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The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - Book 2 - The Steps to Union
7. Desire is attachment to objects of pleasure. This is not a literal translation by any means but gives the basic idea so clearly that it is best to translate the sutra as above. These objects of pleasure cover all the attachments which a man forms from the savage state of infant humanity up to advanced degrees of discipleship; they cover desire for gross objects on the physical plane as well as attachment to those things, occupations and reactions which the emotions or intellectual pursuits will offer; they cover the whole gamut or range of sensuous experience from the response of the savage to warmth and a good meal to the rapture of the mystic. Desire is a generic term covering the outgoing tendency of spirit towards form life. It may mean the delight of a cannibal for that which he eats, the love of a man for his family, the appreciation of the artist for a beautiful painting, or the adoration of the devotee for Christ or his guru. It is all attachment in some degree or another, and the progress of the soul seems to be in this dispensation from one object of sense to another until that time comes when he is thrown back alone upon himself. He has exhausted all objects of attachment, and even his guru seems to have left him alone. Only one reality is left, that spiritual reality which is himself, and his desire then turns inward. It is no longer outgoing but he finds the kingdom of God within. All desire then leaves him. He makes contacts, and continues to manifest [136] and work upon the planes of illusion but he works from the center where dwells his divine self, the sum total of all desire, and there is nothing to lure him forth into the byways of pleasure or of pain.
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