It’s interesting to see the deep-rooted persistence of even small desires for sense pleasures. A thought might come, “a cup of tea,” and, especially on retreat, we might simply note it. It comes again, and we note it. And again, until often, in the end, we are carried away and act on the desire. There is nothing wrong with a cup of tea; this is simply an exercise in learning about the power of desire in our minds and lives. These different patterns of craving, desire, wanting are so familiar to us that they just seem like the ordinary fabric of life.
