Pleasure

"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 may 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, anyways, but if you want to be free from sorrow you must understand the whole structure of pleasure."

Krishnamurti


I first read this quite some time ago and for whatever reason this passage didn't stick out to me. But reading it yesterday, and again today, it seemed to leap off the page at me. It seems to be such a simple, common sense reading that is profound for its simplicity - and also complex in its simplicity. I don't think this reading is advocating a simple list of "I like this", and "that makes me happy". I think the primary thrust is to recognize the primacy we give to pleasure and in so recognizing it, challenging ourselves to attempt to actually understand why that is so and what pleasure in fact is.

Pleasure is not found external to ourselves. That is, it is not the hands that massage us, or the new car in the driveway, or whatever it is we think 'gives' us pleasure. The sensation of pleasure is within us. We give power over ourselves to these external things, but pleasure is not in them. Krishnamurti explains that pleasure "comes into being through four stages - perception, sensation, contact, desire." I have long maintained that our perception largely defines our reality. I don't think that our perception is our reality, but it does define it for us. I'm not sure if Krishnamurti listed these stages in a specific order, but I think that perception and desire are intimately connected.