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Desire: A Holistic Philosopher's Perspective |
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| Published by New Times Naturally! | | February 1, 2007 |
| Desire: A Holistic Philosopher’s Perspective
By Angela Eward-Mangione
A Bad Rap
Traditionally, Western philosophers have viewed desire as negative. Plato (c. 427-c. 347 BC), an ancient Greek philosopher, envisioned a tripartite soul—made up of appetite, or “desire” (the largest aspect), rationality/reason and spirit. He distinguished between necessary and unnecessary desires, but visualized a constant battle between the appetite and reason-spirit. This might sound familiar to many of us. We want the doughnut, cake, or some other item that’s been condemned by all the nutritional experts. Sometimes, the desire seems real and deep--- either because of taste, preference or habit. We may desire the food that is bad for our health because we really like the taste. Or, we may not even like the taste, but have simply become accustomed to our habit of eating it. Other times, we don’t even really want the food; we just think we do. We are vigilant guards in noticing and catching our desires and we stand fully armed to root them out and destroy or fulfill them.
Experts on Desire
Right now, society is full of experts ready to tell us how to handle our desires. Unfortunately now, “experts” haven’t necessarily obtained a comprehensive or holistic education. Therefore, their advice often only applies to one ‘aspect’ of the entire network. So, a nutrition expert may tell us, “don’t eat doughnuts; they are bad for your body’s health.” But the nutrition expert may only know about the body. The nutrition expert, if he or she does not have a holistic perspective, cannot always address the body-mind template of a person’s desire for that doughnut. Likewise, a mind expert might advise the doughnut fan to change his or her thinking about that doughnut or desire. They might even say that the desire is just a thought in the mind and counsel the person to simply watch the desire for the doughnut to come and go, but not do anything about it. Or another expert might say to simply change the thought about the desire.
It is interesting to note, that, before the Renaissance in the Western part of the world, “experts” were experts in a general, broad and widely encompassing sense. Scientists were also theologians, and vice-versa. Descartes, most often quoted for “I think, therefore I am” (English translation), desired to prove the existence of God in the same treatise in which he declared that famous line. But no one talks about Descartes’ desire and efforts to prove the existence of God. In modern America, it is unfashionable to talk about God. It is more popular to talk about the mind and the power of thoughts to tame or facilitate desire, or about how to battle our bodies’ desires for certain foods. Is this a Holistic Perspective?
Secrets of Desire
“The Secret” is a very popular film right now. We might say that the general concepts or roots of this film conform to a holistic perspective. It is fun to talk about Quantum Physics in reference to how thoughts and the mind can co-create our reality. The film does this. This is exciting and good news for those of us who often get stuck in negative thinking loops. But, before we know it, we are back to only mind-talking again.
What about the Body and Spirit?
Kevin Carter – a South African photographer- won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for a photograph he took of an emaciated Sudanese toddler huddled on the ground. A vulture stands only a few feet behind the toddler. Yes, the vulture is waiting. How is Quantum Physics at work here? Did the toddler create this reality with her thoughts? Did the toddler attract starvation and the waiting vulture? We don’t know, but, intuitively, we doubt this. We believe that other forces were at work in this situation. What forces? And why did Kevin Cater commit suicide the same year he won that Pulitzer Prize?
Compassion and Non-judgment
Compassion and non-judgment see the entire Body-Mind-Spirit. Compassion and non-judgment do not condemn physiological habits or addictions, or even deeply embedded thought patterns or spiritual suffering. Compassion and non-judgment also differentiate between desire and need. Perhaps you simply desire to change your job or relationship; but maybe you need to. Abraham Maslow, a modern American psychologist, believed it was important to distinguish between desire and need. He formulated a dynamic hierarchy of Human Needs to explain human development and evolution in individual and collective terms. We might say that the premise of any dynamic hierarchy is a desire to evolve. Do we desire or need to evolve? If so, should we eradicate this desire like we do the desire for the doughnut?
One way I embody my holistic perspective is by consciously engaging with the present moment. It takes practice, because my thoughts want to be somewhere else. Or my spirit feels weak. The present moment allows me to look at the desire for a doughnut and ask what it’s all about. I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes I realize I want to taste that doughnut and I eat it. Other times, I realize something emotional is going on. Maybe I just need to sit still and engage more with my spiritual practice. It is OK to stop and evaluate. It is OK to honor the Body, Mind and Spirit as One.
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Philosophy
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