By Pablo Das
Human beings like pleasure and dislike pain. If we look closely, this dynamic (preference for pleasure and aversion to pain) informs just about everything we do as humans. We drink water to resolve the discomfort of thirst. We adopt kittens because we want to feel the pleasure we feel when they do cute things. We listen to a song over and over because of how it makes us feel. We eat sugar out of both a desire to experience pleasure and a drive to numb pain. The human aversion to pain and preference for pleasure runs the show.
What we do (think, speak and act) in response to the pleasure/ pain dynamic conditions whether we suffer or experience wellbeing in our lives. Actions bring results and actions are driven by an aversion to pain and a preference for pleasure. This notion that actions condition results is called “karma”.
This pleasure/ pain dynamic is so important in Buddhism that all of its core teachings are organized around it. The four noble truths begins with an acknowledgement of the non-negotiable existence of suffering in life. The practice of mindfulness asks us to pay attention to the pleasant or unpleasant quality of our experiences. The 8 fold path dedicates an entire section (right effort) to the management of mind states of aversion and grasping which arise from the pleasure/pain dynamic.
The teaching which I regard as the foundation of all other dharma teachings has the pleasure/pain dynamic at its core. But it does something else. It describes the addiction process.
This is the teaching on conditionality.
Part of the teaching describes the human condition as a series of cause and effect steps that are unfolding in us constantly. In their extreme expression, they describe the addiction process.
The teaching begins by acknowledging that as human beings we are a physical form imbued with awareness. And because our physical form has sensory reception capacities (seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, sensations etc), we make contact with the world.
Each moment of contact with the world through our senses is experienced as pleasant or unpleasant (or we’re indifferent). Once we experience something as pleasant or unpleasant, the mind has a reaction. Human beings have a fairly predictable response to pain which is aversion. We also predictably grasp at pleasure.
Let’s review! Humans are little awarenesses in physical forms making sensory contact with the world and experiencing mind-states of aversion and grasping in response to the pleasant and unpleasant quality of whatever is going on. Ok? Good!
These mind states of aversion and grasping double as motivation. They give way to intention. Usually, to get rid of pain and experience and maintain pleasure. That intention soon gets specific. Drink water. Get revenge. Go on a hike. Get laid. Get the ice cream. Smoke the weed. Eat the donuts etc. Mind states of aversion and grasping condition Intention which conditions action.
Action brings results. This is key. What we think, say and do brings results. (Ie: more happiness or more suffering). We are now at the end of the chain of cause and effect. Results! If you eat a balanced meal, you feel grounded, energetic and mentally clear. If you sleep with your neighbors partner, you feel shame, regret, paranoia and fear that your own relationship will be lost. Actions have consequences. Those consequences are experienced as a life of more happiness or wellbeing or a life of more suffering and harm.
We'd do well to get a handle on our thoughts speech and action if we want to live happy lives.
Stay with me...
Let’s work backwards now. Results (happiness or unhappiness) come from actions. Actions are an expression of intention. Intentions are driven by mind-states of liking and disliking things. Liking and disliking is conditioned by the sense of pleasure and pain. Pleasure and pain is a function of awareness in a body making sensory contact with the world. This is a conditional cycle of one thing giving rise to the next. It’s an unfolding of cause and effect.
The interesting thing is that whatever results we’re experiencing in any given moment are experienced as pleasant or unpleasant in that moment begin the whole cycle all over again.
But this is also the good news. You can begin right now, with conscious awareness to influence the outcomes. What’s required is upending the entire unconscious process of impulsively following the prompts of liking and disliking things. At any point in the process I’ve described here, you can insert mindfulness. You can become aware, in an objective sense, of where you are in this cycle, noticing what gets your attention, notice your impulses, intentions and thoughts. Take responsibility for them. Rather than being unconscious and reactive you can pause and choose a response (a way of thinking, speaking and acting) that will support more happiness and well-being.
Let’s say you’re going through a breakup and you struggle with sugar addiction. When the loneliness, sadness and desperation comes you have this impulse to go get a pint of ice cream. You can see the package in your head. The little caramel chunks taunt you. They call your name. By the map on your iPhone, they’re only .5 miles away at Target. You could also get the double stuff Oreos while you’re at it.
You are aware that, like most addiction patterns, the sugar will numb the pain but the trade off is that you’ll feel run down and more depressed tomorrow. You will have had short term relief but ultimately compounded your suffering. That’s the nature of addiction. Nevertheless, you put on a jacket and walk to the car. You get in, start the car and drive. Then you remember mindfulness. You ask yourself “what’s happening”? You notice loneliness and fear. You ask, “How can I respond to this in a way that supports my well-being?” An answer comes. Call my best friend and go home and cook a meal that’ll make me feel better. You turn your little car around and you call your friend. At that point you’ve Interrupted the otherwise unconscious cycle and made conscious choices on how to respond to what’s happening. You call the friend, you feel less lonely. You cook the meal and feel pretty good. You go to bed and get up without a sugar hangover. You feel good about yourself. You go hiking and have a decent day.
Actions bring results. We can insert mindfulness at any point in the cycle and choose to respond in ways that support wellbeing. By inserting mindfulness, we break the cycle of unconsciously following the impulses associated with liking and disliking things.
We can influence the pleasure pain dynamic through conscious responsive action and influence the results we’re sitting with in any present moment. This is how we create conscious, relatively happy lives.
None of us do this perfectly. I don’t. Sometimes I forget. Sometimes I eat the (gluten free) Oreos. But I know that in any moment, I can wake up and begin again. That’s all we can ask of ourselves.
Just be nice and keep beginning again