For many years as a dharma student I viewed desire as one of the evil cousins of attachment, which itself was seen as the root of all suffering. Desire and attachment were to be overcome if one hoped to be free. But time and experience showed me that as a relational human being, it was impossible to be free of attachment (and desire) and further that it was undesirable to do so. Eschewing desire can lead to a personal collapse of spirit, repression (that often becomes obsession), and/or apathy for life. The sublimation of desire in general can also lead to strange fixations on small events and things. I have heard stories of monks fighting over petty issues, such as sandals being placed outside the meditation hall in someone else’s designated sandal spot.

In my own case, during many years of meditation practice I felt proficient enough at watching life but terribly lacking in participation in it. There was a battle going on inside of me, a yearning for aliveness and full engagement that was at odds with the preference for renunciation that I understood to be the higher road of spiritual expression. I have now come to see that attachment to what we love is as natural as breathing, that desire is the fuel that keeps the whole thing going. To paraphrase Tennessee Williams, desire is the opposite of death.

Yet it is also the case that our collective desire is killing us. We are gulping the planet’s resources and despoiling the eco-system at a rate that is seemingly impossible to redress. Martin Rees, Britain’s Astronomer Royal and author of Our Final Hour, puts humanity’s chances of survival into the next century at no more than 50%. Gratifying desires without regard for long-term consequences (a luxury afforded to our ancestors) is not tenable for us.

On an individual level, desire can run one’s life in such a way that it exhausts the very person it seeks to satisfy. So while it is natural and, I would argue, healthy, desire must also be considered in terms of the greater good. That is all that is at issue here. Not whether we should have desire. We do, and it is intrinsic to life that we do. But how shall we live with desire in harmonious ways both globally and personally?

The primary rule of desire should be the same as the physician’s Hippocratic oath: “First, do no harm.” How many times have we regretted our actions because we ignored this most basic principle? Through awareness we become more sensitive not only to our own feelings but to the feelings of others and we notice, often with horror, the damage that pursuit of some of our desires has caused. We look back in hindsight and discover that we paid a mighty high price for whatever we got from fulfilling desires that caused harm to ourselves or to others. When desire results in hurt or betrayal we must ask ourselves whether it was worth it. Often the cost was more than the gain.

The second rule of desire should follow Blake’s suggestion to kiss the joy as it flies. Desire and its fulfillment, like everything else, is fleeting. Whatever pleasures and delights come our way are just passing flickers to be enjoyed, not only despite their impermanence but also because of it. There is no point or possibility of holding onto these joys. Kiss them, celebrate them, love them and let them break your heart as they fly through the open window of your life. The heart is a muscle that gets exercised this way, and with time and wisdom it gets used to letting its joys bloom and fade. Our desires themselves change as we grow older and experiences that once drove us mad with excitement are quietly replaced by subtler passions.

Lastly: be willing to live with desires unfulfilled. Most of us will not get everything we wanted in this life. Some will feel satisfied on a personal level but not on a planetary one. Some will feel wanting in both. It is likely that many of our desires will go unsatisfied. This is not a cause for sadness but rather for appreciation of that fire that lives in us and keeps us interested and creative. A force of life that keeps roaring, “Yes, yes, bring it on!” but sooner or later, gently whispers, “And… let it all go.”

We are daily barraged with information about new threats as well. Only recently I read a blog by Sigourney Weaver and watched a new film she narrates about how our carbon dioxide emissions are not only affecting the atmosphere but are dramatically increasing levels of acidity in the oceans, a condition which has the potential to kill much of the life of the seas. It is depressing on a scale that is unique to our time. Even as a child, I felt that the most horrifying movies were the ones about the end of life on the planet. Now those images are playing in our heads as a real possibility, and people are feeling beaten down by them. All over the world, there are waves of distress, anxiety, and depression, which are based on circumstance and not merely on brain chemistry gone awry. Distress, anxiety, and depression are appropriate responses in facing the threat of extinction.

But, of course, while those responses are reasonable from an emotional point of view, they are contraindicated in dealing with the situation at hand. Increased panic and inner gloom only saps us of energy and clarity and more often leads to apathy, or worse, to a resigned, the-hell-with-it indulgence, quickening the gorging of resources and intensifying the pollution of land and sea.

What are more useful perspectives to get through the night here at the possible end of days? I have given this a lot of thought over the years and have had the conversation with many thousands of people in my work. Here are a few suggestions, and I would be happy to know of more along these lines.

1. Stay calm. It is always the first rule in emergencies and may seem trite to mention. But it is not at all trite in the lived experience and requires strong intention to maintain. Whatever you can do to induce greater quietness of heart in your life–walking in nature, meditating, playing with your dog, taking a long bath at the end of the day, reading or listening to music that fosters feelings of peace, swimming in the ocean–whatever your thing is, give priority to it every day. It is from a place of peace that the most elegant solutions reveal themselves and that we do our best work. I often point out in my sessions that, were I to be scheduled for an operation on a Monday morning, I would prefer that my surgeon had been playing golf rather than fretting over my case the day before. Your relaxation and calm is not an indulgence but rather a tune up for your mental and physical wellbeing, which leads to a more awake intelligence.
2. Don’t indulge dark visions of the future. No matter how it seems, know that things can turn around faster than may seem possible from our current vantage point. There is no way to know what solutions lie ahead. This is not to suggest a Pollyanna denial of the dire nature of our circumstances but rather to not assume certainty about it.
3. Be in love with your life, as Jack Kerouac said. The more you love your own life, the more tenderness you will feel for all of life. You will also be more content, a quality that is given short shift in media circles but one which is possibly the most radical of political acts. When we are content we have no need to keep adorning ourselves with objects and experiences. We extricate our attention from getting more and turn it to taking care of and appreciating what we have. We then walk more lightly on the earth.
4. Be of service. Know that whatever is to be in the future (and, after all, longevity was never a guarantee for anyone at any time of history) it will feel good to be of service in whatever ways your gifts can be used and on any scale that feels right and true, whether in your personal life of family and friends or in the context of a larger community dealing with more global issues. There are many unsung heroes making a huge difference in the world. I cannot help but think of President Obama’s grandparents and mother who provided their young lad with love and a good education. In their efforts simply within their own family, they affected the course of history. But, there is no need to keep accounts of whether your actions will someday pay off. Being of service feels good for its own sake and gives your life meaning, a sense that you are being well used, like good compost in this wondrous field we call life. The poet W.S. Merwin wrote, “On the last day of the world, I would want to plant a tree.” Whether we are in our last days or being forced to evolve as an intelligent world community in order to save ourselves, your own life can shine in your brief moments here and will have been a vote for the beauty and mercy of our species, no matter its outcome.
5. Evolution is doing its thing. If we don’t survive as a species, many of the less complex species on earth will go on without us, at least until the sun explodes in a supernova. Most of the species that ever existed on earth are now extinct and yet here we are, hooked up and plugged in, dental flossing and watching our caloric intake, as we plan for a future that may not ultimately be in our hands. As the old adage has it, “Nature bats last.”