Endless desire

[Cadcam]

I've gotten to the point where I hardly think at all. I've tamed my mind, and my desire. I sit in the quiet of no thought. The Buddha was most wise to identify desire as a root of the human condition. It seems that we simply can't get enough of satisfying our cravings. I feel it, and it makes me suffer, because I realize that this is really all we are; desire is all life is. All we have is satisfying our wants. It makes me sad, how transient life is! Just to live and want and do, and then die! Even in the afterlife,  should there be one, the cycle continues.  

[Lairg]

5 minutes ago, Cadcam said:

I've tamed my mind, and my desire. I sit in the quiet of no thought.

 

Now you have tamed your humanness, do you have a higher purpose?

[Cadcam]

I am but one man, with limited resources in a land where each has the free will to choose and to do. I have no higher calling than to let existence run it's course.

[Lairg]

I have often wondered if humans are purely decorative

 

 

[Cadcam]

16 hours ago, Lairg said:

I have often wondered if humans are purely decorative

 

 

I wouldn't say decorations,  but certainly entertainment. 

[stirling]

18 hours ago, Cadcam said:

I've gotten to the point where I hardly think at all. I've tamed my mind, and my desire. I sit in the quiet of no thought.

 

This is fabulous. Do this as often as possible. Can you drive, walk, make food, in this way? If not, move toward that activity. 

 

Meditation is the perfect space for apprehending reality, since sitting in stillness is not different from what enlightened mind is. What happens when a thought DOES come up? Where does it come from? When there is no thought, is there a Cadcam? 

 

18 hours ago, Cadcam said:

The Buddha was most wise to identify desire as a root of the human condition.

 

Yes, and the cause of our suffering is our attachment and aversion. How is your attachment and aversion? Are you regularly noticing where you are attached or averse to events, things, and people and dropping it?

 

18 hours ago, Cadcam said:

I feel it, and it makes me suffer, because I realize that this is really all we are; desire is all life is. All we have is satisfying our wants. It makes me sad, how transient life is! Just to live and want and do, and then die! Even in the afterlife,  should there be one, the cycle continues.  

 

Is there suffering when the mind is still? Is there an afterlife?

 

17 hours ago, Cadcam said:

I am but one man, with limited resources in a land where each has the free will to choose and to do. I have no higher calling than to let existence run it's course.

 

Excellent. Surrender is a fantastic tool.

[Cadcam]

Yes I can still function without thinking. I've noticed that there are many layers to consciousness,  and a variety of thoughts. I still occasionally get some, but I don't actively use my mind and inner voice. Often I hear other voices say things. 

 

I have very vivid, realistic dreams. The other day I dreamed I was part of a group of people who committed themselves to advancing life on Earth. At the end of my dream, a voice said "there is nowhere as exciting as this planet" 

[cake1234566]

Totally get what you mean, i struggled a lot with that as well, this is the advice that I wish i'd heard back then, I hope it helps you

 

Taming the mind is fickle and not always as it seems

You should self evaluate and find if you've really found that perfect middle between nothing and not-no-thing where you can be fully present and that you haven't fallen into clinging to emptiness which causes disassociation and a sense of endless longing

Remember also, samadhi is just one part of the eightfold path (I assume you come from a buddhist background given the wording)
If you've reached the end of where samadhi will take you that's excellent, there's always something else to work on

Perhaps you could take the despair you feel and transform it using metta, feel pity for all sentient being stuck in the cycle of craving and transform that into pure compassion

[Cadcam]

Thats a thought. I never considered drawing a distinction between my state and the state of others. I used to be filled with compassion but now I don't feel it. I treat all people with the same respect.

[Lairg]

2 hours ago, Cadcam said:

I have very vivid, realistic dreams. The other day I dreamed I was part of a group of people who committed themselves to advancing life on Earth.

 

Was that an out-of-body experience?

[Cadcam]

3 hours ago, Lairg said:

 

Was that an out-of-body experience?

Idk, it felt very real. I know that the mind can imagine whole scenarios on its own, and I suppose that when we sleep our true inner self interacts with our history, and knowledge, and ideas, but sometimes it seems to be coming from an external source.

