Hoping against hope

Buddhism teaches that desire causes all suffering. It’s believed that when desire ceases, pain ceases.

I’ve certainly experienced heartache, shame, disappointment, and plenty of painful emotions that come as a result of unfulfilled desires. Sometimes it hurts to want.

But I’ve also felt the sheer delight and joy of a deeply desired, long-time dream that comes true. The greater the desire, the deeper the satisfaction when it’s fulfilled.

Who do we become if we stifle our longings? How might it impact our capacity to feel deeply? To empathize with others?

What if the problem is not desiring too much, but too little? What if our desires and the hope of their fulfillment are not the cause of the pain in life, but rather what sustains us through it?

What if the solution to suffering is hope? To hope against hope, to desire more deeply against all odds, to believe in spite of the pain.