We live in a state of constant longing. The current moment
seems never to be enough. When we’ve reached one thing, we
immediately long for something else. The grass is always
greener on the other side. The main idea here is that we are
wanting: always and for something. But what are we longing
for?
Our yearning is a sensation we have a hard time describ-
ing. It is something that surrounds us but still we are not able
to explain it exactly. Longing is something formless that
encircles us. It is a notion in us that seeks existence and
expression through us. One could say that longing uses us as
its vehicle for material existence.
In practice, this means that we project our yearning for a
physical or tangible form. We attach our desires for some
objects or objectives. Depending on the circumstances, it can
be a person we are missing, a better job, our own apartment,
our spouse, wealth, or an occupation, to name a few. No mat-
ter the subject, the important point is that for us, it is some-
thing concrete. We have a hard time separating the object
from the subject. We mark the object of the longing and start
to regard it as the means of improving our state of being (i.e.,
our inner condition).
We are all familiar with the results. The instant we have
achieved that something that we wanted, we are after some-
thing else. We are not satisfied, which was the whole purpose
of the issue. Now we are after something else. So, what actu-
ally happens?
Longing makes us active. It drives us to experience and
face different challenges in life. What would happen if we
would not long for anything? Nothing. But there would not
be much progress either. If no one is either after or lacking
anything, because longing implies a condition where the sub-
ject is incomplete and seeks the missing component, nothing
would improve or change.
It is important to identify this continuous process we are
going through. One should realize that longing is not “us”—
we can never become fulfilled by any means outside of our
inner being. Therefore, if we can see through this longing and
ignore its quest, we are already closer to being “complete.” We
are not running around and reaching for something illusion-
ary. All we need to do is to identify our behavioral patterns
and make conscious actions instead of commit blind obedi-
ence. How about reaching for nonlonging?
This is the original text, and an edited version can be found in the Fragments of Reality -book.
