Tag: desire
Inner itch
What is the gnawing that many feel, that drives us here and there like mad men and women as if we are trying to scratch an inner itch that simply cannot be reached? Why the self destructive behavior the thanatos principle in plain view for all to see(?), our world a place where death is… Read More ›
Who can pluck us out of His hand?
It is good for me to be troubled, Lord, as long as you are with me, better than reigning without you, of feasting without you, of being glorified without you. It is good for me to embrace you in tribulation, to have you with me in the furnace, better than being without you even in… Read More ›
Sympathize with the young — and do not judge
[A young monk], who was not the laziest of young men, had gone to an old man and had candidly confessed that he was troubled by carnal appetites and the spirit of fornication. He had hoped to receive from the old man’s words consolation for his efforts, and a cure for the wounds inflicted on… Read More ›
Earthly desires are shadows
The earthly desires men cherish are shadows. There is no true happiness in fulfilling them. Why, then, do we continue to pursue joys without substance? Because the pursuit itself has become our only substitute for joy. Unable to rest in anything we achieve, we determine to forget our discontent in a ceaseless quest for new… Read More ›
The tragedy of a life centered on “things”
The tragedy of a life centered on “things,” on the grasping and manipulation of objects, is that such a life closes the ego upon itself as though it were an end in itself, and throws it into a hopeless struggle with other perverse and hostile selves competing together for the possessions which will give them… Read More ›
Origins of Evil Come from Within
The main sources of the Enemy from which every evil springs are threefold: desire, pleasure, and sadness. These are connected one from another, and one follows another. It is possible to control pleasure to some extent, but impossible to control desire; for the end of pleasure is achieved through the body, but that (of desire)… Read More ›