Lust is just simple word,
but its connotation is far from simple. Most people tend to avoid the word due
to its association with something bad or evil. Lust is like a pariah – shunned
by all, since we refuse to admit to our own lusts. Since our childhood days we
have learnt that lust is one of the deadly sins. It is rarely a topic of
discussion except when we discuss the lust of others; then it is like the
luscious forbidden fruit that we enjoy shamelessly.
We do this consciously
most of the time. Blaming someone of lust gives us the opportunity for
expressing righteous indignation. We tend to forget that we too suffer from the
same tendencies deep down. But is lust really the black hole that we keep hidden
within ourselves? Are we all prey to this propensity, whatever the extent? Or
isn’t lust just another specificity of our species? Why do we constantly
consider lust to be a sin? Does lust come from desire? But then, all desires
are not sinful – the desire to be close to God, the desire to prove our own worth,
the desire to see our children happy and successful… Then why do we want to and
do regard lust as something sinful? It is also true that desire and greed are
not qualities we venerate either. The desire for appropriating wealth of
others, succeeding with trickery, cheating people by exploiting their
weaknesses are considered to be bad. ‘Covetousness leads to sin, sin lead to
death’ – says one of our old proverbs. So greed and desire are also regarded as
sins. But we don’t hesitate to talk about our desires about different things,
without any qualms, as about the objects of our desires. We easily undermine
the importance of such types of greed or desire depending on the nature of what
we covet. But we hardly ever own up to our lusts, as if that would label us as
sinners to the society in general. We carefully maintain the difference between
desire and lust – lust is a sin. Desire is not always a sin. This begs the
question – why?
Everything we do for
survival, all the different actions that are necessary for sustaining the human
society originate from our survival instinct. In this respect there is little
difference between animals and human beings. The only factor that distinguishes
humans is that only humans experience greed or desire. And this may be
considered as the driving force of man’s progress, the origin of human
civilization. Some may think that human civilization was born out of love or
out of a passionate quest to understand what so far was unknown. These are
relevant arguments. We know that love is not unique to the humans – it exists
among other animals too, though the quest for knowledge is indeed specifically
human. But does not this quest originate from man’s desire as well? Animals
don’t have desires – their sole concern is survival. They don’t need anything
more. But from the earliest days of civilization, man wanted more than what was
strictly necessary for survival – a sentiment resulting from lack of
satisfaction. The mere satiation of basic needs like hunger and sex does not
satisfy humans. This fundamental dissatisfaction – the need to have more than
the basic necessities – this is what I would like to call greed or desire. This
instinct, totally absent in animals, made man distinct. A new chapter started
in human history – the birth of human civilization.
Desire or greed or
covetousness is therefore fundamental to human nature. We can never move
forward if we are satisfied by what is absolutely necessary. We often see that
those who move forward more easily or faster than others are those who are
basically dissatisfied with what they have. Their deep seated desire prompts
them to want more, drives them forward. From train to plane, from radio to
television, from telephone to cell phones – this has been the path we have
trodden. Desire for more pushes us forward. Those who are not driven by greed
eventually stop moving since there is no motivation. Those who think that the
quest for knowledge is the main driving force behind human progress must keep in
mind that this quest is ultimately driven by desire to have more. Man would not
have sought to seek knowledge or understand the causes behind different
phenomena if desire did not drive them. We can’t deny that desire is what
drives us forward.
However, if society
allows each individual to satisfy his own desires in a totally unregulated way
it will result in total anarchy. No human society can ever allow that. So a
different word and concept was invented – that of lust, which put a boundary to
human desire. Beyond that boundary desire became lust. Lust is bad, lust is sin
- was the message that was widely diffused, aimed at preserving the sanctity of
family and society, across countries, throughout the ages. But do we as
individuals, respect that boundary at all times? When do we step beyond? That
is decided by the innate nature of all humans but depends also on the limits
imposed by the environment. It is also shaped by his education and culture.
The image we project of
ourselves in the society we live in is often different from our innate nature.
In general, human beings can’t jeopardize this self-projected image to avoid
shame, criticism, violating social or legal rules. We can only speculate about
what the nature of the society would be if these constraints were not there.
Because whether we admit it or not, none of us can swear that we are not prey
to desire or lust. Now, wherein lies the fine line between desire and lust,
given that they also depend on the time, the country, the society we live in?
