Question: When Buddha said that we should have no desire, did he mean that we should have the attitude of a saint?
Answer: The Buddha never said that you should have no desire. The Buddha spoke of "the man who has no desire." it never was the principle of Buddha that you must not have a desire; Buddha was too wise to commit himself like this. What is meant is that we must develop so that one day we may reach to that stage where naturally we shall have no desires. But if we have a desire and say, "Because Buddha has said that we must have no desire, therefore we must throw it away," it is working against ourselves.