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To Become a God... eliminate desire

Risen

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Can anyone comment on the Buddhist concept of eliminating desires in order to achieve enlightenment? I believe they have an EXTREMELY valid point with that one. As far as I see it, desire is perhaps the root of all suffering. Feeling the lack of that which you desire is the suffering that we all own with such zealousness.

Why does Buddhism teach the elimination of desire? - Yahoo! Answers
 

Costrin

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Hmm... interesting. I'll try it out.
I think the first desire I'll get rid of is the desire to get rid of my desires.
;)

But yeah, I agree (with the eliminating suffering, becoming a god, no). Without desire, there would be no reason to be sad. Although it is likely impossible to completely rid oneself of desire, one could probably rid oneself of quite a bit.
 

Totenkindly

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It's a matter of accepting the reality of life rather than desiring things that are beyond you.

It also ties into the concept of living in the now, rather than living either in the painful past or the unrealized future. When you live in the current moment and embrace the totality of it, you are able to experience life as it is unfolding around you -- letting go of the past moment and accepting the next moment as it comes into being.

Much of what is pain to us is because we are either chasing things that do not yet exist or refusing to let go of things whose times are past. Time flows like a river and we flow within it, we are the water drop, we are the river, we are part of the movement rather than apart from it.
 

ThatsWhatHeSaid

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It's a matter of accepting the reality of life rather than desiring things that are beyond you.

It also ties into the concept of living in the now, rather than living either in the painful past or the unrealized future. When you live in the current moment and embrace the totality of it, you are able to experience life as it is unfolding around you -- letting go of the past moment and accepting the next moment as it comes into being.

Much of what is pain to us is because we are either chasing things that do not yet exist or refusing to let go of things whose times are past. Time flows like a river and we flow within it, we are the water drop, we are the river, we are part of the movement rather than apart from it.

Pretty nicely said.

Costrin's right, though. If you're desiring to eliminate suffering (by eliminating desires), you're still desiring, and you're still trying. The Buddhist concept of desire isn't about desiring to eat lunch or poop in the toilet rather than in your pants. "Desire" is better translated as thirst. You're thirsting for something to be different about your situation.

P.S. Buddha wasn't a God, just a teacher.
 

professor goodstain

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When i was young someone once explained to me-"When one dies and goes to heaven they rest there adoring God forever. They are completely content. Which gives them the ability to rest in patients in their adoration. When the soul leaves the body it no longer has desire. It is content."
 

Risen

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Does not the elimination of all things unnecessary to your being exalt you above the mental state of most other people in your ability to to see the way past suffering, past the miserable existence the linen share of the species is a part of, and into another state of being altogether? Is the Buddhist who finds himself walking down the path not freed of the limitations of free will set by man's basic nature? We are all trapped in seeking something, things that matter not in the grand schema of of life, things that are only basic in fulfilling desires even the most primitive animals have. The desires that bring us to social interaction and macro level social orders are all driven by these base and instinctual desires. In other words, these desires serve no purpose, and are not constrained to any ultimate goal or order. These menial desires are the essence of chaos within the human psyche. To eliminate them and make all desires and wishes that remain subservient to one ultimate goal/desire in a grand consolidation is perhaps the greatest way to eliminate the chaos. Nothing should exist as a desire or an end within itself, but all shall be the means to a greater directive that binds the will into a pristine and singular focus. That one goal never dies, it never sleeps, and the hunger for it always exists. But rather, unlike the chaotic desires of the past, this never ceasing desire should be filled through the realization of all lower desires that comprise it, which were once disjointed from an ultimate purpose. To gain fulfillment in one is to move closer towards the ultimate. The ultimate may always be far off, but by riding upon the concerted drive of all lower desires, that ultimate goal should always be in a state of fulfillment.

This greater goal must be vast enough to encompass all, and thus must either be above the plight of human beings (a heavenly/godly or lofty directive...) or an all pervading desire that can consolidate all others unto itself. I contend that love and power are such ultimate desires. This is why absolute power is said to corrupt absolutely. The thirst for power has no beginning and no end. It is the alpha and the omega. Every desire can be be made to work towards one core desire, the search for power. Every step towards fullfilling one's desires can become a step towards forward in an unceasing yearning for one single thing. Both the thirst and the pleasure become unending.
 

Totenkindly

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Costrin's right, though. If you're desiring to eliminate suffering (by eliminating desires), you're still desiring, and you're still trying.

Heh, that is always the problem, isn't it?