[Lairg]

6 hours ago, Cadcam said:

At the end of my dream, a voice said "there is nowhere as exciting as this planet" 

 

It seems that Earth is a pivot operating on various planes

 

[Cadcam]

Yes I think it's the variety of species, and ideas. I feel like these dreams are on different planes, with some different laws about time and matter. I feel like in those places, things are accelerated and more intense for those who visit them

[Lairg]

17 minutes ago, Cadcam said:

these dreams are on different planes, with some different laws about time and matter.

 

My experiments indicate that some dreams are actual experiences in parallel universes/timelines.

 

Parallel processing speeds up human and cosmic development

 

[Cadcam]

Well yes, they are actual experiences, that we carry with us. 

Edited December 22 by Cadcam

[Krenx]

Does the state of mind you have acquired lead to keeping the 5 precepts? No Cheating, stealing, lying, killing, consuming intoxicants(alcohol/drugs). 

 

Precepts that we keep, break, are good mechanism to check if we are acting out of greed, aversion, delusion. 

 

Not thinking does not always mean a good thing. Because ignorance is another outcome of not thinking. 

 

Basic Intelligence, and active contemplation is important on the path. 

 

 

Edited December 22 by Krenx

[Tommy]

On 12/20/2025 at 6:08 PM, Cadcam said:

I've gotten to the point where I hardly think at all. I've tamed my mind, and my desire. I sit in the quiet of no thought. 

 

That sounds like good news.

 

On 12/20/2025 at 6:08 PM, Cadcam said:

The Buddha was most wise to identify desire as a root of the human condition. It seems that we simply can't get enough of satisfying our cravings. I feel it, and it makes me suffer, because I realize that this is really all we are; desire is all life is. All we have is satisfying our wants. It makes me sad, how transient life is! Just to live and want and do, and then die! Even in the afterlife,  should there be one, the cycle continues.  

Did Buddha identify life as only suffering due to trying to satisfy our cravings? Or is life a bit more? Having friends and family along with laughter and joy? Wisdom seems to be a companion of compassion. Does that mean we are trying to satisfy our cravings by showing wisdom and compassion towards others?

 

Someone once told me to try smiling while doing ordinary life events. That smiling would transform the outlook of life. In other words, one sets their own frame of reference for life. If all you see is trying to satisfy cravings then that is all life means to you. If you laugh and sing and create then life is fuller.

 

Of course, I could be wrong since I do not sit in the quiet of no thought. I sit in the quiet of my awareness. Thoughts come and go. I let them pass like cars on the road in front of my house. Where they came from and where they go, I have no idea. If my heart is light then I am light. If my heart is dark then I am dark. Does one choose one or the other? Or is that part of one's personality? Or does one have a personality after sitting for so long??

Edited Wednesday at 04:02 AM by Tommy

[Cadcam]

I dont know, i can only say that nothing satisfies. I'm like a blank slate. I don't feel love or joy hardly at all. I don't feel much of anything. 

[Tommy]

On 12/26/2025 at 1:11 PM, Cadcam said:

I dont know, i can only say that nothing satisfies. I'm like a blank slate. I don't feel love or joy hardly at all. I don't feel much of anything. 

Okay, nothing satisfies. What is the craving that needs to be satisfied? If you don't have a craving are you bothered by nothing satisfies?

Let me see, a blank slate is still a slate. Ready to take up any ideas presented. I like what Bruce lee once said. Be like water. What he actually meant by that I don't know. But, it sounds good.

 

Two guys who haven't seen each other for a long time meet. One guy says, "how have you been and how is that son of yours?". The second guy answers, that he is fine and his son is sitting around all day doing meditation. The first guy responds that sounds great. It is better than just sitting sound doing nothing all day. LOL.

 

Sorry, poor humor.

[Cadcam]

I have a craving to do things, and enjoy life, but nothing is appealing to me, and the few things I do don't satisfy. Then there is this want for some kind of closure: a transition from one state to the next, but life just goes on and on. I don't think, or can't, rather,  and nothing makes me more aware than I am. So I sit, or sleep.  

