Try to add compassion to the desires as much as possible, whatever the desire really is, especially worldly desires, try to add more compassion.
Years ago, the number one candy bar in America, I believe, was Snickers. So that means, millions of people love Snickers candy bars. Now for some of those people that love Snickers, and that's their favorite candy bar desire, they may have one once in a while and they're not too worried about it, they just know it's their favorite candy bar and that it's nice to have, it's pleasant. Then, there are other people who have to have one of these Snickers candy bars in their bag or in their pocket wherever they go, they need to have one every day, it's so addictive that they're crazed with it.
Okay, it's really the amount of craving that comes with our desire that's worse than the desire itself. The desire for the candy is one thing, but do we feed it all the time, do we dream about it all the time? Do you sit on the pillow during the retreat and think of the pizza you're going to have on day 10? Some people do. Some people think of the candies they're going to have when they get out. So, to work with desire in a balanced way, it's really about having more compassion for yourself, compassion for these thoughts. Can we lessen them? Can we put them more into perspective so they're not controlling us so much? The desire can be there; we can acknowledge the desire, but we don't have to feed it all the time. That's nice; we actually don't have to feed it.
Try to work with it in a balanced, not idealistic way: look at your desire, consider it, consider where it's going, consider whether you want to be controlled by that desire or not? Can you see that it's just a desire. It's like the fire in the hand. We don't have to feed that fire. Out of compassion for ourselves can we just look at the desire, and look at it, and see what it is. And, after awhile, we may realize that we don't want the fire anymore. So try adding more compassion, and try looking at the desires not to get rid of them all right from the beginning. Ask yourself, "Can we reduce them, and reduce them, and reduce them? That can be a better way to work with letting go of desires.