Trying not to try is still trying.
Being is another matter entirely. :)
 

Risen

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I change my mind. In assuming that all things can be made subservient to one desire, and thus suffering and chaos eliminated under its undivided rule, I am brought back to the order of Kabbalistic desires. After power is knowledge, and after knowledge is the spiritual desire which is entangled with "love", the purely altruistic desire (or desire for altruism as it were). In reexamining what i just stated, I am forced to remind myself that when people reach a certain plateau of power, they can no longer be fulfilled by the quest for power whether it be because they can seek no more power or because they simply tire of it. Thus power IS NOT an unending desire. Rather, it is the higher spiritual desires (and love) which can carry on into eternity or the full extent of the individual's existence.
 

Risen

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I realize I wrote down these thoughts while on something like a high, but does anyone have any thoughts? Perhaps this link will explain the conclusions I came to in a way you might be able to understand. It is the Kabbalistic principle of filling desires, which I believe is more akin to the true meaning behind the Buddhist "elimination of desires", and the same process that I have ascertained from my own analysis of the motivations behind mankind.

Kabbalah World Center - Science and Kabbalah - The Alternative of Our Life
 

sunset5678

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I was thinking something like that not too long ago...desire is what makes us mortal.
It is something we can either feel empowered by wanting something so much it takes
our minds off of everything else, or it is something that we want so much we get de-
pressed when we don't get it, I guess its each person's own take on whether desires
are dark or light. Its funny how there are two extremes of a lot of those things, but
in between is kind of a blurr. Same thing in Christianity, the devil can tempt you to
make the wrong choses based on just wanting something.
 

Feops

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Can anyone comment on the Buddhist concept of eliminating desires in order to achieve enlightenment?

Screw that. Desires give us motivation, power, energy. They push people to become more than they are and humanity to become more than it is. Accepting your lot if life is to be a sheep, a resource for others to harvest. Accept nothing, push for the impossible. :steam:
 
L

Lasting_Pain

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Can anyone comment on the Buddhist concept of eliminating desires in order to achieve enlightenment? I believe they have an EXTREMELY valid point with that one. As far as I see it, desire is perhaps the root of all suffering. Feeling the lack of that which you desire is the suffering that we all own with such zealousness.

Why does Buddhism teach the elimination of desire? - Yahoo! Answers

Your topic title seems to be misleading, at least to me. I always thought that Buddhists wanted inner peace and sanctum, not to become a God. I think Buddha was not a god either. Again I am just typing from my head. I could be completely wrong, which is highly likely.
 

AOA

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Do we even realize what 'desire' is? From the way I see it, desire is basically 'giving in' to freedom that is unknown - that is, freedom to do things that would naturally dictate us to question the meaning of life to a whole new degree. That's fucking up, because you do these things of so-called 'freedom' from what you picked up off other people.

... Personally, I can't be sure whether this is to do with one's state of mind and the sense of well-being. Normally, if we remember from our school days, we had ambitions to be the best and work toward specified goals. However, we started picking up senseless behaviour from the people around us. Not that it was cool or anything, but it goes to show that those people themselves were somehow losing worth of themselves - therefore, desire is nothing part of the human condition where pleasure is concerned, but more-so some kind of 'coping' mechanism to put up with personal 'impairments' - emotional, psychological or mental. What I'm saying is, these impairments are associated ultimately with mind function. Desire is a load of crap - leading people to do some ridiculous things, or constantly seek escapism. Possible truth in that is that people are... just generally not satisfied with what they got.

Now, as far as this thread is concerned - to become a God, it's only coincidental, because it's to do with the brain/mind and nothing can determine that (how well the mind is), except with what that individual shows. Yes, there are rare people out there that walk the planet like Gods. Gods, because their mind (most likely) has a strong sense. Mentally well-developed, maybe? These religions come about as a result of 'desire'. You may also note that in a group/culture, we tend to compete and are very much interested in who's the best and normally, the best and brightest show over time and normally, the rest wish to be more like that. Probably a matter of survival strategy - that's so-called desire, perhaps?
 

ThinkingAboutIt

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The purpose of it is the same as new age - to get us to believe the lie that 'man is good'. Once that is believed, then we think well, if we are good, then we are also divine - gods ourselves. It's a lie, we will never be good no matter how hard we try, how much money we give, how many good deeds we do - we are born sinners and need a saviour. Thankfully we have one!

Here is good editorial about that... What is the New Age Movement? | Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry
 

Athenian200

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I honestly have trouble desiring anything... there just doesn't seem to be anything worth wanting. The only desire I really have is to find a perspective on something that makes it matter to me enough that I'm motivated to do something about it. I haven't been able to either eliminate or fulfill that desire, though.
 
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