About Emptiness and Desire: Psychoanalytical and Buddhist Views in Dialogue.

“A void takes place in my chest And indeed I feel in my chest an emptiness.” - Cartola , Brazilian singer.

And perhaps the emptiness is not a void to be filled, but a place to inhabit.

The object of desire always ceases to be a cause of longing every time it is fulfilled (even partially). And if we don’t stop to analyze, a compulsion is established: for shopping, food, relationships, changes, and all kinds of affections.

Perhaps maturity leads us to understand the nature of desire, to detach from some objects, to embrace attachment to others. The important thing is to know: Human nature has much of lack and emptiness. The constant search comes from the driving force that propels the journey on Earth.

Contentment may not come from satisfaction after all because it is always temporary. And here, in this psychoanalytic and Buddhist reflection, they complement each other admirably. Recognize desire as the origin of all suffering. But also as a foundation to deeply experience the joys of affections. Without attachment. Letting go, because it is well known that everything will pass.

I conclude this reflection with my favorite Freud quote:

“To decide when it is more appropriate to control your passions and bow to reality or to take their side and oppose the external world constituted the essence of the wisdom of living.