The Second Noble Truth explains the origins of dukkha, or unsatisfactoriness. And the usual rendering of the Second Truth into English is something like "suffering is caused by desire." This leaves us with the question, Does this mean all desire? Or are some desires (like a desire to realize enlightenment) okay?
I've heard the explanation that it is all right to desire wholesome and beneficial things, but after a closer look at the Buddha's first sermon I think that's not the best explanation.
Here is what the Buddha originally said about the Second Noble Truth --
"And this, monks is the noble truth of the origination of dukkha: it is craving that makes for further becoming -- accompanied by passion and delight, relishing now here and now there -- craving for sensual pleasure, craving for becoming, craving for non-becoming."
Buddhist scholars have an inexhaustible penchant for making lists, and here they found Three Kinds of Craving That Cause Dukkha -- craving for sensual pleasure, craving for becoming, craving for non-becoming.
Another way to word these is craving for sensual pleasure, craving to become something we think we are not, and craving to not be something we think we are. And what they all have in common is a belief in a permanent, separate self.
So, if your desire is to become a cool enlightened being and less of a dork, you've got a desire for becoming and not-becoming going on at the same time. This leads to dukkha. On the other hand, if you desire that enlightenment is realized for the sake of all beings, this is a beneficial and wholesome sort of desire.
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