Dhamma Talk Notes: The Dangers of Sensual Pleasures
These are my notes from “The Dangers of Sensual Pleasures” by Ajahn Brahmali.
People think they have to get rid of all pleasures to be good Buddhists and as a result suffer. This is because they read suttas which talk about Arahants.
If you try to be like an Arahant without following the path correctly, without practice, you will fail.
The Buddha doesn't say that sensuality is bad. He admits that there is some happiness in sensual pleasures.
For most people, sensual pleasure is all there is, so contemplating taking it away is scary.
How should one spend the Uposatha day so that it provides great benefit? Here's how not to spend it. You come to the monastery, keep the eight precepts. You spend the entire day awaiting the sensual pleasures of tomorrow. If you do this, there is no benefit. Focus on spiritual happiness instead. For example, think about your past generosity and kind actions.
Sensuality is a type of happiness that blocks you from achieving higher happiness. How? It binds you to certain habits and can lead you to breaking even basic morality. This is where the five precepts serve as signposts. If you're breaking any of the five precepts, you're headed in the wrong direction.
The benefit of being moral and kind is that you feel good about yourself. You feel a sense of peace.
Morality frees you from problematic mind states. Sensuality tends to drag you into problematic mind states. This is one danger of sensual pleasure.
The second way in which sensuality blocks the spiritual life is that sensual pleasures are about craving, which leads you away from contentment. They take you away from the beautiful potential of the spiritual path.
Because of sensual desire, we attach to the possessions we have in our lives. When they are taken away, there is pain. At the very least, they will be taken away when we die.
Sensual pleasures are like a debt. You have to pay it off eventually. The interest is the pain we experience.
Sensuality is like borrowed goods that must be given back eventually.
Everything you own is borrowed.
So what should we do? Throwing out all sensual pleasures won't solve the problem. Start by reflecting on these teachings. As you see the danger, your grip lessens. You start to practice spiritual happiness.
If you feel fulfilled, there is no need to crave for anything anymore. This is the point of the spiritual path. You see that the sensual realm is not important, and you let go of craving naturally. Eventually you get to a state where you are so content, so peaceful that sensuality makes no sense.
Sensuality is always about going out: hearing, seeing, etc. Spiritual happiness is about going inwards.
Along the path, don't throw out sensual pleasures all at once. Enjoy them to a limited extent until you don't see them as necessary anymore—this is when spiritual happiness has filled you up.