How would satisfying desire fit in with leading a virtuous life?
Desires (kama) which are based on dharma (virtues) will support our spiritual life in the world. It is not the desire to reinforce worldliness in the mind, like desire to gamble. So that means satisfying basic needs? Kama based on dharma is not lustful desire. It’s the desire to sustain life, to sustain the family, and to sustain the society. Is it saying that we have to do our duty according to our place in life and we have to do selfless service? Yes. A child, a grown-up, the old person can’t have the same duty. But according to their own stage of life, they can do selfless service. What is the duty of a child? Duty of a child is to learn and to use what is learned for the good of society. It seems that all human beings have their own dharma and everyone should chip in to the society to keep it going. If one person doesn’t chip in, does that make it necessary for others to make up for that person? Every living being has a dharma. Human beings have individual dharma as well as univers
