The Joyful Pursuit of the Beloved

N.J,

A most illuminating exposition on the "discipline":

"Deliberate, consistent attentiveness to the WHY of one's desires, one's motivations, and one's reactions to events is the discipline. Being not only aware of WHAT we are doing but more importantly, the WHY we are doing it. Awareness of the WHY may be painful at the outset but soon the liberation from unawareness/error that results from consistent effort is worth anything. This is the essence of the Path." N.J.

In my use of the Tarot, it has most definitely ignited and intensified my "desire" nature, and thus brought me into situations where I have experienced and felt the "desire" process in an accelerated fashion:

My question to you is:

Is understanding the WHY of a certain desire going to make any difference in my desiring it?

Perhaps it might for those "negative" or painful desires, reactions, motivations, but what about for those things which we enjoy? For example: If I understood why I love to play the violin, is that going to change my desire to play it? Am I going to stop wanting it play it? (and believe me, playing the violin ain't no picnic)

In my experience, "head knowledge" ain't gotta a snowball's chance in hell of swaying a powerful desire. And so it seems to me that the problem with "desire", is that while we are desiring something, we don't want to give it up (if we did, then we would no longer be desiring it).

In my experience, the only way I've ever changed a desire was when it was overcome by a more powerful desire. Usually it is only when our "desires" start giving us pain and problems that we become motivated (desire) to start examining the why of our desire.

So for me, the practical bottom line to the discipline of "Deliberate, consistent attentiveness to the WHY of one's desires" is that we've got to be motivated (often by the pain that our desires bring us, sometimes by the joy that awareness brings us) to do the work.

And the "motivation" to do the work/discipline is not under my ego's control. Can I arbitrarily decide what's going to bring me pleasure or pain? . . . . . NOT!

Ultimately I am NOT the DOER. And therefore doing the discipline is not my doing. When God, with desire, lights my fire, the "discipline" becomes the joyful pursuit of the beloved.

So I say Follow your Bliss....

JC
(one who LOVES the "discipline" of playing a most difficult instrument - my personality)