Signs Around Town

Whenever I see extensive plantings of tulips, it brings to mind the tulip mania of the 17th century Dutch. At the height of the mania, single bulbs could sell for several times the annual income of a skilled worker.

Now, the tulip is just another beautiful flower. How could it ever have been the focus of such outrageous extremes of lust, gambing, greed, and social mania?

It is a great contemplation to examine what leads us to desire and seek and value particular things–either individually or collectively. Do the desires bring us to a place of greater good and true fulfillment or is the desire just fueling the unhappy dance of craving and loss?

The tantric philosophers point out that desire itself is not bad. After all, it is what gets us out of bed in the morning and can turn us to the good. But if it is driven by external opinion and emptiness of self, then it yields suffering–the suffering from which yoga seeks to free us.

Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.