Having come to the understanding that goal, integrity, integrity are words with the same root, I had questions. If achieving a goal, and the goal itself, should make us more whole, then why doesn’t this happen? But sometimes the opposite happens: I reached my goal and became sick, I reached my goal, but there was no joy. Maybe we are setting the wrong goals? Maybe the ways to achieve the goal are not the same? Or maybe there's something else. The other day I found the answers in A. Shevtsov’s book “The Science of Thinking” in the chapter “Desire and Goal”. I present to your attention a summary of this chapter. Desires and goals are in a complex interaction. Without understanding this interaction, applied psychology is impossible, because understanding and using behavior is impossible. However, understanding it is not so easy. This complexity is not only philosophical. We must start with the fact that the word “goal” is not Russian and took root in the Russian language no earlier than the first half of the eighteenth century. It first appears in dictionaries in one thousand seven hundred and thirties. Obviously, it was borrowed from German during the time of Peter the Great’s reforms and took root, because in Russian there was a word with the same sound. But the Russian “target”, unlike the German “tsil”, meant integrity, hence - virgin land, whole, untouched land . “Tsil” replaced what is shot at with a bow or a gun - a mark or meta, that is, what one is aiming at. To set out and aim at something are synonymous words. To mark, mark and the old “target” in Russian had nothing in common. It would never have occurred to anyone to compare these words or the concepts behind them. But the new “target”, having replaced the “mark”, was involuntarily associated with the old Russian “target”, so when understanding this word we have to make an unconscious effort, separating the meanings of these identical words. Fortunately or unfortunately, the word “target” has become so firmly established into our lives over the past centuries, which has almost replaced both the mark and the virgin target. Therefore, we are not confused in understanding when we say: goal. We are simply strangling two Russian words for them, depriving them of life, and ourselves of the depth of understanding of the world and ourselves. But our understanding is simple and unambiguous: the goal is what a bullet, arrow or person strives for. The goal is the end point of the movement and... the object of desire! The mark or target could not be desired, but the goal became. Why? Because it was a remake word, an empty word, and could take on any meaning. Integrity was desired, integrity initially carried this quality within itself, because thanks to integrity a person finds bliss. And many healers have helped and are helping to find it. Desire is the only thing that the new “goal” took from the old Russian “goal”, but this was enough to radically change the concept to which this new name was given. Concepts enable understanding, concepts make understanding possible. Concepts have names. Names are not that important, they can be changed. Today I say: car. Tomorrow: auto. And the day after tomorrow, forgetting all the names: this thing is on wheels. And if you understand what I mean, it’s okay. Therefore, there might not have been anything wrong with the fact that the Russian “meta” and “target” were replaced by the German-Russian “target” and “aim.” But we have no desire for metas or targets. We just shoot at them. Marks are not objects of desire, they are only signs of the path. And the goal became desirable. She replaced what I desire, in my understanding. The concept was distorted. The fact that the original concept, which in the old Russian language had the meaning of “meta,” was distorted with the name replaced by “target”, is obvious, but not the worst thing. This is just a philosophical level of misunderstanding. And philosophy, like wisdom, rarely interferes in the affairs of the people of this world. Well, the sage and philosopher Socrates spoke about some kind of self-knowledge, and the sage and philosopher Plato spoke about heaven, where our souls strive - who cares about that?! Let them talk, as long as they don’t interfere in my life and prevent me from achieving my goals! So philosophy is not needed in life if it does not make it easier, even if it is true. What does it matter to me that I now know something that I cannot use!? Psychology is another matter! Here I tookand replaced the mark with a goal, and my whole life suddenly went awry! I don’t understand how this happened, but I know for sure that I could live better, but I can’t. Why? Probably some bastards are bothering me. This is the first explanation for life's difficulties that pops out to me. It is good and tempting because you can make someone else guilty, and then justify your failure in the eyes of other people. It’s so nice to not be to blame for the fact that you and your loved ones live worse than you can and want! But other explanations are also possible. For example, it’s your fault. Simply because you are going the wrong way. And you fight to somehow grab what you want while moving backwards. True, this should make life more difficult than it actually is? But how does this happen? It’s very simple... At the level of psychology, unlike philosophy, there are no abstruse insights; everything here is precise and definite. For example, you want something and say that achieving it is your goal. After this, you involuntarily replace the concept of “goal” with the concept of “meta” and throw yourself towards this “meta”. The goal would make you become whole, but the meta makes you jump out of yourself and rush away, towards something far away. You find yourself torn and unhappy... Let me explain the same thing differently. As long as I say: you want something and declare it as your goal, everything seems clear, because it’s familiar. But this is at the everyday level and therefore self-deception. But psychologically everything is different. The psychologist does not accept everyday explanations. He looks at everything through the soul and spiritual movements. So I want to buy a car and make good repairs in the apartment. Accordingly, my goals are: a car and repairs, right? Does the soul also want a car and a new toilet? What did the soul want when you were collecting money for a car and energy for repairs? The soul wanted comfort and bliss. And she didn’t need a car, she needed what the car would allow her to get. She wanted to enjoy life, she wanted to experience admiration, she wanted other souls to recognize her as magnificent and accomplished in this life, which means that she had achieved perfection in some way... This is the spiritual desire. You, having forgotten about him, are ruined with the car. Bliss is possible right here, right within you, but you have put a mark on the machine and will not find peace until you reach it, because for you purpose and desire have merged into one, and desire and integrity have fallen apart. But your desire will come true not when you buy your long-suffering car, but when you find peace and bliss in it. As a result of this distortion of the Russian language and the concepts behind it, we adapted to life in constant dissatisfaction and even began to change our spiritual nature. Knowing that peace and bliss in this life are impossible, that we only dream of them, and in general they are not for people, like wisdom or beauty, we have taught our souls to receive some kind of satisfaction from artificial peace. Let me explain: if the soul wants bliss, then it was worth I would like to strive straight for it. But we have tied ourselves to external goals, like cars or places in society, that must be painfully achieved. Thus, we ourselves broke our integrity and directed ourselves away from it. And that’s not all: we have created artificial restlessness for ourselves in order to relieve it by achieving external goals and thus gain the appearance of peace. This is most clearly visible in fashion, but in a society of general consumption this law rules everything: we must chase new things. These things do not give bliss. But their absence creates new anxiety that spoils life, and it can be removed by purchasing this thing. Then artificial restlessness will be replaced by artificial peace. Overall it will give a feeling similar to bliss. A type of drug addiction. A chemical paradise for bodies or a form of intoxication for souls... For the reasoning to become accurate, one must understand that the goal is not a desire. Because desire is a state of the soul that has lost peace or integrity. Satisfaction of desire returns this wholeness, and with it bliss. This satisfaction is possible with the help of some external means related to this world, since we live in it. At least with.