No Subject

[Guest guest]

Ecstasy and Addiction in Buddhism

 

I have had many people say that I might have become addicted to ecstasy. I

have been saying, no, all along because ecstasy requires dispassion and

equanimity for it to emerge and deepen, whereas addiction is based upon grasping

and

aversion. And, some have come out and stated that ecstatic contemplatives

(jhana yogis) are addicted to ecstasy.

 

What I find most interesting about the accusation that I am addicted to the

ecstatic contemplative experience, is we live in a culture that is addicted to

many substances, such as alcohol, nicotine and caffeine, not to mention all of

the prescription medications people are taking, as well as the illegal

narcotics millions of Americans buy every year. However I do not consume any of

these things. I do not even take aspirin because all of the pains of sickness

and old age have been erased by the ecstatic sensations that pervade this body.

 

Others have said the Buddha rejected ecstatic states. However all one need

do is read the Pali canon to see that ecstasy (jhana) was one of the most

common topics the Buddha addressed. If you examine the glossary of the Digha

Nikaya alone you will find these references to jhana:

 

jhanas - Absorptions, DN 42, 1.3.21f., n.79, n.50, n.57, n.76f., 2.75ff.,

4.33, n.168, 9.10ff., 16.6.8f., 17.2.3, n.583, n.611, 26.28, 29.24, 33.3.3(6),

n.1118, n.1127, n.1143

 

Therefore in conclusion I believe you will agree with me that the ecstatic

absorption states (jhanas/dhyanas) were of central importance to the historic

Buddha's teaching method.

 

Well, in the Buddha's own words, yes, ecstatic states are not only desirable,

but ecstatic contemplatives (jhana yogis) are addicted to ecstasy, worse,

pleasure seeking. But, he said since it is a pleasure "not of the senses" it is

a pleasure worthy of seeking for one who seeks Buddhahood, Arahantship, full

enlightenment, nibbana.

 

Therefore the Buddha was addicted to ecstasy

 

Digha Nikaya 29

Pasadika Sutta

The Delightful Discourse

a translation from the Pali by

Maurice Walshe, Wisdom Publications, Boston 1987, 1995

 

24.2 There are, Cunda, these four kinds of life devoted to pleasure which

are conducive to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to tranquillity,

to realization, to enlightenment, to Nibbana. What are they? First a monk

detached from sense-desires, detached from unwholesome mental states, enters

and remains in the first jhana, which is with thinking and pondering, born of

detachment, filled with delight and happiness. And, with the subsiding of

thinking and pondering, by gaining inner tranquillity and oneness of mind, he

enters and remains in the second jhana, which is without thinking and pondering,

born of concentration, filled with delight and happiness. Again, with the

fading of delight, remaining imperturbable, mindful and clearly aware, he

experiences in himself that joy of which the Noble Ones say; "Happy is he who

dwells

with equanimity and mindfulness," he enters and remains in the third jhana.

Again, having given up pleasure and pain, and with the disappearance of former

gladness and sadness, he enters and remains in the fourth jhana, which is beyond

pleasure and pain, and purified by equanimity and mindfulness.

 

These are the four kinds of life devoted to pleasure which are entirely

conducive to disenchantment, to cessation, to tranquillity, to realization, to

enlightenment, to Nibbana. So, if wanderers from other sects should say that

the

followers of the Sakyan are addicted to these four forms of pleasure seeking,

they should be told: "Yes," for they would be speaking correctly about you,

they would not be slandering you with false or untrue statements.

 

25. Then such wanderers might ask: "Well then, those who are given to these

four forms of pleasure-seeking - how many fruits, how many benefits can they

expect?" And, you should reply: "They can expect four fruits, four benefits.

What are they? The first is when a monk by destruction of three fetters has

become a Stream-Winner, no more subject to rebirth in lower worlds, firmly

established, destined for full enlightenment; the second is when a monk by the

complete destruction of three fetters and the reduction of greed, hatred and

delusion, has become a Once-Returner, and having returned once more to this

world,

will put an end to suffering; the third is when a monk, by the destruction of

the corruptions in this very life has, by his own knowledge and realization,

attained Arahantship, to the deliverance of heart and through wisdom. Such are

the four fruits and the four benefits that one given to these four forms of

pleasure-seeking can expect."

 

May I benefit all beings with every thought, word, action and resource.

 

Blessings to you,

 

Jeff Brooks