Pleasure, enjoyment and happiness by Atman Nityananda

Pleasure, enjoyment and happiness

I would like here to analyze the nature of our experiences and differentiate pleasure from enjoyment and happiness.

Enjoyment

Enjoyment is a natural vital-emotional experience that happens when the mind is in contact with the object through the senses, without any projection on it and without any interference of memory, passion or imagination.

In a deeper level of view even enjoyment is also illusory because is created by the mind under certain conditions. If the pleasant sensation exists in the object then the same object should give us always the same pleasant experience. This is not our experience. The same object when is experienced under different conditions can be pleasant, unpleasant or indifferent. Similarly the same object can be pleasant, unpleasant or indifferent to different kind of persons. This applies to all sense objects.

Pleasure

The pleasure we experience when we are in actual contact with a sense object or when we imagine it, is only our lust and passion (which are accumulated pleasure energy in the astral-body) projected on them. Pleasure is projected by the mind on the objects creating the illusion that pleasure derive from them.

Sex scenes are a very good example to understand this projection. The images of the movie-players are only light or pixels in certain formation. The lusty-ego projects and superimpose its own pleasure on the screen-players (usually to the opposite sex) and thus experiences its own pleasure! There is not even a iota of pleasure on the movie images because they are only light and colors. The movie players do not entertain sensations, emotions, pleasures or pains.

But when we see sexual scenes the mind is stimulated by the light-formations of these sexual scenes and the lust or memorized pleasure emerges from the subconscious and is projected on the images. This projection creates the illusion that the illusory screen-images enjoy some kind of sexual-pleasure (is this possible? Of course not, they are only light). The ego makes us perceive the images as to have real pleasure, while the screen-images entertain nothing at all. With this projection the ego excites the prana, the sensual mind and the sexual energy intensifying the experience of pleasure. 

Similar is the process of projection on the foods and other sense objects. Of course ego likes also by watching movies  to experience  all negative emotions such as fear, horror, violence, pity etc.

By this process of projection and identification the ego deludes the intellect and uses the body, senses and mind to experience this illusory ego-made pleasure.

Happiness

Happiness is an attribute of our true Self or consciousness or more precisely our true Self is happiness itself. We do not need anything from the external world to experience happiness. When our mind is pure, calm and focused in our heart we experience unmixed, unconditional happiness or bliss. Even the happiness we experience when we get the object we wanted so much does not depents on the object, but on our true Self. When we get the object the mind becomes calm and thus reflects the happiness of the Self.

Objects do not contain neither pleasure nor happiness. But since the hypnotized intellect cannot discern this, we run after sense objects convinced that the pleasure and happiness comes from them.Thus we create our bondage and suffering.

Both pleasure and happiness do not belong to the objects. They arise from within; pleasure as a form or an expression of lust-made ego itself, while happiness is our true nature, a quality of our essence.

Peace, Love, Harmony