The seeking of pleasure is not a sin, as long as it is done with the intention of love and joy and future happiness. That is what Iβve gathered so far. Thanks for sharing this series.
Discussion
Well, not exactly π What is a sin anyway?
Krishnamurti says that it is you who has to find out for yourself what pleasure is. He encouraged to see a clear distinction between pleasure and joy. Pleasure is driven by thought whereas joy is a pure alive moment without thought involved.
Then it's all about awareness and figuring out why you are repeating a certain pleasure and thought pattern and what it does to your body, mind, well-being. Pleasure for the very most part is a thought-driven habit caused by an underlying unpleasant emotion that required you to seek comfort in a difficult situation of the past. Repeating and seeking that pleasure doesn't carry you forward or inspire you. It merely makes your underlying pain manageable.
Many religions of the world cut the way short for people, and developed a morality, built an authority on top of it, and called pleasure a sin. But the truth is, you'll have to find out for yourself without relying on an external authority to tell you what's a sin or not or what's right or wrong. If you are highly aware of body and mind, the answer is clear to you. You won't do what harms you (and others), only you know. That's real freedom.
In the meantime we are all on the journey of our internal discovery, to know ourselves as much as we can. And instead of judging each other, we can support each other on that journey. Because this is what life is all about.
Well thanks for that much more thorough description. It resonates.
This involves a lot of thought, and freedom, and individuality for someone to know themselves enough to make these distinctions. I think religion has somewhat robbed people of that self-decision making process.
It involves a trust and faith in fellow humans that would do us all a lot of good, but I wonder if itβs possible.
Thanks, I'm glad!
You are right, this seems difficult to us after the upbringing and education we received. It's very subtle. But I'm confident, that with a different type of "spiritual" education (for the lack of a better word), future generations will have no trouble at all being so hyper aware of their thoughts and actions.
I'm not sure religions at the time needed that simplicity of morality to keep society together, or if it was just a misunderstanding. But it for sure also came in handy to exercise authority over the herd ;) In any case, we now have the opportunity to take over that self-responsibility and discover real freedom consciously.