All self-centered activity is based on pleasure

All self-centered activity is based on pleasure, and pleasure...does breed sorrow, pain. Enjoyment is one thing and pleasure is another. Yesterday was a lovely day. There were clear, intensely blue skies, and every tree, every blade of grass, every buttercup in the field was full of light and delight. One sees all that with a pulsating feeling of enjoyment. But, when that enjoyment is translated as pleasure and I say, 'I wish today were another day like yesterday so that I could have more enjoyment, greater pleasure,' then the pain begins.

So, there is enjoyment which is natural, spontaneous, healthy, immediate; but when that enjoyment is translated by memory into pleasure and there is the demand for its continuity, which breeds the avoidance of pain, then there is sorrow. Now, I see this whole process and I also see that it must end - but not because I want something more, not because I want greater pleasure - it must end because it is natural to have a very good mind, a mind that is young, healthy, reasonable, sane, strong. When I see the truth of this, then what takes place?

Thought cannot do anything about pleasure

We must be aware of the nature of pleasure and what
gives it strength and vitality, which again is thought. It's really very, very simple if one understands it: we see a woman, a car, a child, a house, a picture, or we listen to music; seeing, feeling, censoring that picture, that building, that woman, thought thinks about it and gives to that pleasure strength and continuity. When we understand this we see at the same time that, where there is pursuit of pleasure, there is always the shadow of pain, the avoidance, the resistance.

Thought creates resistance around itself so that it will have no pain at all. Thought lives in this artificial pleasure because of something that it has had or wants to have. If thought says, 'I understand this very well and I must act to get beyond it,' the beyond becomes another form of pleasure created by thought. Thought has built a psychological structure of pleasure. Seeing the nature of it, seeing that there is pain in it, thought says, 'I must do something else: I must act differently, I must behave differently. I mustn't think about pleasure; I must resist pleasure, I must do this and that.' The very action which thought creates about pleasure is still pleasure. Thought cannot do anything about it.\t\t

pleasure-thought-desire triangle

Pleasure is related to desire: I have tasted a certain food and I want more of it, it gives me delight; there is sex, the pleasure of a lovely evening, of a sunset, the light on the water as the river flows by, the beauty of a bird on the wing, the beauty of a face, a sentence that awakens a deep delight, a smile. Then there is the desire that says that I must have more of this, and the desire - whether sexual, psychological, or otherwise - which has tasted a certain pleasure and wants it repeated. The repetition comes the moment thought comes into being....

Yesterday evening, among the clouds and in the wind, suddenly there was a spot of sunlight shining on a green field. That light was an extraordinary light, full, rich, and the green had such aliveness. The eyes saw it; the mind recorded it and took great delight in that beauty, in that light, and in that incomparable green color. I want a repetition of that delight, so today I look for that same light, that same beauty, that same feeling - which is thought. The act of seeing was one thing, and then thought came in and said, 'I would like more of that, I must repeat that again tomorrow.' The repetition of that is the beginning of pleasure. When I saw the light on the field there was no desire, no pleasure; there was a tremendous observation and delight. But thought came in and said, 'By Jove, how nice it would be if I could have more of that tomorrow.'

That is what we are doing all the time - it may be sexually, it may be when someone flatters you and says that he is your friend - thought steps in and wants it repeated. The beginning of pleasure is the beginning of thought in conflict. It is thought that demands, that creates conflict.

pleasure is the structure of society

Pleasure is the structure of society

Pleasure is the structure of society. From childhood until death we are secretly, cunningly, or obviously pursuing pleasure. So, whatever our form of pleasure is, I think we should be very clear about it because it is going to guide and shape our lives. It is, therefore, important for each one of us to investigate closely, hesitantly, and delicately this question of pleasure, for to find pleasure and then nourish and sustain it is a basic demand of life and, without it, existence becomes dull, stupid, lonely, and meaningless.

You must ask, why then should life not be guided by pleasure? For the very simple reason that pleasure must bring pain, frustration, sorrow, and fear and, out of fear, violence. If you want to live that way, live that way - most of the world does anyway - but if you want to be free from sorrow you must understand the whole structure of pleasure.

To understand pleasure is not to deny it. We are not condemning it or saying it is right or wrong; but, if we pursue it, let us do so with our eyes open, knowing that a mind that is all the time seeking pleasure must inevitably find its shadow, pain.

Now, why is the mind always demanding pleasure? Why is it that we do noble and ignoble things with the undercurrent of pleasure? Why is it we sacrifice and suffer on the thin thread of pleasure? What is pleasure, and how does it come into being?

chattering mind spilling energy beans

Meditation implies a quality of mind that can completely attend, therefore, a mind that can be completely still.

The mind is always chattering, always talking, either to itself, within itself or to somebody, always in movement. How can a mind which is everlastingly chattering perceive anything? Only a mind that is completely attentive has the total energy to observe, because you need tremendous energy to observe.

The religious monks and others say that you cannot waste energy; therefore no sex, if you want to be a saint. And when you become a celibate and have taken vows of celibacy, there is havoc in you, because you are denying the whole biological system and there is a wastage of energy. You are battling, battling, battling. Or you go to the other extreme, indulge, which is another form of wasting energy.

Whereas, if you are attentive, it is the greatest form of all summation of energy. It means intensity, passion, and you cannot be passionate if you are wasting. Without any effort the mind can become completely quiet and therefore full of energy without any distortion.