Meditate with desire? Yes (Ajahn Chah)

Ajahn Chah (ajahnchah.org) via Ven. Sujato, Ellie Askew, Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

I crave to make an end of craving. Is that OK?

Lustful desire (thirst, craving, clinging, greed) is a defilement. But we must first have some kind of desire (ambition, a sense of urgency, determination, the will to gain some good) to start practicing the Middle Way.

Suppose we went to buy coconuts at the market, and while carrying them back someone asked: "Why did you buy those coconuts?"

Why did you buy this hard shell, to eat?

"I brought them to eat."

"Are you going to eat the shells, too?"

"Of course not."

"I don't believe you. If you're not going to eat the shells, why did you buy them?"

Well, what would you say? When asked, how are you going to answer that question?

We practice with some form of desire to begin with. If we had no desire at all, we wouldn't practice. Contemplating in this way can give rise to wisdom, you know?

Master Chah mindfully meditating in the forest

For example, with those coconuts, are you going to eat the shells as well? Of course not. Then why did you buy them? They're very useful for wrapping up the contents of coconut. If after eating the contents we throw the shells away, there's no problem.

• [Don't throw them away until they've served their purpose.]

Our practice is like this. We're not going to eat the shells, but it's not yet time to throw them away.

We keep them first, just like we do with some forms of desire. This is how the practice of Buddhism is. If someone wants to accuse us of eating coconut shells, that's their business. Let them. We know what we're doing.