Consider this: desire is like salt water. When we are thirsty, we drink it, but it never really satisfies our thirst. This is the wisdom of the 21st verse, which says:

Sensual pleasures are like salty water;

The deeper you drink, the thirstier you become.

Any object you attach to,

Right away, let it go- this is the practice of a bodhisattva.

verse 22 of the 37 verses of a bodhisattva

What I find so helpful about this metaphor is that salt water is water. It’s not that we crave something and surprisingly find our craving isn’t met when we eat dirt. It’s that we go for something that seems like it would do, but the elements are off. Something about the content doesn’t quite fit.

Consider the words we use for this: retail therapy, for example, or eating our feelings. The irony is right there in the words. What we are using as a bandage isn’t going to work, and deep down, we already know it.

But to be clear, this isn’t simple asceticism. Verse 22 isn’t telling us not to seek joy, or pleasure, or good things. It’s clarifying what we can expect from those things. (And, spoiler alert, it isn’t lasting happiness.)

Ken McLeod says, “The problem is not your enjoyment. The problem is not the object of your enjoyment, either. The problem is that you make that one feeling of satisfaction your whole world and then try to stay there.”

Whew. Maybe read that sentence again.

Desire is like salt water because the feeling we seek differs from the solution we want. But so often, especially in a capitalistic culture, we put all of our trust and energy into the desire instead of the root. Desire lies to us because the answer is not always more, or better. The answer, rather, is contentment. Presence. Acceptance. Peace.

Lord Atisha said, “Desire does not breed happiness. It cuts off liberation’s very life.” Well, there you have it. We follow our desire seeking freedom, and instead we find ourselves in chains.

This week, take note of what you desire. Just notice it. Bring it into your consciousness. See what you’re seeking. And then ask whether what you seek is salt water or drinking water for your soul. Because there’s a very big difference.