Commentary on the Gospel of
Regulating Desire
What is the secret to happiness? Perhaps there are many. But one sure secret is to learn to be content with what one has. The poor think that they will be happy when they get rich. The rich think that they will be happy when they get richer! This is a vicious cycle. King Ahab is a classic case. Being a King, he does not lack any material or human resource. But the sight of poor Naboth’s little vineyard so sickens him with longing and leaves him miserable and depressed until he gets it! Buddha was right when he observed that desire is the root of all human miseries. Though the solution is not to eliminate desire (for, our very being is constituted by desire), but to regulate our desire in such a way that it does not violate the rights of others or leads to reciprocal violence that Jesus speaks of in today’s gospel.
