Kevin's Weblog

In class today Tiffany made a comment about how some philosophies view desire as a bad thing, but in Anusara desire is a key trait. However, I’m not sure that the word is being used to mean the same thing.

Disclaimer: I’m not at all an expert in either of the philosophies I’m about to discuss.

As I understand it, when a Buddhist claims that “desire is suffering”, what is being talked about is desire for things to be other than they are, or desire for thing to change (or to stay the same) simply to conform to the expectations or prejudices of the individual. So, a Buddhist must accept the imperfection of the world, and of himself, but he also strives to follow the Eightfold Path as a way to improve himself and alleviate this suffering.

In Anusara, I feel like the specific desire that is sought is to be and to express the greatness inherent in each of us, through the practice of yoga. So, what we desire is to find the core of who we are, and bring it out and make it shine. The yogi might seek to express a particular aspect, but this shouldn’t manifest in either violence or suffering, whether it be physical, from exceeding the limits of her body, or mental or emotional, from not accepting her current limitations.

Looking at things this way, it seems to me that the philosophies actually have a lot of similarity, even though the particular language expressions used seem to be contrary to one another.