Dear Agony Aunt.... from a broke Wanderer

[xise]

Many people search for higher wisdom (spiritual materialism - "I want") while forgetting that their heart ("I give") is more important.

I agree with pretty much everything what you say, but I just wanted to chime in that in my personal journey, respecting yourself and your own true, deep desires, your "wants" such as happiness, peace, or whatever it may be, was essential to unlocking my lower rays.

Don't feel guilty to have wants. Trust that your deep, non-impulse, non-egoic desires are meant to be explored, not overcome - as referenced by Ra.

I think many people get confused with surface level desire and surface level wants that come from the highly distorted ego, and then throw the baby out with the bathwater with respect to desire. Your true deep desires/wants are important, they are an aspect of your free will and of yourself, and I think they are meant to be explored.

When I explore my deepest wants, I find that a big part of that is to truly give to others - the exploration revealed that the true desires and wants of my red, orange, and yellow were in tune with my green. Thus, the energy you can generate into the heart when you accept all of your desires and wants which lead to service to others is immense. Of course, you have to have trust and self-acceptance that if you go deep and find that deep down, you are a service-to-self individual, that's ok too. No judgment. Don't be afraid of discovering who you are.

But in reference to the bigger picture your comment touches upon: I think people do tend to fall into the trap of ignoring their heart, but also ignoring their own deepest wishes and desires. I think it's important to go deep into all of it, and not just rely on surface level personality shell desire and wants.

Your mileage may vary!

Edit: To put things another way, are other selves deep desires and wants factored in how you serve them? If you could help an other self achieve a deep desire or want of theirs would that not be service to others? Recall too that you are an other self to be served. Respect and explore your own wants and desires - that too is part of the path.