Monday, December 21, 2009

Levels of Pleasure, Love and Fear

In his famous presentation "5 Levels of Pleasure", Rav Noach Weinberg (of blessed memory), puts into perspective all the pleasures of the world, clearly showing us how to travel the journey of our lives in the 1st class. We take a road from the most basic, physical pleasures, to the more subtle and sophisticated ones- Love, being Good, Creativity and finally, Closeness to G-d! (In case you'd like to read the whole article, here's the link-http://www.aish.com/sp/f/48965946.html )
It certainly makes alot of sense in our narcissistic age to address this pleasure-seeking world with this powerful message of the REAL pleasure that is here for us.
BUT HERE'S MY PROBLEM-
As we present this well-written and beautifully explained idea to the world as "Jewish approach" (in fact, this is the classical Aish presentation, part of their Discovery seminar), we are making the following statement- Judaism agrees with pleasure-seeking as the way of life. Which it does not, imho!
The choices we make in this paradigm are based on resolving the following conflict- Pleasure versus Comfort. Some would put it as follows- all choices that we make in life are based on either our desire for pleasure or an attempt to avoid pain. (This is how I overheard it presented today by one of the lecturers not related to Aish) . In my opinion, BOTH PLEASURE AND COMFORT ARE SECONDARY IN THE JEWISH PERSPECTIVE.
In fact, pleasure-seeking ideology of the past- Epicureanism- was seen by the Sages as the main opposition to the Torah approach. Pleasure-seeking is materialistic, egotistic, and it DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF with the most fundamental question of MEANING. Pleasure as the meaning of Life is a very shallow answer, indeed! (And in fact, that's why in 5 Levels you can't get higher than 4th without hitting meaning- to transcend Love one needs to have an IDEAL HE IS WILLING TO DIE FOR! You're welcome to look inside!)
SO, WHAT'S THE REAL CHOICE WE MAKE, FROM JEWISH PERSPECTIVE?
Torah tells us- it's CHOOSING TOV (Good) or RA (Evil). [And again, it's very difficult to associate Good with Pleasure and Evil with Pain- this effectively means becoming an Epicurean!]
Now, we need to be able to DISTINGUISH between Good and Evil. How do we know which is which? Let's try to establish a clear way to do it!
Classical definition of Good- that which makes you close to G-d, as G-d is the ONLY source of Good. Evil therefore, is the opposite- that, which makes you further away from G-d.
First distinction- as you are about to make a choice, ask yourself-
Is this going to bring me closer to G-d?
PROBLEM- well, we all know, how easily we are DECEITED by our own rationalisations- they can take us all the way from Good to Evil- with our best intentions, of course!
As the Prophet portrays to us this most common picture of human self-righteousness-
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! (Isaiah, 5:20-21)
We are commanded to follow the Path of G-d,and this mitzvah is interpreted as doing Hesed. Hesed, or LOVE, thus, is seen as the main attribute of G-d and Good. On the mystical Tree of Life it corresponds to sefirah of Hesed and represents the Right Side of the Tree. The Left Side is represented by the opposite energy of Gevurah. Gevurah is the strict Judgement of G-d, and if it is separated , cut off from the Tree, it represents Evil. If Good is seen and experienced as Love, Evil is the opposite energy- that of Fear.
And indeed, we find in contemporary Trans-Personal psychology vast information on Fear as  the main source of self-imposed suffering and our unwillingness to grow spiritually. As we can see, both Love and Fear are experienced on emotional and physical level- positive/negative emotions, and bodily sensations [For example- take a note of the different breathing people have when they are calm or anxious respectively. Emotional state of Tranquility is accompanied by deep, calm and rythmic breathing, and Anxiety is associated with shallow, fast and arythmic one.] Thus, we are ready to formulate another approach-
Good/Evil distinction based on Love/Fear as emotional and physiological experience.
As opposed to logical questioning, which implies our objectivity and fails ("Man is close to himself"- and therefore not objective, by definition)- this time we propose very subjective feeling criteria- if mind tricks us into rationalising, our body cannot be tricked! It will accurately reveal to us what this particular choice means- Fear or Love!
Fear-based choices are coming from Ego- it's primier interest being survival and egocentrism, these are our main obstacles on the way to spiritual growth!
Love motivates us to step out of our self-imposed limitations, grow and learn, using every challenge as an opportunity!
Next time when you're facing dilemma, try to approach it as a Love/Fear question- and look at your emotions and bodily sensations, as you are checking the options.
Ask yourself- Does this choice come from Love? Does it come from Fear?
Be aware of your feelings and physical sensations- which of them are Love-based and which are Fear-based? 
  
           
   

1 comment:

  1. Link to my previous posts-
    on Fear and it's effect on society- look at "Fear not Jacob"
    on Faith- "Living with Faith".
    Here we established an important distinction between Good and Evil to be experienced practically. Living with faith, it seems, is the Path of Love- having trust in G-d, one is required to bravely step outside of his fears, and choose Life, as Torah describes it!

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