Daily Meditation: Friday, July 5, 2024

Pleasures - direct and control them by exercising wisdom

07/05/2024

To seek pleasure is a normal tendency in every human being – we all know that. However, should we have absolute faith in this natural impulse that urges us to satisfy all our instinctive desires? Some people enjoy eating or drinking to excess, others take pleasure in fighting, stealing, vandalizing or seducing women. It is easy to understand why they find these things pleasant, for nature offers such a wealth of possibilities. But this tendency to indulge in pleasure cannot be completely justified unless it is directed and controlled by the presence of wisdom and reason. The basic impulse is permissible, but never such manifestations; it must not be allowed to run free and out of control. All needs are wonderful forces; there is nothing wrong with them. It is only when the other factor – the guiding words of wisdom – is absent that these instincts become harmful.*