DESIRES, DESIRE, DESIRE, DESIRES

There are two ways of finishing your desires—by realizing, through reason and discrimination, or wisdom, that only God can give permanent unalloyed happiness; and by fulfillment. In many cases desires lie hidden within the subconscious. You think they are finished, but they are not. Life is indeed a great mystery; but the mystery clears away when you dissect life with the scalpel of reason. If every day you sit quietly for a little while and analyze yourself, you will discover that you have many unsatisfied desires. They are like dangerous germs that you carry through life, and wherever you go, in this life or next, they will go with you.



—Paramahansa Yogananda, “The Desire that Satisfies All Desires” from Man’s Eternal Quest.