Normally we take sufficient precautions for hiding our desires and lusts from
others. They become visible to the society only when we lose self control – for
whatever reason. In general, we do not acknowledge the beast that sleeps in our
innermost cores – the beast that sometimes gets the upper hand. The main anchor
of human society is built upon our intrinsic difference with the animal world –
the desire for things that we don’t basically need to survive; we may or may
not agree, but I think that this is essentially true.
The desire for what is
superfluous, that is not directly related to mere survival is innate in human
nature, carefully hidden from the outer world by our social persona. It’s only
when the desire crosses the limits of social acceptation and the boundary we
talked about earlier, it qualifies as lust. So the difference between desire
and lust is not really qualitative but rather quantitative. With puberty comes
the sexual attraction for the opposite sex, just like in other animals. Humans
seek to satisfy this urge within the institution of marriage. But what happens
if our sexual urges are not satisfied and we start getting attracted to the
members of the opposite sex outside the boundaries of marriage? We are the only
ones to feel this kind of urge, which we hide expertly and consciously from
others, preserving our social image within the perimeter of our families and
society. But if ever that urge becomes too strong, when man can no longer
contain himself and defies all social norms to enter into an adulterous
relationship, it is immediately qualified as sexual lust. This is the only
difference between desire and lust.
Desire or lust –
whichever word we choose to use – basically reflects our instincts – those that
make us different from animals – the hypothesis we started with. If we go a bit
deeper, we see that our basic needs – that of food, clothes or shelter – does not
amount to much. What is much more important are things that we don’t really
need to survive – those are the objects of our desires. Desires brutally
suppressed in order to preserve the social structure by labeling it as ‘lust’.
But to what extent we actually manage to suppress lust at the individual and
societal levels? Human lives are dominated by sexual lust and lust for money.
The history of humanity derives largely from a combination of these two factors.
The sexual behavior of animals is guided by and limited to the need to
procreate and does not involve anything else. That is the extent of their
animal instincts. But the sexual instinct of humans is different; his wants are
always guided by the desire for more. This is the true definition of lust. Men
often lust after not only their wives but also their young sisters in laws – an
attraction that is not the result of her intellectual or cerebral capacities
but more for her sexual attraction. This lust, tightly controlled by social
laws is forever present in man’s conscious or subconscious mind. It does come
out from time to time depending on opportunities or circumstances. A man who
says he is above this kind of lust then even if he is not a liar, he can’t be
considered totally normal either – it is not normal for a man not to have
sexual attraction for women. The same principle applies to women as well. But
women are often prisoners of patriarchal societies and so their sexual urges
have to be buried deep. This is how societies condition women from the day they
are born.
The lust for wealth and money is the second type of lust that dominates our
lives. This is a major driving force for not only individuals but also for
countries and nations. The wars between different countries are the direct
outcomes of this lust for wealth. In our own lives we run after money according
to our own abilities. Most of us are not satisfied with what is required to
live decently. We are forever trying to get more. But how many of us actually
own up to this lust for wealth? Very few!
Seeking wealthy grooms for our daughters, asking for dowry for our sons –
these are actually outcomes of this lust for wealth. Bringing up daughters with
the tales of prince charming mould their psyche as well – even when they choose
their partners. These are the backdrops of our daily lives that we rarely
acknowledge. All of us, especially the educated, are primarily interested in
projecting a suave and cultured persona to the others. Within that self
projected image we continue to satisfy our basic instincts though to the
outside world we remain good honest citizens.
Each one of us continues to satisfy our deep seated instincts depending on
opportunity and circumstances. Those who don’t get these opportunities, those
who are not bold enough to take actions to satisfy their own lusts spend their
lives in envy and regret. And those who actually can attain their objects of
lust without a single dent in their social images are applauded and feted for
their success. Be it in a mere village council or in the highest political and
social spheres, like the security council of the United Nations. This is the
crux of our civilization today. It is only the cowards and the fools rely on
luck, buying lottery tickets or logging on to pornographic websites in secret.
Lust, which drives our daily lives, actually makes us prisoners of our
basic instincts, at a very low level of consciousness. All great men from
different religions, cultures and societies have always called humans to
transcend this level. Their purpose was to rescue humans from this low level of
existence. They understood that unless humans can get out of this circle of
greed and lust, human society will never progress. They did not attempt threats
or laws or norms to make humans better – they advised humans to get beyond the
basic instincts. Starting from Buddha to Rabindranath Tagore or Sri Aurobindo –
they all pointed to the path to be taken, the path that would help man to rise
above his base instincts. Rise above the individual self to the universal self.
Only then can human civilization become a glowing beacon, from North to South,
East to West.
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL BY
APARAJITA
SEN
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