Pleasure Beyond
Enjoy The Blessings Of Creation
Photo by Dennis Silke, Pexels.com.
Key Assertions That Help To Summarize This Article:
One needs to learn to value the experience of pleasure as a way to create a neuropsychological predisposition for pleasure-seeking behaviors.
A chief symptom of living in the industrialized world of Modernity is pleasure-anxiety—the limiting of one’s full enjoyment of life
When one is inspired by some great goal one’s mind becomes freer as it transcends limitations.
One needs to learn to value the experience of pleasure as a way to create a neuropsychological predisposition for pleasure-seeking behaviors. Failure to do so could, in the extreme, lead to the predisposition for violence-seeking behaviors. Heartwood Path Creation Spirituality draws a distinction between bodily pleasure and promiscuity.
Unlike promiscuity, body pleasure, when guided by Heartwood Path Spirituality, is not promiscuous, does not promote violence, and does not condone materialism. Also, in Heartwood Path Spirituality, celebration of matter is seen as holy; celebration of materialism is seen as idolatry.
A chief symptom of living in the industrialized world of Modernity is pleasure-anxiety—the limiting of one’s full enjoyment of life. One becomes anxious about experiencing pleasure as a result of society’s myths, laws, and common belief system. Our society, having roots in Puritanism, tends to encourage us to feel ashamed, guilty, and deserving of self-punishment.
Throughout the Heartwood Path, pleasure-anxiety is thwarted by discussions and practices that are intended to make a person more likely to experience the pleasure of peak experiences. These intensely pleasurable times teach how good one can possibly feel by demonstrating one’s own vast potential for experiencing pleasure. Peak experiences also momentarily erase self-doubt; increase inspiration, self-appreciation, and courage; enhance the feeling of love and empathy for others; and make one feel more hopeful, confident, and connected to the world-at-large.
The craziness of Modernity makes one think too often about peak performances and not often enough about peak experiences. The result is often frustration and bitterness. Choosing to focus on good experiences is not only its own reward, but also often leads to the achievement of goals.
When one is inspired by some great goal one’s mind becomes freer as it transcends limitations. One’s consciousness expands in all directions, revealing a wonderful world. Forces, faculties, and talents that have been dormant spring alive. One becomes ready to receive the guidance of teachers. One begins to co-create with Spirit. Such co-creation is pleasurable. Co-creation almost inevitably requires the use of, not only words, but also wordless expressions from your vocal chords.
Photo by David Selbert, Pexels.com.
HumaNatureConnect Activity
Reacting To A Disturbed Place
For this activity, develop a memory of a disturbed or non-pristine place, write some words about your relationship to this place, and say something about your feelings about this disturbance (focus on any feeling of fear, despair, emptiness, and loss). I, for example, during my years at high school and then again, almost two decades later, when I found myself waiting to pick up my daughters at this same school, would sit among a small grove of black locust trees across the street from the school’s main entrance. I was always comforted by this small grove and have, on occasion, been teased for talking to the trees there, now gone in the name of progress. One time, a school mate, later a mother of two children at our Alma Mater, asked me why I always liked to talk to those trees. In response, I smiled, and said: “Because plants have all the anthers.” What do your memories of a disturbed place tell you about yourself as? Write your answer in your journal.
Photo by Tomas Malik, Pexels. com.
Nocturnal Pilgrimage
For best results, write down your impressions of each night’s dreams in your journal using the Heartwood Path Dreaming Time Protocols found in the Appendix. Afterwards, consider sharing your Dream Tending with others.
