I am observing that the human mind is constantly seeking pleasure. It is not only about sensual pleasures—the mind also feels pleasure in thinking itself. It enjoys shifting from one object of attention to another.
Sometimes it starts with imagination about something pleasurable, and then many thoughts follow just to maintain that pleasant feeling. From waking up to going to sleep, the mind seems to avoid discomfort. We clean ourselves, eat food, choose work we like, travel, and do many activities partly because they feel good. Even deciding “I want to do this” can give pleasure.
I also notice that when the mind feels there will be no pleasure, it develops aversion. And even when it gets pleasure, it becomes restless because it does not want to lose that feeling. So it keeps thinking in order to hold onto happiness.
My conclusion is that there is a subtle craving behind almost every thought—craving for what we want and resistance to what we don’t want. Maybe the mind just works like this.
However, even after observing this, I don’t gain wisdom about how to be free from it. I feel an existential crisis. When I try to stop this process, I feel deep sadness. I almost prefer staying in a pleasant illusion. I distract myself with my phone and other enjoyable things.
I think this is happening to everyone. The world seems driven by fear of losing happiness, and people engage in mindless behaviors because of it. How can I get rid of this? What understanding or logic should I apply?
Good to see you Mrunal.
Even the sotapanna is still immersed in sense desire: as you say, ‘the mind works like that’. It is wrong view where real progress in understanding is needed, and so that is where our focus should be (rather than trying to stop sense desire).
From A Path without Ownership:
Visuddhimagga: And here [false-] view clinging, etc., are abandoned first because they are eliminated by the path of stream-entry. Sense-desire clinging is abandoned later because it is eliminated by the path of Arahantship. This is the order of their abandoning. xvii 245 It is clear even to the non-Buddhist that sense desires rule our lives.
Visuddhimagga : Sense-desire clinging, however, is taught first among them because of the breadth of its objective field and because of its obviousness. For it has a broad objective field because it is associated with eight kinds of consciousness. The others have a narrow objective field because they are associated with four kinds of consciousness. […] And self-doctrine clinging is taught last because of its subtlety. xvii 246
Hence we read many suttas rightly extolling the dangers of sense desire. And the new Buddhist quickly sees the truth in that. They may then feel they should first stamp down on sense desire. This can lead to problems. If they have some apparent success then they feel they can control the mind by dint of will. Or if they don’t succeed they feel they are failing. Or they go through a cycle of winning and losing in this regard. But what is prime is eliminating wrong view. Sense pleasure clinging is obvious which is why most religions give some importance to the renouncing of sense pleasures.
Saṁyutta Nikāya 2.16 Vasudatta Sutta: Vasudatta Standing to one side, the young deva Vasudatta recited this verse in the presence of the Blessed One:
Deva: “As if smitten by a sword, As if his head were on fire, A bhikkhu should wander mindfully To abandon sensual lust.”
Buddha: “As if smitten by a sword, As if his head were on fire, A bhikkhu should wander mindfully to abandon identity view.” Connected Discourses
While walking and enjoying the many sights along the river I was also reflecting on how thoughts and all the other elements are conditioned to arise.
Hi, Thanks.
Yes master
This is what is happening with me: when I first started meditating, I had the idea that if I achieved certain states or experiences in meditation, it would be something great. Because of that imagination, restlessness and a sense of pushing for results arose.
Whenever I meditated, I judged it like this: if I felt light and calm, then that meant I had meditated well that day. But at that time, I never gave up sensual pleasures. After some days, I returned to seeking sensual pleasures and eventually stopped meditating—that was my old pattern.
Recently, I started understanding that craving and the pursuit of pleasure are the reasons I am not progressing in meditation. So I began practicing with the intention: craving follows a cycle, so let me not crave anything—just meditate.
I still sometimes watch pleasurable videos, but I remind myself that these do not lead to real happiness. I tell myself: if life has 1000 moments, sensual pleasure is just one moment, and it does not help with the other 999. It is like borrowing 100 dollars and losing 1000 dollars.
Now I continue meditating consistently. Sometimes I think deeply and come to conclusions, which I earlier described as an existential crisis. But now I understand that this pattern will continue until I become an arahant.
Thank you, master. I think I need to deal with this by continuing meditation no matter what happens, and keep developing understandings
There is only one way out and that is the 8 fold noble path. Just wanting out does nothing.
You need to develop sila, samadhi and panna. Simple as that. There is nothing miraculous.
Wishing does nothing. Actions do all. If you fight with your mind you will lose everytime. But if you outsmart your mind and steer it gently and patiently with little expectation you will reap great rewards. Just steer yourself forward and over time you will see a difference.
We all have a bad momentum built up over a long time. All you need to do is get all the factors in place with patience and effort.
You will need to understand anatta and kamma to get to a place that looks better. These are a big key. Anatta is a very deep thing. Not me, not mine, not self counters a lot of desires. Then you just have to kammically persist.
Yes definitely I will strive to understand this 