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On Desires and Happiness

One day, a guest came to the Master’s house for advice. He was a distinguished and rich man. He brought gourmet treats. And a festive table was set for everyone who lived in the house.

That day, an abundance of delicacies, which were brought by the guest, were served alongside the typical simple yet delicious foods of the Master’s house.

The guest knew that both the Master and his disciples were strict vegetarians, and therefore the treats that he brought were appropriate.

Our young men from poor families, who only recently began to live in the Master’s house, were so amazed by these luxurious treats that they could not stop eating, barely listening to what the Master was saying.

They had never before seen such an abundance, having previously lived in poverty all their lives.

And they ate as much as they could! The food was so delicious! And, in fact, no one was paying attention to how much the two of them were eating! And no payment was required for them to eat the treats!

The rest of the disciples and the guest were more engaged in the conversation than in the meal.

In the conversation, the Master, glancing several times at the beginners, hinted that excessive food can be damaging, even if it is clean and nutritious. But the young men were so fascinated by the treats, which they had never before seen, that they missed these words and continued to focus on the delicious delicacies.

The Master spoke with the guest and the disciples about whether the satisfaction of earthly desires brings happiness, saying:

“Earthly desires control the lives of many people for a long time.

“Yes, there are natural needs: such as, for example, the desire to eat; and such needs must be satisfied. But living only to satisfy our own selfish desires — does not bring happiness!

“If a person experiences joy only from getting the pleasure of something material — then he or she easily gets used to this way of life. For example, the habit of having fun with wine drinking can lead to drunkenness. A person wants more and more joy — and, as he or she gets used to it, this person must then use more and more spirits to get the same effect. This also happens with other substances that temporarily change the state of consciousness. And, if a person begins to want to receive more and more pleasure in this way, then he or she becomes a prisoner or even a slave to these desires. Such a person can no longer resist drinking, smoking, gluttony, or other ways of appeasing oneself.

“And people have invented so many different ways of receiving pleasure from material things! This concerns more than just food made from the bodies of killed animals, or the stupefying and mind-destroying things that can be either drunk, smoked, or taken in other ways.

“Some other objects that are passionately desired are: jewelry made of gold and precious stones, palaces, boats, and lands... And, wanting more and more of such things for oneself always leads to sad outcomes.

“And this never leads to true happiness! Such things give only a brief moment of satisfaction... — and then a new desire seizes the soul!

“True joy can be born only from love, directed from the spiritual heart — outwards: to other beings! It comes from the presence of God in the spiritual heart!”

“But, if a person is not yet ready to renounce the material world, what is to be done?” — the guest asked the Master.

“That’s exactly what we are talking about.

“Pleasures from delicious food and drink, from a clean and beautiful home, or from harmonious sexual relations — are not harmful at all. They are even beneficial, if moderation and harmony are observed.

“Such satisfaction is incomparably better than poverty and a constant feeling of dissatisfaction because of it!

“There is also nothing wrong with having and carrying out useful desires and intentions. But all of such goals and desires should be pure and directed to one’s benefit, or to the benefit of other beings.

“And, if the implementation of such intentions brings good and joy not to oneself, but to other people — then this makes a person even more happy!”

... Looking carefully at his guest, the Master continued:

“There is nothing destructive or sad, if man, for example, has inherited huge treasures or power. But it necessary to distribute what has been received — in a way that is reasonable and that benefits not just oneself but many others as well.

“After all, everything that we own here is temporary. It is given to us to improve ourselves and to help others.

“It is not easy to use wealth wisely; it is a skill that is learned.

“Would you like me to tell you, friends, about the parable of the ‘lucky man’”

... Everyone, in anticipation, eagerly asked the Master to begin.

“Once upon a time, there was a man who always and in everything was lucky!

“If he played cards or dice, he always won. If there was a disaster, he alone remained unharmed, while people around him received wounds and injuries. And everything that he ever wanted was always very quickly implemented!

“For a long time, this man rejoiced at his luck and thanked God for His patronage.

“But one day, he thought about those who lost when he won, about those who were injured when he was left unharmed, and about those who were near and yet could not find what they wanted...

“Good luck continued to fall on him, as if from a cornucopia, but now it no longer pleased him the same way as before.

‘Maybe my luck can be used for more meaningful ends than just winning cards or dice, or achieving fame and success for any of my whims?’ — he thought.

“And the man decided to change his life!

