Houston Smith: Hinduism 1

What do people want?

According to Hinduism, people want many things, and they attain them in stages. The first thing people want is pleasure. Pleasure is a highly self centered goal, and thus is unsatisfactory, although should not be discouraged. Hinduism addresses the issues of desire as necessary, and if someone wants pleasure, they should seek it. After pleasure ceases to satisfy the individual, one's desires move on to Success (which consists of wealth, fame, and power). This is a slightly more sophisticated desire for it includes the lives of others, but like pleasure, it is an insatiable and dissatisfactory pursuit in the end. This is due to the fact that the quest for success is still self centered and highly competitive. If one seeks success and fame and money and whatnot, then they are attempting to better their own situation and in competition with everyone else on the same pursuit. These two desires comprise the concept of the Path of Desire, a rudimentary yet necessary part of gaining sophisticated thought on this issue and moving on to the next realm of thinking. Smith compares this transition to the way a child interacts with toys. The Path of Desire is necessary to develop the person and help them grow healthily, but at some point it must be outgrown for more complex and sophisticated pursuits. These pursuits are described as the Path of Renunciation. This path underlines the fact that the self is small, too small to sustain legitimate happiness when focused upon too much. Thus it renounces the importance of self in search of the more satisfying focus on community. Taking to the religion of Duty is the third great aim of life for Hindus. However, there remains one more item which people want according to Hinduism.

What do people REALLY want?

According to Hinduism, people really want infinite being, knowledge and bliss. More interestingly, Hinduism claims that people already possess these coveted qualities, but simply can not make it through the layers of superficial distractions in order to find them. According to Hinduism, the prior three desires are shallow ones, although worthy of exploration, and once it is realized that those three are not as satisfying as hoped, one will move on to realize the true desires in life. This desire is the one which satisfies the Atman.