Pleasure is the structure of society. From childhood until death we are secretly, cunningly, or obviously pursuing pleasure. So, whatever our form of pleasure is, I think we should be very clear about it because it is going to guide and shape our lives. It is, therefore, important for each one of us to investigate closely, hesitantly, and delicately this question of pleasure, for to find pleasure and then nourish and sustain it is a basic demand of life and, without it, existence becomes dull, stupid, lonely, and meaningless.
You must ask, why then should life not be guided by pleasure? For the very simple reason that pleasure must bring pain, frustration, sorrow, and fear and, out of fear, violence. If you want to live that way, live that way most of the world does anyway, but if you want to be free from sorrow you must understand the whole structure of pleasure.
To understand pleasure is not to deny it. We are not condemning it or saying it is right or wrong; but, if we pursue it, let us do so with our eyes open, knowing that a mind that is all the time seeking pleasure must inevitably find its shadow, pain.
Now, why is the mind always demanding pleasure? Why is it that we do noble and ignoble things with the undercurrent of pleasure? Why is it we sacrifice and suffer on the thin thread of pleasure? What is pleasure, and how does it come into being? (JKrishnamurti, Freedom from the Known,34)
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