PEACE/PLEASURE SEEKING:

[Pravin Kumar]

Peace/Pleasure Seeking:

The seeking of pleasure is so deep and misunderstood that it actually leads many down the road to their own destruction. Until the mind settles and this is seen, pleasure seeking will continue its control.

There's nothing inherently wrong with pleasure, but when your driving force is to satisfy pleasure, it will most likely lead to some kind of destructive reaching. Understanding the destructive reaching to quench the thirst of pleasure is where the difference lies in one being at peace or constantly needing to reach for the next pleasure. For me there was always a thirst for peace, but it was seen as needing to seek pleasure so it was constantly sought. What I used to quench this thirst is where the destructiveness arose. My tools to quiet this thirst to be at peace became different eleven years ago. Prior to eleven years ago everything I used was based in the material realm. Today this isn't the case because I understand the pleasure seeking Conditioned Mind enough to see the illusionary urgings arising.

As the story is told, Jesus went into the desert to meditate for forty days with nothing but the clothes on his back. This was done to confront his inner self by meditating. It took the Buddha six years to become enlightened as he roamed the country side meditating along the way. He went from house to house for his food. These are two people who left us with great examples of how to manifest a peaceful state of being without anything from the material world. This is key if you are to ever be free from the bondage of the conventional pleasure seeking mind and open the doorway to true peace that's not dependent on anything from this world. When this is truly understood, pleasure will no longer be reached for in a destructive way as you will actually live life in the most pleasurable and peaceful way possible.

MICHAEL CUPO