Breaking the Spell of Desire

Desire is the passion to possess what is not intrinsically ours.  We are always affected by something external to us.  Depending upon the desire (which can be an intense emotion) we have, more or less, a susceptibility to being affected and thus, more or less, fall under the spell of the extrinsic.  Or so it seems.   

It is our misfortune that we desire the conditioned such as the five aggregates of physical form, sensation, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness.  Intrinsically, they are not ours.  Of each aggregate the Buddha said:  This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self (netaṃ mama, nesohamasmi, na meso attā).

How difficult is it to give up desire for the five aggregates?  Very difficult—almost impossible for the typical human being who is deeply attached to corporeality, that is, all things (sabbe dhammā) which are not the intrinsic self.

Desire has made our life, at times, unbearable and miserable.  According to the teachings of the Buddha “By desire the world is bound.  By the removal of desire it is freed” (SN I.40).  In light of this, all that we have managed to do is to desire more and more conditioned things.  In all this, we have not managed to connect with our intrinsic self face to face.  At best we only connect with a representation of it.    

We are taught even as infants to desire.  It never stops.  Desire is both insidious and almost uncontrollable.  Our very thoughts attest to its power inasmuch as we are bound to them by desire.  What is more, they are our instrument of investigation, yet we are deceived by them.  They also constitute a limit that we cannot break through. 

Comments

[Daniel]

Zennist,

I was wondering if there are any overt Mara worshippers? I know that many just through their ignorance may be paying obeisance to the evil one, without them really knowing it.

And there may be some who are more explicit, taking up deviant views in worshipping the false, empty self.

I always felt that the greatest act of ego aggrandizement is establishing yourself as the arbiter of another person's life, i.e. killing/murder when taken to it's final conclusion. Or even people who derive (temporary) pleasure and power from satiating the corporeal body via whatever hedonistic desires.

But are there Mara worshippers who would consciously try to prevent one from reaching enlightenment? If so, why? What (perceived) benefits do they get from doing Mara's bidding? Is it just more of a power trip for them, or might there be some more dark, esoteric stuff I'm missing?