Desire

Talk by Chris

What is the source of desire? How are we to act on our feelings of desire – how we want ourselves or others to behave?

Chris shared a story about a neighbor who, many years ago, hosted a loud party. They informed Chris the day of the event that they would be holding a party that night and to let them know if it was too loud. That night it did disturb Chris’s family, and he let them know. This resulted in a strained relationship between the two families.

Recently, many years after the first party, the family hosted another celebration – a backyard birthday party with a live band. Chris saw this as an opportunity to reflect on what he had learned through meditation and see if he would react in a different way. Again, the party was loud and went on very late. Would he again confront them or take a different approach?

This time Chris chose to see if he could take another approach. To partially escape the pulsating sounds of the live drummer just on the other side of his fence, he moved to a bedroom on the other side of his house and cranked up a source of white noise. This worked out and allowed him to get a good night’s rest without asking his neighbors to tone down their celebration.