Opening to the Deeper Current of Desire

title: Opening to the Deeper Current of Desire - Practice

Is it possible that the contraction of craving is a result of not allowing the energy of the deeper desires to unfold and be felt?

Rob talks about this in Opening the Dharma of Desire pt 1 of the retreat (Talks - Eros Unfettered - Opening the Dharma of Desire - Rob Burbea ), as a practice to play with when there’s dukkha, whether or not it is obvious that there is a desire there.

”Just let go” is certainly an option, but it comes at a cost. What are we losing if we do so?

Sit with the question for some time
- Not seeking an answer from the mind, but from the whole being, the citta
Unhook the desire from its immediately obvious object (form desire vs feeling desire)
Usually we find out that what we really want is something more general/abstract and deeper than our initial thought
- In Rob’s example of being upset with Gaia House’s policy, he found his desire to be freedom from constraint

Clear away (negative) preconceptions (e.g. happiness is the absence of desire) of desire
Introduce some trust in the desire
- Play with the idea that there might be a deeper intelligence of desire

Allowing as fully as possible the energy/stream/flow of desire throughout the Energy Body Practice
We may experience a release from the dukkha, as we find out that we already have what we’re deeply desiring for

Sometimes, if there is is a sense of lack, we may need to be with it, feel it and care for it. But we shouldn’t let that be our only or default approach
- The sense of lack may gradually soothe
- But doing this keeps it at a feeling of lack
We may think that being with the lack is being with what is
- But thinking so fails to see dependent co-arising
  - The way of paying attention to it may keep building those emotions
  - We don’t see we are constructing our experience
This practice is not about just accepting
- We are actively playing with trusting the wisdom of desire

In Imaginal practice the image is primary, it may change a bit but it is retained
- We’re not reducing the image to a meaning or representation
In this practice, the image is secondary, the image may be regarded as a representation
- What’s primary is the deeper current of desire

Woman in long distance relationship desiring her partner
- Found out she wanted the opening of the heart, wanted to love, wanted to be received
Rob’s desire made him impatient to learn more about modern physics
- felt like he was unable to read fast enough
  - wanted to get to the end of the process
- at first the desire seemed to want to end the inquiry, to understand all there was to be understood
- opening to the desire opened a sense of joy to the process of inquiry itself
  - urgency was released