Spirituality, Desire for Happiness and the Soul's Thirst

A cookbook does not relieve hunger. The same is true in spirituality: neither books alone nor the satisfaction of our desires can quench the thirst of the soul. Why do we confuse the desire for happiness with this deeper need, and where can we go to soothe it?

A woman is sitting in her kitchen, hungry, staring at an empty plate while reading a cookbook. — Reading a cookbook doesn't satisfy hunger

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Spirituality, Desire for Happiness and the Soul's Thirst

We must live our lives. Life was given to us to be lived, and without this existence to live, the soul could not fulfill the reason for its coming to Earth.

The world, its contradictory obligations and duality are God's Lîlà, His divine play: the soul is immersed in them to sharpen itself and reach Realization, that is, to fully realize its true nature. Living our lives also means taking on our obligations and duties, which is eminently spiritual, according to Krishna.

Yet we always have the choice between living our lives and thinking about them. Some people believe they are taking a spiritual approach because they immerse themselves in books in search of knowledge.

Their intention is good, but books, although they inspire, are not enough. When we are hungry, opening a cookbook and dissecting its recipes, every word, every ingredient, does not relieve the hunger.

The mind is a wonderful tool, but not everything in existence is a matter of reflection. For example, even the most cerebral lover will have to let “the beast speak” when the beloved says “yes.” Let us draw a veil of modesty over this scene, perfectly natural but private. It is the same with spirituality as with love: at some point, we must move from reflection to experience.

Human beings have basic needs: to drink, to eat, to be safe. They also have a higher need, that of spirituality, of deepening their consciousness, which often shows itself as the quest for happiness.

The Things of the World

It is not in material things that this need for essential happiness will be satisfied. Out of ignorance, we confuse this higher need with the need to satisfy our desires and find pleasure in them. Pleasure is not the problem: eating is a legitimate need, and we can enjoy it, just as we can find pleasure in the expression of Bhakti, devotion, or in meditation.

Desire is the problem! Satisfied desires do not quench the spiritual thirst, and the dissatisfaction persists without our knowing why. So we keep running after the world and its pleasures.

“Struck by fear, people seek refuge in mountains, woods, gardens, trees or sacred places. But these refuges are neither safe nor supreme. They offer no shelter from suffering.” (Dhammapada, 188-189)

“The senses, turned only outward, keep human beings from seeing, hearing and feeling the essential. Without inner awareness, human beings go mad. Desire drives them to behavior that harms them; hence the sage closes his eyes and turns inward, and so chooses wisely what to take and what to leave.” (Tao Te Ching, 12)

The race for consumerist happiness and the race for spiritual concepts are often disappointing. Even love for others, whether for a spouse, children, friends or parents, cannot fill this fundamental need of the soul. These loves are precious, and it is not futile to live them, but they belong to a plane other than the spiritual.

The Only Way

The illusion of the world, màyà, lies in the eye of the one who looks. The world is the place of spiritual practice, provided we follow it; without it, life does not lead to Liberation, the release of the soul.

The only way to satisfy this thirst for essential happiness is to go to the source of the essential: the Life that animates us, as it animates all things. This happiness is spiritual; it comes from the soul. We need to answer this thirst of the soul. To do so, we may need the mind, but only if we do not leave it without a master. The master of the mind must be the soul.

376. There is something changeless within you,
find it and never lose it.

377. The hope you seek is within you,
the love you seek is within you.

Bhaktimàrga, book of The Path

Knowledge from books is interesting, but it cannot replace the knowledge given by a consciousness turned in the right direction.

The human being exists on three planes: the material plane, the domain of the body, its needs and instincts; that of the mind, the domain of thought, concepts, emotions, feelings and learned knowledge; and that of the soul, the domain of full consciousness. Neglecting any one of these planes would be a mistake.

If you have any questions, please write here:

madhyama.marga@gmail.com

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