Euphoria as a life goal

Is this "great bliss and connection with the universe" an illusion, much like a drug-induced state of mind? If so, should one knowlingly promote an illusory state of mind, even if it makes the world a better place?

I think it's hard to say whether that is an illusion, or our sense of individual separation is! But do you think it does make the world a better place?

If you try to make life as painful for other people as possible, then you will be guaranteed happiness.

Why is that article in the Fashion and Style section? wtf?

xxp - Thinking about it, not really. If one wants to do good work and try to change the world then I think it would be much more productive to go the normal socio/political route, doing volunteer work, getting into politics, whatever; rather than encouraging people to "run the deep inner peace circuitry of (their) right hemispheres".

Not to dismiss her work with brain trauma victims, which sounds like it could much more helpful on a local, practical level.

yeah, but haven't you ever known ppl who have worked for "a good cause", but who have done it in an aggressive, ultimately unproductive way, b/c they were so bent upon their own agenda that their strivings ended up betraying their cause in some sense?

for a variety of reasons, i don't think euphoria is an entirely practical life goal, no.

dell - er no. but i don't know too many people who work for good causes. And obviously politics is full of those types of people. I don't mean that those things are guaranteed to make the world a better place, just that it's a better way of going about it than encouraging everyone to sit around cross-legged with a dippy grin on their face </snark>

well, yeah, so we shouldn't attempt to cultivate a sense of peace. we should just immerse ourselves in bitterness and succumb to burnout, and then foist that inner sludge onto the world at large.

which is unfairly reductionist/strawpersonish, but it's not terribly far from your self-admittedly glib dippy-grinned stereotype, i'm thinking

yeah the snark was not entirely necessary but I suddenly thought of people like the Barefoot Doctor who - if he is not a complete charlatan - is someone who is deeply into all that nirvana stuff and probably does think it really would make the world a better place, but really he's a totally useless air-headed unhelpful tosspot.

But am happy to forget about people like him as he obviously doesn't represent all followers of that way of thinking. Carry on.

haha, ok

I kind of agree with ledge on this - it seems like a very selfish sort of aim. But then again, I live a pretty selfish life in which I'm not living up to any goals of doing good, and it's apparently a less peaceful and happy life, so the absence (or presence) of this nirvana she's talking about doesn't really imply the absence (or presence) of an effort to do good in the wider world.

well, i wouldn't take her word for it. we have to look into it and see what's there. i would, anyhow.

I know a lot of people whose life goal is euphoria and that's why they take "drugs."

Euphoria should be an occasional and incidental byproduct of a life well lived, not a goal in itself. Not because euphoria is bad, but because it cannot be obtained through the application of one's will.

Misunderstanding this dynamic leads people into all kinds of trouble, such as drug-taking or sex addiction, by seeking to replicate the external conditions that once led them to feel euphoric. Very predictably, it fails. There are few people so degraded as the misguided pleasure seeker.

xpost

I sort of feel like I'm operating from that mindset at the moment. But in my case it's due to sleep deprivation, and pushing the three-day weekend bender in my own foolish way. But, but...hedonism is not to be underestimated. It's very important that people feel good in life. Too many of us labor under the weight of weird puritan baggage, I'm thinking.

Like, we know how to work really hard, but we don't have the faintest clue as to how to properly relax and enjoy ourselves, etc. Fear of pleasure and so forth.

There are few people so degraded as the misguided pleasure seeker.= dell today?? oh my...

Hey, the Buddha went there, too. It's a normal learning process to make mistakes. But you have to snap out of it some time and learn the lesson or you get stuck there spinning your wheels.

But Siddhartha Guatama did it from the first, chronologically speaking within his lifetime, right? Like he was born into it. I was not born into royalty and pleasure. I am a latecomer, trying to strategize my way out of this mess via immersion in chemical bliss...and a relatively low-grade version of such, at that? I mean, I'm not altering my brain molecules via some exotic research chemicals. I'm not gliding along on MDMA and 2-CB or some such...I'm just running on sleep deprivation and beers.

But, yeah, I guess my wheels are obviously stuck in the mud. Point well-taken.

Euphoria should be an occasional and incidental byproduct of a life well lived, not a goal in itself.

I pretty much agree with this.

http://wildgreenyonder.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/maslows_hierarchy_of_needssvg.png?w=362&h=238
http://www.sito.org/id/vls/AF_Food_Pyramid.52939.jpg
http://www.lclark.edu/~miller/pyramids/see-all.gif

MYSTERIES OF THE PYRAMIDS

I slightly differ. Euphoria is very important for human beings' welfare in general. I mean, obv. everybody carves out their own route, but I think that sometimes ppl underestimate the importance of FEELING GOOD. Historically, most cultures have had outlets, proper contexts for ensuring that their communities experience that, and fulfill their birthrights as such.

The very fact that the term "euphoria" is technically a pathological state in western psychology speaks volumes about our culture's problem with FEELING GOOD.

I think, anyhow.

I really don't think the west's problem is discouraging feeling good.

Uh, well, that's the, myth of the west; and esp. america...that it's some extremely hedonistic culture. If you actually look closely at american culture (fast food, coors light, etc. ad nauseum) it becomes readily apparent that ppl in america don't understand where feeling good even begins.

True. The whole "God hates fun" thing is deeply pathological. Some people must dig deep into their minds to uproot it. But that is more easily done in a meditative state than during a debauch. Fun is pretty normal, when your juices are flowing properly. You don't even need an iPod for it.

Some people are never happy unless they're renouncing something.

I can feel extraordinarily good when doing "normal" homeostasis program...but the chemically-induced shortcut to feeling woo-hoo seduces me sometimes. I'm not quite sure how to navigate through all of that properly...

Dive to the source of confusion. Once you arrive there, it vanishes. Then seduction becomes just seduction and not a moral dilemma.

easy^

words vs answers

xpost

xposta, tho

hmm, yeah.

i suppose my priorities get muddled.