I Am Interested In Buddhism

I have been wondering... People seem to widely agree on the Buddhist teaching that desire is the root of all suffering. And I won't contradict the Buddha. Probably this saying has many many facets. If you keep wanting you'll never get to a place of having. Buuuuut I also think that suffering can be the root of desire. Why do we find ourselves wanting? As soon as we want, this means that we don't wanna stay where we presently are. Why don't we wanna stay? Because we suffer in the here and now.
Any thoughts or further reading on this?

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MisVirtuous · 46-50, F

I remember one teacher- not sure who; maybe Thich Nhat Hanh- pointed out that desire might be better understood in the West as attachment. In other words, if we cling to something, it will eventually cause suffering. Suffering is inevitable. Attachment is not.

GlassDog · 46-50, M

I understand what you mean, but without desire there would be no suffering in the first place to begin this cycle. We want because we are not happy and we think acquiring something/someone will make us happy. But instead, it just gives us one more thing to make us unhappy when it's not there or not what we expect. The solution is to move in the other direction. To not need or want. There's isn't a way around it, and if you're looking for one, you're still wanting. :)

jjoe01

True, that's why many rich people started out very poor and suffered a lot. Because they suffer, it beget the desire to get out of the suffering, therefore motivate them to do well in life. You just have to balance it out. In life, everything is about yin and yang. Same principle.

Natman · F

I can understand what you're saying. I think dukha may be best translated as aversion (running away from what is) rather than desire.

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