On whose behalf is this desire arising?

[If you’re unsure whether or not to pursue a particular desire]…

“…You can ask yourself, ‘On whose behalf is this desire arising’? 

“Does it truly come from love, from intelligence, from peace? Or does it come from a sense of lack that is seeking, through the desire, to acquire an object, a substance, an activity, a state, or a relationship in order to give this fragment [ego, false self] happiness? 

“And, if the desire is coming from that place: instead of seeking to fulfill the desire through the acquisition of the object, turn around and question the fragment, the sense of lack or dis-ease or discomfort from which the desire is arising. Because what you are really seeking through the acquisition of the object is, in fact, lying just behind the discomfort [points inward (essential being)]. You have to go back through the discomfort this way [points inward] in order to find what you’re truly looking for, in the object out there.”

“But if the desire does come from a sense of fulfillment … You can act on the desire and if the desire is not fulfilled, you won’t mind in the least … You were already fulfilled … so … It leaves no trace of longing or disappointment in you.”