Joy springs up

Joy is deeper than desire. That’s basic religious wisdom. It’s the wisdom that you find in all the great spiritual traditions. So meditation doesn’t destroy desire, because life without desire would be difficult to live. But it does transform desire. And I think what it does is it puts you into touch with what you really want. Because most of our confusion arises from the fact that we don’t know what we really want. And what meditation does, in quite a radical way of sorting and simplifying ourselves, is to put you back into touch with your basic need, which is your basic desire. Then joy springs up.

Grace at Work by Laurence Freeman OSB