The Truth
by Dr. Frederick Lenz, RamaInsight
“Beware of the delusion of desire. The heat of desire is a powerful thing. You can convince yourself, you can lie to yourself and fool yourself and rationalize that the choice you’re making is what is right and what is true and what leads to liberation, when it’s actually only the fulfillment of a desire, which will lead to pain later.”
Considerations
“Desires are neither good nor bad. What’s important is to do what’s right. If what you desire is in line with that which is right, which cannot be reasoned but felt, then follow what is right and what you desire. But if what you desire is not right, then avoid that desire, stand back from it because it is not your friend. It will enslave you in the trap of success, failure and self, and you will be miserable and you will miss the promise of life, at least in this lifetime, and you will grow old and die and be reborn.”
These are direct quotes from the talk The Truth by Rama Dr. Frederick Lenz.
All quotes are reprinted or included here with permission from The Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism