Lesson One: Just Say "No" to Drugs

Pain and Pleasure as Teachers

Pleasure has received a bum rap primarily because many people see “sin” as the unbridled indulgence in pleasure. Yet, upon closer examination we will find that this condemnation of pleasure is unnecessary. In fact, the truth is that nothing evil (i.e., damaging to ourselves or others) can be genuinely pleasurable. Evil or damaging influences may appear pleasurable to the mind that is disconnected from the genuine sensations of our body, but anything which is harmful causes damage to the body or the psyche which ultimately brings the experience of pain. The fact that there is sometimes a delay between the action and the experience of pleasure and pain associated with it can sometimes fool us into thinking that the consequence isn’t really there.

Eating is a perfect example. Eating is pleasurable, and rightly so, because our body requires nourishment. One might argue that the pleasure of eating could be taken to excess in the form of gluttony. However, this is not the case. The pleasure of eating ceases when the appetite is satiated. Food only evokes the sensation of physical pleasure so long as the body requires nourishment and the food being eaten supplies it.

Anyone who takes the time to pay attention to his or her body will discover this is so. For example, have you ever had a craving for a natural food like peaches or watermelon? When you first started to eat this food you craved, it tasted, “oh, so good.” Then, as your body acquired enough of that food, it suddenly lost its flavor. It no longer was appealing to you. In fact, you may have suddenly found the thought of eating it repulsive. In other words, once the body derived what it needed from this particular food, the intense pleasure of eating it ceased.

If one pays close attention to the body one will soon discover that eating causes pleasure in the body only up to a certain point. Then, quite suddenly, the flavor of the food changes. The body breathes a small “sigh,” a sign of satisfaction. The taste of the food starts to become dull as the “mouth hunger” is satiated. Pleasure seeks satisfaction. Once satisfaction is realized, pleasure ceases or at least becomes greatly diminished.

If we keep eating beyond the point of satisfaction, the experience of pleasure begins to give way to the experience of pain. Our stomach becomes uncomfortably “stuffed” which then creates discomfort and eventual suffering. Here we see the principle of pain and pleasure acting as teachers. Pleasure tells us, “Eat, it is good for you.” Pain reminds us, “Don’t overeat because it is bad for you.”

The bottom line is, without pain we would not know when we were injuring ourselves. If there was no pain when we touched a hot stove we might not realize that our hand was being injured until serious damage took place. The pain of the burn tells us the hot stove is injurious to our body. We learn to be careful around the hot stove to avoid future pain. Thus, pain allows us to learn how to protect ourselves from harm or damage.

The problem is that most of us are not “tuned in” to our bodies or we have been taught by others to ignore the subtle messages we are receiving that certain behaviors are not positive or healthy. Returning to the example of eating, I have observed that young children will typically eat only enough to satiate hunger and then want to quit. Many parents encourage them to overeat by insisting that they “clean up the plate.” With parental encouragement the child learns to ignore what their body is telling them and soon overeating becomes habitual.