WHAT DO YOU WANT, and is it okay that you want it? Is it okay to want things? Do your desires bring you in the direction of happiness? Or do they sometimes bring you in the direction of suffering and regret?
There’s a popular notion that the practice of Buddhism is about removing all desires, about not wanting anything. But is that correct? What does Buddhism have to say on the topic of desire?
What did the Buddha himself want? What did he want when he left his life of luxury as a prince? A life that for most people alive today would seem to be the thing we’re supposed to want, and that maybe we do want. How many of us wish for more comfort, leisure, wealth, and security? How many of us wish we could live in a bigger, more beautiful house? How many of us wish we could enjoy the best foods, entertainment, and company—that we could satisfy all our desires?
The Buddha had all those things, and yet it seems like he wanted even more. He must have wanted it very badly if he could find the strength to walk away from what so many of us have been struggling to get. Buddhism in the West has sometimes
