Replace desire with aspiration¹⁵

One day a disciple came up to his Master and said, “Master, this mind is horrible, horrible, horrible. I can’t take it anymore. It is all meanness, jealousy, hypocrisy and lower vital thoughts.”

The Master said, “My son, why do you speak ill of your mind? The mind is not bad; it is only that desire is entering into your mind and agitating it. The mind is not torturing you; it is you who are torturing the mind. Desire comes and wants to play with the mind or strike the mind to get some sound from it. Therefore, the mind starts defending itself and tries to kill you. A snake usually remains peaceful, but if you go and bite the snake, then naturally the snake will come and bite you or kill you. Very rarely will the snake bother you otherwise. So do not blame the mind. Blame your desire that strikes the mind.”

The disciple said, “Then how can I get rid of desire?”

The Master said, “Desire has to be replaced, and this is possible only through aspiration. Empty the vessel of desire and fill it with aspiration. It is like emptying a vessel of dirty, filthy water and filling it with clean, pure water.”

“How can I do that, Master?” asked the disciple.

The Master answered, “You can do it only by seeing what happens to those who have not emptied their vessels. They suffer unbearably, beyond their imagination. And those who empty desire-ignorance from their inner vessel and fill the vessel with aspiration-wisdom not only make themselves happy, but also make the Beloved Supreme happy. Not only are they fulfilled, but God Himself is fulfilled in and through them.

“So do not blame the mind. Blame desire that comes to torture the mind. Truth to tell, blaming desire is also not the correct way. One should bring into one’s system something that will slowly, steadily and unerringly remove desire-life and replace it with its own reality. And that is aspiration. Replace desire with aspiration. Then you will have a heart of illumination and a life of perfection.”