Lecture Notes on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (169)

Desires for worldly dharmas are futile and harmful

Since the realms of the five desires and six sense objects are as unreal as a dream, we should apply our minds to cultivating the Path. No matter how much effort we put into the six sense objects, it is futile and useless—it merely serves to satisfy the desires of a deluded mind. In essence, such desires are unnecessary; because of these desires, we do many meaningless things and also create much evil karma. If we did not have those desires for worldly dharmas, we would be a normal person, an awakened person, a tranquil person, a person without karmic obstructions and without afflictions.