Real, or illusion?

A dear friend of mine has the belief that all is illusion, that we must not desire anything in this world.  No, nothing.  No family, no friends, no dog, no motorcycle.  Nothing.  I find myself in disagreement.  I have been reading about the tantric "school" of Buddhism and find it resonates with my heart.  The way I understand it (and it might very well be wrong) in a nutshell is that it is good to desire things as we can use that energy to further our spiritual growth.  The problem, if you will, comes with attachment.  In other words, it is okay to desire something; pick it up, hold it in your hands and examine this thing called desire, but then let it go.  This is the key; we must not become attached to that thing we so desire.  There is a story of two monks walking along a road when they come to a stream.  There they find a young woman in distress, wanting to cross the stream, but not wanting to get her clothes wet.  Without hesitation the elder monk picks the young lady up in his arms and carries her across the stream where he deposits her on the other shore.  The two monks continue walking until a while later, the young monk can no longer hold it in and says he feels the elder monk should not have touched the young woman to carry her across the stream.  The elder monk looks at him and says "I set the woman down on the other shore, you still carry her".  I believe this is about attachment.  It was okay for the elder monk to help the woman because he did so and let it go, whereas the young monk could not release her from his mind.  The elder monk resided in the moment, while the other was in ego.  The past, as well as the future are the domain of ego, and as such are attachment.  Being in the moment is experiencing the desire without the attachment.  I believe we are here in this body for a reason.  I'm not really sure what that reason is, but choose to believe that in this body we can know corporeal love.  We can experience that which only humans are capable of, orgasmic sex.  There are so many lessons to be learned through this experience, but so many potential pitfalls.  I believe love is the energy that fuels the universe, and that this energy manifests in love, pure and simple.   To experience true love from the heart, not the ego, is that special thing which has the ability to elevate us to new heights.  And the energy we claim in the process; priceless!  So, to my friend I say yes, you can have your denial.  I choose the passion of knowing the miracle of my body, and the wonder of the unbounded love I extend to all.