Our requirements are met, but our desires can never completely be realised!
The earth does not say that it will not permit us to stay on it or the air we breathe costs us something, but these are some of the necessities of life which are easily fulfilled . Coming to our desires , it is never ending. Suppose we wish to eat chocolate and it is satisfied, yet another desire comes up and this goes on. Sometimes there are multiple desires as well.
There are several reasons , why we have so much of desire. Desire may arise through jealousy. In such a case , when we see others possessing something that we don't have , we start getting envy of others and a desire is born. Desire may arise due to customs and traditions of a society. It is like , if one belongs to the richer section of the society, then he must act like one. They must possess two-three motor vehicles, an iphone , a laptop etc. As technology progresses , new gadgets are invented. This induces a desire due to curiosity among people to use it.
All that is desired has a cost attached with it either in monetary terms or in abstract sense. There is always something we need to give up to get something. Suppose a student desires to get the attention of his teacher , then he has to put in that much of an effort so that his teacher recognises him. This in turn not only kills his time but also makes him put the effort in the wrong direction. It may sometimes hamper his thought process also. This is a type of desire which when tried to achieve has an abstract cost to it.
Desires when not fulfilled, creates a sense of incompleteness in the person. The person may feel irritated, angry or may remain tired most of the time . It may also affect the thought process and mindset of the person. The person may start becoming pessimistic, he may start having negative thoughts and his mind could well be preoccupied by these thoughts even when the situation is not related with it. This may hamper his decision making skills.
There may be many causes of desire but the root cause of desire is expectation. When we expect that we are capable of becoming a scientist, then only we have a desire to become a scientist , or if we expect to be treated properly, then we desire and demand respect.
If a person has no expectation at all , then only he could control his mind and heart. When he becomes free of expectation , then only he can exercise true freedom and sovereignty. It helps in removing ego and pride from a person. When ego and pride vanishes , then the words me and my from the life of the person is removed. He would not say 'who are you to insult me?!' or 'how dare you speak bad things about me' rather he will handle the situation carefully without getting angry. In such a situation a person's happiness is not dependent on others or on other things rather it is independent of all. At this point in time when one introspects and observes what is going on , then one realises it's true existence that nothing in the world is his or nothing is forever . One then understands that the aatma (soul) is the real existence of his.
Having desire and therefore having expectation is not completely bad , it's just accepting that we have too much of expectation and making effort in removing or decreasing it. The complete removal of expectation and ego requires a lot of time as it is very difficult and a very slow process. But we all know that Slow and Steady wins the race. In the end when one realises it's true existence , all the efforts made become worth it and only then one can become a leader of himself.
