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So HUNGRY to NOT CRAVE
Ren_in_black
Georgia Veteran
in Mindfulness
Shameless solidarity grab here. 
Does anybody else get fired up thinking about the equanimity that is possible in an imagined future on the Buddhist path?
I guess Christmas is an appropriate time to consider this, because it's not unlike waiting for Christmas morning. As a child I was so ready to be out of school and to get gifts. There was an excitement with a little bit of frustration. Like, I CAN'T WAIT.
The irony of feeling similarly about Buddhist practice is not lost on me. 
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Comments
Thus have I heard...
Om Mani Padme Hung ....The Jewel is (already) in the Lotus
What you crave for, you already have. it's your craving which is keeping you from it.
Don't have expectations, just practice, forget about trying to achieve something and things will eventually fall into place....
The Dalai Lama once said "If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."
That's the weird and wonderful Dharma for ya...
Years ago, one of the first times I received meditation instruction at a Zen center, the instructor said gently before we started that "you're not trying to achieve anything." I thought it was good advice but also out of left field, since we had just met and she didn't know my motivations.
But of course she did know, even if I didn't yet.
Strangely. Once we no longer crave the results. We practice more or tread the path more insightfully and mindfully. I can not think of anything which is not practice.
If we feel our equanimity could be greater, we will never be satisfied. It is a bit like opening a Christmas present from the inside... and finding the world is the present...
Nice image!
Imagine someone has Nothing to offer. We of course want something. So we give them an impossible task.
... And the funny thing is they are up to the task until we stop taking and start giving
Nothing.
The replies here have made me realize that the impulse behind my post is about what I WANT. Which is similar to how Christmas was a child.
If I shift into what I might be able give (or at least, shift away from the focus on my Self), the "problem" drifts away.
Basically you are craving the sensation of not-craving.
Another mode to appreciate is relaxing. Thich Nhat Hanh recommended “three deep conscious breaths” in a teaching I saw not long ago, to shift into relaxed spaciousness.
"You're desiring not to desire"
Here is a long interview which talks about the giving.
Given to the Buddhist Society (started by Father Christmas Humphreys)
by Lama Yeshe, one of my Tantric meditation teachers.
"Crave or crave not, there is only try'" as Master Yoda might say...
Love hearing from Alan Watts.
This will take me a while to get through but I plan to listen to it all. Thanks!
Hunger is but a part of, a condition, we all possess.
It is neither good nor bad.
Allowing the hunger to become the the controlling condition, the basic "world", the base from which one sees, lives one's life, is negative (bad).
Understanding that Hunger is but a part, an element within us over which we have control, enables us to overcome, to not be enveloped by the state of Hunger.
When talking of "eliminating desires", it really means redirecting, channeling our desires from selfish and destructive (negative) desires toward selfless and positive desires.
An example in the mundane world is in the desire for a position of influence.
Selfish hunger (desire) says, " I want that position to gain power, to get bigger, better toys, to control.
Selfless hunger (desire) as a manifestation within a higher state, says,"I want the position in order to help, to better serve or represent those who do not have such power or influence.
Thus Hunger is neither good not bad. It is what we wish to do and what we actually do with hunger that makes it something good or something bad.
A Buddha has hunger. But, that hunger (desire) is for the peace and happiness of all the people. That hunger is for the world to become a land of countless Buddhas.
For me, the biggest lesson from Buddhism was to always be ready to let go. The Venerable Ajahn Chah called this ‘the mind of letting go’. It is not about renouncing or forcefully pushing things away, but instead learning to just let things drop away when they are ready.
You will find that for example the habit of collecting, or the desire for alcohol, slowly start to vanish as you take in more solitude and it becomes clear to you that life without cravings is more peaceful and joyous. Then when these old habits begin to become less, just let them fall away.
Then, as time passes, you find yourself with less and less craving, fewer habits.