A State Of Non-Covetousness

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 18 May 2023 “Rather than ogle at a woman and feel restless afterwards, look at her to your heart's content and feel blessed forever.” A Turkish Maxim Har Ek Daagh-E-Tamanna Ko Kaleje Se Lagata Hoon Ke Ghar Aayee Daulat Ko Thukraya Nahin Jaata Makhmoor Dehlvi (I accept wholeheartedly all the blots of desires, for, what comes to you naturally must never be resisted/resented) Two Buddhist monks, on their way to the monastery, found an exceedingly beautiful woman at the river bank. Like them, she wanted to cross the river, but the water was too high. So one of them took her across on his shoulders. The other was thoroughly scandalized. For two hours, he scolded the offender for his breach of the Rule: Had he forgotten he was a monk? How had he dared to touch the woman? And worse, carry her over the river? And what would people say? Had he not disgraced their holy Religion? And so on. The victim took it gamely. At the end of the lecture, he said, “Brother, I dropped that woman at the river. Are you carrying her still?" The Arab mystic, Abu Hassan Bushanja, says, “The act of sinning is not so harmful as the desire and the thought of it. It's one thing for the body to indulge in pleasure for a moment, and quite another for the mind and heart to chew on it endlessly." Each time I chew on the sins of others, I suspect the chewing gives me greater pleasure than the sinning gives the sinner. A couple of monks rudely asked Benedict Spinoza, the celebrated Dutch philosopher and said to be the most impious man (of course, in the estimation of the Vatican) ever to have walked on earth, whether he ogled at a beautiful nun. Spinoza didn't answer. He just smiled. Exasperated, they accused him of desecrating her virginal purity and kept berating him the whole day. Spinoza later wrote in his memoirs, “Yes I looked at the sublime beauty of that nun and forgot the next moment. But those repressed souls looked at her lustfully and could never drive her out of their mind." When Buddha didn't allow women in his religious fold, his favourite disciple, Anand, dared to ask him, “Doesn’t your fear of women stem out of your repression? Can you still call yourself sexually indifferent and erotically stoic?" No one ever questioned Buddha in this manner. He remained silent for a moment and calmly said, “Anand, you're right" The very next moment, women were allowed to enter the monastery. French writer Stendhal aptly said, “Suppressed desire is a poison. If you want to see a naked woman, go to a brothel." "Har Ek Hasrat Ko Jiya Maine/ Har Ek Aarzoo Ko Poora Kiya Maine/ Baaqi Jab Koi Tamanna Nahin Rahi/ Hayaat Ko Bandagi -E-Khuda Mein Laga Diya Main " (I fulfilled every desire/ I enjoyed every wish/ Having got fully satisfied/ I dedicated my life to the Almighty). Sadiq Burhanpuri's quatrain encapsulates the significance of fulfilling all desires to be able to concentrate on a higher goal or a metaphysical objective in life. Unfulfilled desires keep nagging and gnawing at you. At the time of bidding adieu to the world, one mustn't rue that he/she should and could have done this or that. In other words, life mustn't be full of might have beens. The way your tongue unwittingly goes to the tooth that pains, your heart and mind shall keep visiting the roots of unrealized and unfulfilled desires and you shall never be at peace with yourself. It'll be an injustice to your own self if you let even a single wish remain smouldering in the crevice of your heart. Sufis say, Tanam Paak Ast (the body is pure; Tanam in Persian and Tan in Sanskrit have the same meaning: Body). “An occasional act of bodily indulgence was never considered a sin “(Imamul Aroos). Only after fulfilling all desires, mental as well as physical, does come a state of desirelessness, a veritable non-covetousness in Christian mysticism. ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/state-covetousness/d/129802 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism