The Dangers of Desire

The Dangers of Desire

Boiling a Frog in Warm Water

The phrase “boiling a frog” illustrates the principle of gradual change leading to a qualitative transformation, explaining how one can lose vigilance and invite disaster due to adaptation and habituation to gradual changes. In a comfortable environment, people can easily be deceived by their surroundings, ultimately leading to depression, indulgence, and moral decline. Because this process involves incremental changes, individuals may undergo a complete transformation without realizing it until it is too late.

All beings come into this world due to desire; they are born from desire, live because of desire, and die because of desire. Therefore, this world is called the “Desire Realm.”

In this world, all troubles, pain, harm, and complex situations are the results of various desires. Thus, we must observe where desires originate from. How do they arise? Then we must further understand and recognize desires. By identifying the root of desire and fundamentally changing it, we can attain happiness and harmony.

First of all, we must recognize the source of desire. Desire arises from ignorance and self-attachment; ignorance includes innate ignorance and conceptual ignorance. Innate ignorance arises from beings’ lack of understanding of the truth of the world, forming oppositional thoughts; it is not something that forms only in this life but is inherent in all beings—it is the root cause of all beings’ cycles of rebirth. “Self-attachment” refers to our tendency to rarely consider others’ perspectives or think about others’ needs; even when helping others, it often comes with conditions or selectivity. In fact, these apparent benefits still fall within the realm of self-attachment—this is a habitual tendency that beings have had since time immemorial. Becoming accustomed to self-attachment naturally leads to thoughts focused on avoiding pain and pursuing pleasure; this state is referred to as desire. “Self-attachment” includes both personal attachment (the attachment to oneself) and doctrinal attachment (the attachment to concepts). Every being believes there exists an “I”; everything revolves around an egocentric fixation known as personal attachment; for example: “this is my car,” “this is my house,” “this is my family,” etc., which are all based on self-centered perceptions called doctrinal attachment. These belong to the category of innate ignorance.

Another source of desire arises from “conceptual ignorance.” After birth, we receive education from parents, teachers, various cultures and religions; influenced by society and environment forms a deeper layer of ignorance known as conceptual ignorance. This gradually develops after beings take birth; as conceptual ignorance increases over time, innate ignorance also deepens correspondingly. Under the continuous interaction between these two forces, desires gradually form.

Next, we come to understand desires through wisdom. From a Buddhist perspective: desires include three types: good (wholesome), evil (unwholesome), and neutral (indeterminate). Desire is an infinite energy that can be divided into positive energy and negative energy. Positive motivations encompass two types of desires: one type originates from considering one’s own interests regardless of what one does; another motivation entirely aims at helping humanity and all sentient beings distance themselves from suffering and attain liberation through contribution—this type of desire is wholesome desire or positive energy. This kind of desire drives social development and serves as the source for human progress.

Fully unable to feel others’ discomforts or pains while lacking understanding for care or responsibility discards compassion in pursuit of “selfish fame or gain,” mixing in greediness and anger-driven desires—all these are unwholesome desires. This reflects a mindset perpetuated by greed that never finds satisfaction. A person dominated by desire resembles a frog being boiled in warm water—enjoying their desires yet becoming lethargic towards them leads them unknowingly into dangerous situations from which they cannot extricate themselves. Infinite greed controlled by ignorant self-attachment knows no bounds—it’s akin to having ingested opium unknowingly. The more such desires expand within one’s heart, the deeper their fear and suffering become—their happiness fades away along with their sense of direction.

There exists another type called neutral desire—referring neither specifically good nor evil—for instance: feeling thirsty wanting water or feeling sleepy wanting rest.

Desire arises dependent on external conditions; it does not reflect the true nature of the mind but rather becomes like dust settling upon it at times. However, not all desires are negative—the key lies in understanding how to channel them correctly like digging channels for water flow wisely. The wise do not follow their desires but instead harness them for serving the world—just as Einstein said: “A person’s worth should be seen in what he contributes rather than what he acquires.” Actions driven solely by personal selfishness represent taking without giving back while actions aimed at benefiting others represent contributions.

Desire acts as an invisible force—it resembles a glass filled with water where adding different seasonings like sourness or sweetness alters its flavor accordingly; your motivations determine your outcomes. Only through wisdom can one discern between good and evil thus knowing how to change effectively. The sole method for transforming desire lies in continuously cultivating compassion throughout life—when a new desire arises initially analyze whether it’s good or bad through wisdom then eradicate evil while promoting goodness immediately if it’s bad protect wholesome ones if they’re good just like how Bodhisattva Maitreya advises us against our habitual afflictions in “The Conducts Of A Bodhisattva”: “Afflictions’ habitual tendencies are hard to counteract; wielding swords forged with right knowledge & mindfulness against greed & other afflictions right when they arise promptly eradicate them.”

The afflictive nature caused by desires restricts our freedom—if only we could let go off excessive cravings happiness would actually come easily.

by Taiwan Fearless Tathagata Ya Great Perfection Zen Center