Monday 12 December 2016

On desire


"There's no prayer like desire."
–Tom Waits

This statue from the 14th century is my favorite piece in the whole Rubin Museum, and I come back to it whenever I'm here. I love the vitality and gorgeousness of their embrace; and the idea in the Tantric tradition that we're seeing wisdom (the masculine aspect) and compassion (the feminine aspect) in ecstatic union. It is so beautiful, and I love that it's deemed important enough to be cast in gleaming copper and celebrated in this celestial way.

Desire can feel like such a complicated part of our spiritual practice to navigate. I certainly find it tricky. There's often a sense, a misunderstanding, that we're supposed to be writing off our desires, that all desire leads to suffering. But dismissing any part of our natural selves can make life so painful and stifling.

I'm currently reading a wonderful book by a Buddhist psychotherapist called Mark Epstein called Open To Desire, which talks about the third way with desire -- which is neither grasping (as we often find ourselves doing) or denying, but holding our desire lightly. Hard to do, certainly, but what a way to find freedom.

He cites the Tibetan yogi Padmasambhava who said, "Look into the nature of desire and there is boundless light."

When I look at this statue at the Rubin, that light -- that utter joy and freedom -- is so clear, and so lovely.

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