Pleasure can lead to pain (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh (Lion's Roar); Ellie Askew, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Internal knots

Gee, this is tough. Pleasure can lead to pain.

"Not all internal formations* are unpleasant. There are also pleasant internal formations, but they can still make us suffer.

"When you taste, hear, or see something pleasant then that pleasure can become a strong internal knot.

"When the object of your pleasure disappears, you miss it and you begin searching for it. You spend a lot of time and energy trying to experience it again.

• *Internal formation: crystallization (Sanskrit samyojana = “fetter,” lit. “to crystallize”), knot, constriction. Everyone has formations (knots) we need to take care of by the practice of meditation, to undo them and experience freedom, transformation, and healing.

"If you smoke marijuana or drink alcohol and begin to like it then it becomes an internal formation in your body and in your mind. You cannot get it off your mind. You will always look for more.

"The strength of the internal knot is pushing you and controlling you. So internal formations deprive us of our freedom." More

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• Excerpt from the article "Loosening the Knots of Anger" by Thich Nhat Hanh in Lion's Roar magazine
• Deer Park Monastery, Southern California
• Plum Village Mindfulness Practice Center