Most people when they hear about pain and pleasure, think that one is good while the other is bad and they form this perception just by seeing a small picture. For an immature mind, pain and pleasure are two things but for a wise mind, it is not two but one thing.
As humans, we are hardwired to emotions. We are programmed to feel emotions and respond to those emotions, We are emotional beings, and we tend to react to the various emotions we feel throughout our human lives.
An ignorant sees pain and pleasure as two different things and chases one while running from another, loves one and hates another. But a wise mind that has conquered emotions sees pain and pleasure as the same with no difference at all. In the mind of wisdom, a person with true wisdom doesn’t run away from pain and doesn’t chase pleasure.
Pain is not that painful but the perception we have towards it makes it so fearful. The same is true with pleasure, there is pleasure beyond the human mind and body and only those who are enlightened can experience those blissful moments of pleasure.
Both pain and pleasure are emotions and most people tend to react to those emotions rather than feeling them and that is why they increase the pain and suffering and reduce the pleasure they could have in life. They do not tend to feel pleasure to their full potential, they just settle for the minimum because of a lack of awareness and lack of self-control.
Both pain and pleasure have only one purpose and that is increasing the understanding of the human mind. Pain and pleasure help us to be more aware and to be in absolute control rather than reacting to those emotions. When we do not react to our thoughts and emotions, we gain power. A tremendous power which has no equal, a power which is beyond any worldly power.
When we don’t quit in pain and just feel the changes it brings inside us, we gain self-control. When we don’t fall for the alluring temptation of pleasure, we gain self-control.
With better self-control and awareness, we can create anything we want in this world. We are only limited because of our inability to access the true power we each hold inside of us.