The human mind often dwells on future possibilities—new experiences, personal transformations, or shifts in life circumstances. Buddhist teachings suggest that this focus on desires and expectations leads to suffering, as those desires may remain unfulfilled or, if realized, may prove disappointing.

Imagine, for a moment, a state of being where we set aside these future-oriented thoughts. We exist as consciousness, a blank slate, devoid of the usual mental chatter. This approximates samadhi, a state of deep meditative peace.

A question arises: Can we function in daily life from this state? Would such a state equate to a passive, unresponsive existence, akin to a lobotomy?

Spiritual traditions assert that it is possible to live and act from this state of surrendered ego, continuously guided by a higher intelligence. In this state all actions are aligned with this guiding force, full of love and light, leading to a state of “ever-new bliss,” a term used by Paramahansa Yogananda.

This is the state that Jesus described in Matthew NRSVUE 6:25-34:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the gentiles who seek all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

In the Ashtavakra Gita sage Ashtavakra opens with the following advice: “If you are seeking liberation, my son, avoid the objects of the senses like poison and cultivate tolerance, sincerity, compassion, contentment, and truthfulness as the antidote.”
(Translation by John Henry Richards)

Why do objects of the senses need to be avoided like poison? Certainly Ashtavakra is not speaking of ordinary perception, especially the delights that nature provides.

What he is speaking of is the orientation of seeking our happiness from sensual pleasures. When we do that, we lose our focus and forget that the real treasure of spiritual joy that comes from within.

In addition, there is the unpleasant side effect of sensual pleasure. When the object of our perception brings us pleasure, we want to repeat the experience, and so it has a binding quality. If we cannot repeat the experience, there is disappointment and suffering.

Further, there is the fact that the pleasure that we derive from objects and experiences diminishes over time and we return to our baseline of happiness. This inability to repeat the initial degree of happiness is a phenomenon that psychologists call the “hedonic treadmill.”

While this world has many sensual pleasures to offer, we should be ever vigilant and remember who we truly are and what purposes we have established for ourselves in our life. In so doing we will be able to avoid getting stuck in a small eddy while the river of life flows endlessly onward to the ocean.