Meditation, spirituality and sensual pleasure

Many people may be a little put off from getting involved too seriously in meditation and spirituality as they believe that it involves a renunciation or rejection of sensual or worldly pleasures that they enjoy very much. There are also quite a large number of spiritual practitioners who labor under the delusion that the more ascetically you live, the holier you become and the more progress you are going to make on your path.
In order to overcome these extreme views we can need think about what it is that we are renouncing when we embark on an path of inner or spiritual development. To renounce means to let go of. When the great Sages and spiritual teaches of the world advise us to practice renunciation, they are actually advising us to renounce suffering, pain and the inner causes of that suffering and pain, many which are attitudes of craving, attachment or compulsive addiction. They advise us to renounce suffering, pain and its causes IN ORDER THAT WE MAY BE ABLE TO EXPERIENCE MORE HAPPINESS AND PLEASURE, AND THIS INCLUDES A GREATER AND MORE REFINED ENJOYMENT OF SENSE PLEASURES!

One of the keys to developing a healthy enjoyment of sense pleasures is to emphasize the quality of an enjoyment that you are engaging with, and to learn to do it with the whole of your being, rather than in a distracted manner. For example if you are walking or sitting in a park, and you choose to focus with a peaceful mind for a short while on the different sounds that are available for you to listen to (the birdsong, the wind in the trees, the water flowing through the stream), you discover that many of these sounds can be experienced as deeply pleasurable and nourishing to your soul. Similarly, our afternoon tea or coffee is often something that we gulp down whilst our mind is consumed with the activities of the day. However, if we can look upon that time as an opportunity to really relax and experience that drink as a sensual pleasure, then those few minutes of pleasure drinking tea or coffee can be a deeply nourishing and healthy experience.

In the long term, those of us who are committed to a consistent meditation practice over a period of years discover that there are certain meditative states or conditions that give rise to experiences of sensual bodily bliss that are way beyond the scope of any ordinary pleasure. Gaining consistent experience of these blissful states entails being able to open to the idea that there are far greater and deeper experiences of pleasure than currently most people would deem possible. Having opened ourselves to this possibility, we then need to try and find something each day where we are retraining our mind and body to experience pleasure in a new and positive way. Finding an opportunity each day to experience sensual pleasure with a peaceful and positive mind can be fun and creative. As mentioned above, walking through a park and listening, or making our afternoon hot drink a time for mindful pleasure are two ways. Here are a few other ideas:
- Making your shower or bath time an opportunity to enjoy the tactile experience of water on your body, and the smell of whatever cleansing soaps etc that you are using.
- Taking a few minutes at sunset or sunrise to enjoy the colours of the sun across the sky
- Making a bit more time at the beginning of lovemaking with your partner for subtle physical arousal (gentle stroking ect)and emotional connection.
- Listening to soulful music for its own sake, allowing it to nourish your inner being, rather than being always background music for social or other activities.

Really the list is endless and I would encourage creativity here. The main thing is that whatever activity you choose, you engage in the activity consciously, mindfully and with the intention to enjoy the activity in a way that will nourish your soul.
May 2010 bring you all the pleasures of the soul, great and deep!

© Toby Ouvry Dec 2009, please do not reproduce without permission