[Tommy]

1 hour ago, Cadcam said:

I have a craving to do things, and enjoy life, but nothing is appealing to me, and the few things I do don't satisfy. Then there is this want for some kind of closure: a transition from one state to the next, but life just goes on and on. I don't think, or can't, rather,  and nothing makes me more aware than I am. So I sit, or sleep.  

Craving is a desire? So a desire to do things and enjoy life? So I have to ask why what you are doing must satisfy your desires? Looking for something appealing means you expect something. Maybe if you stop expecting something then maybe you can just be happy.

 

Expecting closure? A transition from one state to the next? Doesn't the expectation cause a barrier from the next state from happening? That gives me the shudders. That is why I have given up wanting enlightenment. Wanting it prevents it from happening. Not wanting it, lets me be me. Happy. Chop wood and carry water. I do not need to look for something appealing. It all is appealing. Even things I do not want to do becomes something to do. Just to do.

 

What did Mark say in the four arisings of mindfulness? The more we try to do right, the more we do wrong.

[Lairg]

On 12/27/2025 at 4:11 AM, Cadcam said:

i can only say that nothing satisfies. I'm like a blank slate. I don't feel love or joy hardly at all. I don't feel much of anything. 

 

It is one thing to still the conscious part of the mind, it is quite another to nourish your humanness - to produce aliveness in mind and emotions.

 

Perhaps your humanness needs to be whole in order to swim in the cosmic ocean

 

 

Edited yesterday at 04:07 AM by Lairg

[Cadcam]

On 12/22/2025 at 4:43 PM, Krenx said:

Does the state of mind you have acquired lead to keeping the 5 precepts? No Cheating, stealing, lying, killing, consuming intoxicants(alcohol/drugs). 

 

Precepts that we keep, break, are good mechanism to check if we are acting out of greed, aversion, delusion. 

 

Not thinking does not always mean a good thing. Because ignorance is another outcome of not thinking. 

 

Basic Intelligence, and active contemplation is important on the path. 

 

 

Yes, I feel bad energy when I cuss,  or do anything immoral 

[Cadcam]

4 hours ago, Tommy said:

Craving is a desire? So a desire to do things and enjoy life? So I have to ask why what you are doing must satisfy your desires? Looking for something appealing means you expect something. Maybe if you stop expecting something then maybe you can just be happy.

 

Expecting closure? A transition from one state to the next? Doesn't the expectation cause a barrier from the next state from happening? That gives me the shudders. That is why I have given up wanting enlightenment. Wanting it prevents it from happening. Not wanting it, lets me be me. Happy. Chop wood and carry water. I do not need to look for something appealing. It all is appealing. Even things I do not want to do becomes something to do. Just to do.

 

What did Mark say in the four arisings of mindfulness? The more we try to do right, the more we do wrong.

I guess I shouldn't say i crave these things, craving implies some sort of carnal hunger. It's just a want that I notice when I find no satisfaction. 

[old3bob]

On 12/20/2025 at 4:08 PM, Cadcam said:

I've gotten to the point where I hardly think at all. I've tamed my mind, and my desire. I sit in the quiet of no thought. The Buddha was most wise to identify desire as a root of the human condition. It seems that we simply can't get enough of satisfying our cravings. I feel it, and it makes me suffer, because I realize that this is really all we are; desire is all life is. All we have is satisfying our wants. It makes me sad, how transient life is! Just to live and want and do, and then die! Even in the afterlife,  should there be one, the cycle continues.  

 

My take is that all 'lesser' desires can be boiled down to or driven by a seeking for the true desire (often in all the wrong places via the schools of hard knocks) which is for freedom and satisfaction of the soul finding and knowing its own Soul.  To try and quash that and related life force is missing the boat and futile.  True desire is the force behind or within all beings to find and know what the hell is really going on (including right dharmas) , thus not an elaborate and or high sounding philosophy that may get turned into or be interpreted as a dead like denial of that force.

 

Edited 21 hours ago by old3bob