is lust. To crave or to lust means to be dissatisfied with what we already have and to desire something else. We crave for something more and therefore we live, not in the present but in the future. That is what causes turmoil and unhappiness.

Thus after many years of rituals, discussions with sages, searching endlessly for answers Gautam Buddha got enlightened. 
What did he achieve, when we say, "Siddhartha got enlightened"? 
Lord Buddha discovered that there is no need to crave for anything, he just had to be. To merely accept existence, and that is a state of Godliness.

Lord Buddha discovered that to be blissful, no answers are needed. Existence is not a problem that needs to be solved, nor a challenge that must be overcome, but a mystery that simply needs to be experienced.


The greatest gift is to be at peace with ourselves. This can happen in three phases. 
First, to live life naturally, fulfilling our biological needs and then transcending our sexual and hunger desires. 
Next to evolve from body to mind by reflection and intellectual nourishment to attain wisdom. 
Finally, by meditating, transcend both body and mind to become truly spiritual. Eventually we will come to know both ourselves and existence . 

The wisdom, the power, the energy of the universe, and all the bliss is ours for the receiving, if only we were not so blinded by lust for these gifts.


* This article is based on the talks of the Master, Osho.