---
title: "Desire"
type: "Topics"
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description: "Krishnamurti: What is desire: The sensation of seeing, then thought coming and making an image of that sensation, at that moment, desire is born. We are accustomed to thinking that desire is spontaneous, but as you have observed..."
datetime: "2026-04-29T13:29:46.000Z"
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---

# Desire

### Krishnamurti:

> #### **What is Desire**: The sensation of seeing, then thought coming and making an image of that sensation, at that moment, desire is born.

We are accustomed to thinking of desire as spontaneous, but as you have observed, it is actually a **temporal construction process**:

#### The Chain of Desire's Birth

**Simple Seeing**: This is a momentary, nameless sensory contact. The eye faculty contacts an object, at this moment there is no good or bad, only pure neural impulse.

**Intervention of Thought**: Thought quickly intervenes, beginning to retrieve past experiences, knowledge, and memories. It classifies, names, and evaluates this 'seeing'.

**Formation of the Image**: Thought projects the present sensation into a 'picture'. This picture not only contains the object itself but also includes 'the pleasure of possessing it' or 'the pain of losing it'.

**Birth of Desire**: When this image is endowed with emotional weight, and thought starts planning how to prolong this pleasure (or avoid pain), desire emerges from that moment.