he concept of pleasure in the context of Dhammapada
The Dhammapada is a version of Pali, a famous Buddhist canon text. Dhammapada is also referred to as Budhha sayings and entails 423 collections of Buddha verses about teachings and ideals of Budhha (Гафарова, 2019). When combined, the verses give detailed teaching within Buddhism. The verses are a form of guiding path and voice of real enlightenment. Dhammapada is a religious work that is meant to give a specific set of ethical and religious values, and specific perceptions and manner of life and issues that life brings together with their solutions. Although Dharma verses seem to depict bad and good people, they target to shape people to do good in the universe. Dharma gives a guide to individuals to overlook earthly pleasures for personal happiness and peaceful co-existence with other people in society. The essay below discusses the concept of pleasure in the context of Dhammapada.
Attachment hinders the spiritual growth of an individual and instills anxiety, selfish desires, and fear for individuals. Individuals can lose themselves in their quest for pleasures leading to grief and fear in the end. Spiritual growth, according to dharma, requires devotion, consideration, and respect for all. Devotion requires less attachment to the pleasures of the world to overcome fear and anxiety that comes with selfish attachment in the quest for spiritual growth.
Happiness and pleasure are an essential component of humanity. However, people confuse pleasure with happiness. In a real sense, pleasures do not lead to happiness (Shakya, 2020). Many people assume that they not happy because they luck pleasure and earthly desires. Individuals seek pleasures only to find themselves unhappy in life without understanding the reason why they are suffering. Many people, however, confuse pleasure with happiness.
Dharma provides that one should seek pleasure while neglecting meditation with wisdom. Dharma integrates bhikkhu practices of gaining wisdom and meditation (Byron, 2010). The Buddhist monks engage in practices of mediation and wisdom as Buddha provides it. Pleasure can cause suffering; therefore, an individual needs the wisdom to judge the extent of their individual pleasures. Buddha emphasizes the importance of meditation. Buddha also speaks for the discipline of the mind in advancing for earthly pleasures. On top of the discipline of the mind, bhikkhu seeks peace of mind and spiritual development.
Selfish attachment to pleasure brings pain to individuals. Seeking pleasure and selfish attachment to materialistic things like money and earthly belongings can bring individual pain (Luh Sari Damayanti, 2019). Despite attaching one earthly belonging such as money they cannot buy and individual happiness. Money as one of the sources of the pleasures of the world can buy individuals everything but cannot buy happiness. Attachment to cash in such cases can continue to cause sadness to individuals. Seeking money at the expense of personal satisfaction can deprive individuals of happiness.
Selfish attachment to pleasures can negatively affect individuals. Seeking personal happiness at the expense of other people spells doom for one. One can become infamous in society for their selfish attachments casting them as social misfits. Individuals might suffer due to loneliness and depression as a result. Dharma is a concept in Indian philosophy that govern individuals not to act for their interest but act in the interest of society as a whole (Гафарова, 2019). Dharma guides individuals in a community to act for the good of the entire society and not their private gain while comprising the needs of others. Dharma guides individuals to avoid the harsh consequences of karma in life by preventing evil thoughts and deeds. Dharma views the effects of karma as a long term life lesson that every wrongdoer life owes a lesson. “In this sense, life is like a school; one can learn, one can graduate, one can skip a grade or stay behind. As long as a debt of karma remains, however, a person has to keep coming back for further education” (Keown, 2016). The idea lays the groundwork for samsara, the cycle of personal dissatisfaction and suffering in individuals’ lifetime from birth, to death and rebirth as a result of negative consequences of karma.
Selfish attachment in prioritizing individual pleasures and cravings breaks the social bonds of an individual. Dharma, like karma, is a Buddhist concept that emphasizes the interconnection of the people giving people a sense of purpose by being bound together by a mysterious force. Karma is not all punitive but offers individuals a chance to determine what becomes of themselves in their entire life. According to Buddhism karma shapes, the moral habits of individuals in society as individuals are aware that their thoughts and actions are responsible for their fate life. Individuals who might harbor negative and selfish thoughts for their pleasures like murdering the community might desist from the evil thoughts that might translate into action for fear of bad karma, and they might opt to engage in goods thoughts and deeds to be rewarded by karma. Sanskrit Karma means what is done and what individuals contemplate keeping in mind the thoughts and actions have their consequences (Egge, 2013). Each action has more or less similar results and implies what people do others or think about others shall be similarly done to them as well. Evil deeds at the expense of others by individuals for their earthy pleasure comes back to haunt them in the same way. Karma provides that selfishness in the quest for pleasures is paid back by severe consequences. Misdeeds by individuals for the attainment of personal pleasure translates to misdeeds against them. Selfish interests and actions come with severe consequences.
In conclusion, seeking pleasure without prioritizing wisdom pronounces doom for individuals. One cannot achieve spiritual growth if when chasing earthly pleasures which come with dire consequences. Spiritual growth comes with the purification of the soul and the need to prioritize happiness over pleasure. Seeking pleasures can lead to selfish interests of individuals compromising their abilities to achieve spiritual fulfillment. Earthly delights at the expense of others in society come with dire consequences. Individuals should do others what they wish others do to them because the forced nature rewards people according to their actions. Good deeds attract good rewards leading to happiness, and spiritual fulfillment will evil deeds lead to punitive consequences for individuals. Teachings of dharma are the only pathway to the purification of the soul.