All We Need to Know about Wanting

There is Wanting...
by Jim Dollar

There is wanting,
and there is not wanting,
and there is wanting not.

And that's it.

That is all there is.

Life,
our life,
all of life,
at every level,
from amoeba
to whatever is at the opposite end
of the spectrum,
winds around,
above,
below,
in
and through
wanting,
not wanting,
and wanting not.

Every living thing
has preferences.

To live,
to die perhaps,
and everything in between.

Yet.

What does wanting know?

Does wanting know what to want?

What not to want?

Or, does it just want,
mindlessly?

Our place in the mix
is to perfect the practice
of mindful wanting.

If we are going to want—
and surely we are—
let's want mindfully!

Where do we begin?

Where it all begins—
in the silence.

Mindful wanting begins
with wanting mindful wanting,
and we get there
by being very quiet
and being very aware
of what arises in the silence,
and holding it all in awareness.

Everything.

That's the practice. 

It will teach us all we need to know
about wanting,
not wanting,
and wanting not.

And there is nothing more to want
or to know
beyond that.

What we do about it
will be revealed to us
in the moment of doing
in each situation as it arises
according to the needs of the situation
in the service
of the good of the whole.

If you are ever going to
take anything on faith,
take this on faith,
and be quiet.

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Header photo by Lua Valentia on Unsplash