Desire is sometimes given a bad rap by good and thoughtful people. That's because it is conflated with acquisitiveness. We often wish to accrue money, fame, a lover, electronic toys, a car. But surely it is not wrong to desire universal health and happiness. So, right desire can be the motivator toward living a principled and clarified life.
We see by this how far from these good things we can be led by advertising, propaganda, and selected "news" -- which may be but advertising and propaganda put forth by the unprincipled for the sake of a greedful and almost universally hurtful agenda.
On a warm
day we may desire to walk together to the lake or to sit under a tree
and look across the river toward the mountain; in cold rain we may
desire to sit by a fire with tea. These are good things; yet by wishing
as much for others we find the springboard toward right action.
I said, “What does Zen Master Fenggan do when he is here?”
The monk said, “He pounds rice and offers it to the assembly of monks. At night he enjoys himself singing.”
-- Luqui Yin, tr. Tanahashi