Daily Quote, Monday May 11, 2009.

Good morning everyone,

Beautiful day today!!

Many thanks to Pauline for hosting DVD night last night and many thanks from Pauline to us for leaving some great energy in her house. :-) We'll be doing more DVD evenings on an irregular basis as interesting things to watch come along or as we need more homemade cookies!

Tomorrow is the anniversary of K's birthday. Do you have a favourite quote, something that you had to struggle with for a while or are still wrestling with that got you to notice yourself, that you'd like to post in celebration?

Last night we talked for some time about the way pleasure and fear are related. Today's quote looks at the mechanism of pleasure and you can see how fear is right there too.

Pleasure is related to desire.

Pleasure is related to desire: I have tasted a certain food and I want more of it, it gives me delight; there is sex, the pleasure of a lovely evening, of a sunset, the light on the water as the river flows by, the beauty of a bird on the wing, the beauty of a face, a sentence that awakens a deep delight, a smile. Then there is the desire that says that I must have more of this, and the desire - whether sexual, psychological, or otherwise - which has tasted a certain pleasure and wants it repeated. The repetition comes the moment thought comes into being....

Yesterday evening, among the clouds and in the wind, suddenly there was a spot of sunlight shining on a green field. That light was an extraordinary light, full, rich, and the green had such aliveness. The eyes saw it; the mind recorded it and took great delight in that beauty, in that light, and in that incomparable green color. I want a repetition of that delight, so today I look for that same light, that same beauty, that same feeling - which is thought. The act of seeing was one thing, and then thought came in and said, 'I would like more of that, I must repeat that again tomorrow.' The repetition of that is the beginning of pleasure. When I saw the light on the field there was no desire, no pleasure; there was a tremendous observation and delight. But thought came in and said, 'By Jove, how nice it would be if I could have more of that tomorrow.'

That is what we are doing all the time - it may be sexually, it may be when someone flatters you and says that he is your friend - thought steps in and wants it repeated. The beginning of pleasure is the beginning of thought in conflict. It is thought that demands, that creates conflict.

Collected Works, Vol. XVI - 216