“He went to the ruler of that country and said:

‘Apparently, I was born under a lucky star! I’m lucky in everything!

‘Great ruler, give me any difficult task — and I’ll try to fulfill it!

‘After all, it’s not fair that this luck of mine should give benefit only to me, and not to all those who are worthy!’

“... And he began to serve the good of the ruler and of the whole country — according to how the ruler and his associates understood it.

“For a while, the ‘lucky man’ was happy that he had found a worthwhile use for his life.

“But then he began to see and hear that winning in the war for one country — brings misfortunes to the people of another, or that, because of his luck and success in the affairs of the state, some people get benefit — while others suffer from disaster and misfortune...

‘Does God, Who has created and loves all beings, actually want what I do? For what purpose has He given me luck?’ — he thought...

“And then the ‘lucky man’ left the civil service and decided to find a Sage who could explain to him: how best to spend the rest of his life?

“Many people tried to stop him, saying: ‘Are you really not happy with your excellent position in society and are you tired of your luck? It is said that people should not look for something better — when they already have something good! How could you even want anything more, when everything desirable is already given to you so easily?’

“But the man decided to continue searching for the meaning of his life.

“He walked from one teacher to another — until he found a True Teacher.

“The ‘lucky man’ asked Him:

‘Why is my life full of luck, but the more I get, the less satisfying is what I achieve? Perhaps my life has a different purpose; after all, there has to be reason why luck has ceased to satisfy me.’

‘You were righteous in your past life and did a lot of good then. Now you are reaping the fruits of those good deeds. That’s where your luck comes from!

‘And, from a certain point in time in your current life, you wanted to share your luck and happiness with other people. And so, for this reason, success did not leave you!’

‘But what was it for?’

Perhaps this happened in order to make you start thinking about the purpose of your life.

‘There is the true happiness, which is called Nirvana, Liberation, or Enlightenment. This happiness consists in obtaining the Unity with the Divine Consciousness. When you achieve this, your help to others will then become wise.’

“The ‘lucky man’ decided to test his luck on the Path to the Divine — and stayed with the Teacher.”

“And what happened to that man? Did he attain the Perfection?” — the guest asked the Master.

“He studied — and became a real Teacher himself!

“The One Who has cognized the Highest Happiness, always seeks to give it to others!

“But, a story like this one does not happen often, unfortunately. Usually, it is only illnesses and other misfortunes that make people think about how they should change their lives...”

* * *

At night — because of the excess food — the two young men had stomachaches...

One of them said to the other:

“How could the Master not have foreseen this and warned us?! He ought to be ashamed!”

His friend answered:

“We ourselves are to blame... We should not have devoured the food so greedily! Besides, during lunch, the Master said that everything should be observed in moderation, including food.”

“But he did not tell us that!”

“How do you know that he wasn’t actually trying to warn us, specifically?”

... The next morning, they were pale and could not eat anything.

The Master gave them a drink of a decoction made from medicinal plants.

He did not scold them, but said:

“It’s not enough just to hear useful advice! But it is necessary to apply it in practice in your life!

“Do you know about the great Chinese Sage Lao Tse? He said: ‘Excessiveness in anything causes troubles!’”

“No…”

“In that case, I think you should read some of the books in our library.

“In continuation of yesterday’s conversation about desires, we should realize that the most useful desires are the desires to know and act.”

The Master asked one of the disciples to take the young men to the library. One of the rooms in the Master’s house was reserved for this. Books and manuscripts in different languages were stored on shelves there in a special order.

Seeing such a huge number of books, the young men were upset, saying:

“Even if we spent our whole lives, it still would not be enough time to read and understand all of this! And then there will not be any time left to actually put these Teachings into practice!”

“You do not have to read everything. But there are some books that every person must know, if he or she wants to cognize the Truth. It is important to have knowledge about the different religious directions and to study the best books that set forth the Teachings of God. And it is actually very useful that the Teachings were set out in different books — in different words.

“It is also necessary to know a little about the human body itself: about its internal organs, and about what diseases are and how they should be treated.

“Today you will have a very successful day for starting such training! Because of your upset digestive system, you will not have enough strength to practice meditation.”

“How do you know what happened to us?”

“It’s very easy to see from your pained appearances. And today I have prepared for you, at the request of Master, a decoction, which is good and quick to help in such cases.

“But do not worry too much about what happened: after all, the experience of mistakes teaches us just as much as the advice of other people. The main thing is to try to avoid repeating mistakes twice!”