There is one desire which is considered to be benign, and that is the desire for moksha. A person who desires moksha wants something to change. He or she does not know what moksha is but that person has recognized ‘the problem.’ The problem being that nothing in samsara will ever satisfy one’s desire for happiness because samsara is always changing. In fact, the actual meaning of the word samsara is that which changes very well.

The desire for moksha is considered to be benign because it is the one desire which when fulfilled gives rise to no other. All other desires give rise to other desires that give rise to other desires and so on.

Happiness is one’s true nature. That’s why we want it so much. It doesn’t feel right to be unhappy. Unhappiness is inimitable to us. We want to get rid of unhappiness. The reason we want to get rid of it is because it isn’t really who we are.

The fulfillment of a worldly desire–say for an object or a situation–does seem to provide a moment of happiness. That’s why we go after those things that appear to produce these moments. But in reality those moments are actually a reflection of one’s true nature in a calm mind that is temporarily not wanting anything to be different.