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@ Just So Be It
2025-06-03 14:52:11"Pleasant Feeling" Is Ultimately an Illusion
It’s like a wave That arises when water is stirred by the wind Soon, it disperses and fades away
If one wishes to live in serenity
One must fully understand the truths of impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha), and non-self (anattā). These truths serve as an antidote to emotional responses—forms, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches— Preventing us from falling into attachment or aversion.
There are only two kinds of turmoil in the world:
- Falling in love with something
- Falling into hatred of something
These are what lead to laughter and tears. If one can see that laughter makes you breathless, it’s exhausting just the same Crying also makes you breathless, equally tiring Better to remain calm—no need to laugh, no need to cry This is true serenity
Let us not become slaves to emotions, Laughing or crying at their whims. Let us live freely. Better to remain still and serene.
Use Impermanence, Suffering, and Non-Self as Life's Compass
- Forms, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches are illusions
- The notion of "me and mine" is also an illusion
- Because "me and mine" arise from emotional reactions
- Therefore, "me and mine" is an illusion, and so are all emotions
By understanding impermanence, suffering, and non-self, ...suffering does not arise.
Let us take a shortcut and look directly at “pleasant feeling”
Pleasant feeling refers to happiness, enjoyment, delight— That which feels good is called “pleasant feeling” (sukha-vedanā)
But pleasant feeling is an illusion Because it arises like a temporary wave— It’s not a real thing.
This is said because Among all things in all worlds, What gives them value is their ability to produce pleasant feeling.
Think carefully:
- Why do you study?
- Why do you work and perform your duties?
- Why do you accumulate wealth, prestige, fame, allies, followers?
It’s all for pleasant feeling. So everything ultimately revolves around pleasant feeling.
Therefore, if we understand this matter well And handle it properly, even this one thing alone— Then everything else falls into place.
So we must see pleasant feeling for what it really is: Just another kind of illusion
We must deal with it accordingly, Not by rejecting or hating it That would be the most foolish thing
But if we become infatuated with it, Or enslaved by it— That, too, is the most foolish thing
What matters is how we handle it properly That is the Dhamma (truth) That is being a disciple of the Buddha One who can overcome suffering, and not suffer from spiritual disease
Pleasant Feeling Is Truly an Illusion
It must be approached with the understanding that: “Pleasant feeling is, in truth, illusion.”
Like a single wave That arises when water is stirred by wind
Which means: When forms, sounds, smells, tastes, and so on come in And ignorance and delusion rise up to meet them They clash, and a wave is formed
That is, pleasant feeling arises But soon it disperses again
If we can see it this way, We won’t be slaves to pleasant feeling. We will be able to manage it, deal with it, and use it In ways that don’t lead to suffering
- We won’t suffer ourselves
- Our family won’t suffer
- Our neighbors won’t suffer
- The world won’t suffer either, Because we are no longer the cause of suffering
If everyone were like this, The world would know lasting peace A true and enduring happiness
This is the benefit of healing the illness in different ways No longer afflicted by the diseases of “me” or “mine”
Buddhadasa Bhikkhu Source: Lecture Series “The Heart of Buddhism” Year: B.E. 2504 (1961) First session Topic: “The Whole Essence of Buddhism” Location: Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University Date: December 17, 1961
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