When "desire" is GOOD in Buddhism

The Buddha's [distinction] about "desire" that Western Buddhism gets wrong

The rare beauty of Native American men

(The Midnight Library) July 10, 2026: [Theravada] Buddhism is often described as a tradition that teaches us to eliminate "desire." This is one of the most persistent misreadings in the history of the Western encounter with Eastern philosophy.

The ancient Pali canon makes a precise distinction between two words that, in English, may both be rendered as "desire," but they are almost opposites.

Tanha is compulsive "craving" driven by a sense of lack — whereas chanda is "aspiration" driven by genuine vision.

The Buddha actively encouraged chanda ("desire," "aspiration," "will," "intention") while working to release tanha ("desire," "craving," lit. "thirst").

Simplistic and wrong: Buddhism explained in 1 minute! - Misunderstanding the term "desire"

Professor of Neuroscience Dr. Wolfram Schultz, MD, at Cambridge University, England, documented that the dopamine reward system produces more activation in anticipation (wanting) than in satisfaction (getting) — confirming the structural mechanism of tanha (craving) 2,600 years after the Buddha described it.

• Dr. Robert Sapolsky: Behave

The Craving Mind (Dr. Judson Brewer)

Neuroscientist and psychiatrist Dr. Judson Brewer, MD, who studies the default mode network at Brown University confirmed in The Craving Mind (2017) that mindful [dispassionate detached attention to what is happening in the present moment without moving towards the pleasant, away from the unpleasant, or being confused/bored by the neutral] observation of craving interrupts the compulsive cycle measurably.

• Tara Brach: Meditation teacher, psychologist, author

Radical Acceptance (Dr. Tara Brach, PhD)

Three Buddhist practices drawn directly from the Pali canon: The R.A.I.N. practice, the aspiration question, and the satiation experiment.

• Recognize, name what is present
• Allow, do not react (chase, act on, suppress, check out, do not crave, resist, or go dull in boredom/confusion), let it be present (radical acceptance)
• Investigate, what does it feel like, where is it located in the body, what is its texture?
• Nurture, bring kindness to the experience, not to the craving itself but to the part of you experiencing it
• "This practice interrupts the automatic cycle of trigger to craving to behavior and creates a gap in which choice becomes possible."
• "Prof. Brewer's research has confirmed that this gap created through mindful [dispassionate, equanimous, attentive, vigilant, wakeful, unbiased] observation of craving measurably reduces the compulsive quality of tanha [craving, addiction, obsession, compulsion] over time."

"The Craving Mind"

(Clear Mountain Monastery Project) The Craving Mind and the Default

Mode [Network]’s Addiction to Self | Dr. Judson Brewer. MD, PhD

• 

  Beauty is more than skin deep!

  BIO: Dr. Judson Brewer, MD, PhD (aka "Dr. Jud"), is a New York Times best-selling author and pioneering psychiatrist blending cutting-edge neuroscience with 20+ years of Buddhist mindfulness training. A leader in the science of habit change, he is director of research at Brown University’s Mindfulness Center and has held positions at MIT, Yale U., and UMass. Dr. Jud developed app-based programs like Mindshift Recovery, Unwinding Anxiety, Eat Right Now, and Craving to Quit, clinically proven to treat anxiety, addiction, and emotional eating. He’s the author of The Craving Mind, Unwinding Anxiety, and The Hunger Habit, and co-founder of the nonprofit Mindshift Recovery. He is also a collaborator with Clear Mountaineers and medical researchers Dori Rosenberg and Dave Arterburn. More

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"The Rewarded Brain"

(Cambridge Philosophical Society) The Rewarded Brain | A V Hill Lecture

Handsome American Indian

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• The Midnight Library @TheRealMidnight...) July 10, 2026; Dr. Wolfram Schultz; Dr. Judson Brewer; Dr. Tara Brach; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation) (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Zen and the "self" we are defending

(ECHOES OF LOST KNOWLEDGE)

Curing the Five Hindrances of mind/heart

(Venerable Gotami) Stuck in life? These Five Things (Hindrances) are hold you back

1. Sense craving (kāmacchanda): seeking pleasure through the five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste and physical feeling.
2. Ill-will (vyāpāda): feelings of anger, hostility, vengefulness, resentment, hatred, and bitterness.
3. Sloth-and-torpor (thīna-middha): mental and physical lack of energy with little to no ability to make effort toward samadhi or concentration.
4. Restlessness-and-worry (uddhacca-kukkucca): the inability to calm the mind and bring it to stillness (samadhi) and focus one's energy.
5. Skeptical doubt (vicikiccha): lack of confidence, conviction, faith in the practice and one's ability to succeed in calm and insight toward enlightenment and liberation.

• The Five Hindrances (pancha-nívarana)

Etymology

According to Gil Fronsdal, the Pali term (nīvaraṇa) translated as "hindrance" actually means "covering." What these hindrances cover over are: the clarity of our mind, as well as our ability to be mindful, wise, concentrated, and stay on purpose [1].

According to earlier translations by Rhys Davids, the Pali term nīvaraṇa (Sanskrit nivāraṇa) refers to an obstacle or hindrance in the ethical sense, usually enumerated in a set of five [7].

In Pali language literature: Pali canon

In the Pali canon's Samyutta Nikaya, several sutras or discourses juxtapose the Five Hindrances with the Seven Factors of Enlightenment (satta-bojjhanga) [a].

For instance, according to SN 46.37, the Buddha states: "Meditators, there are these Five Hindrances, obstructions, corruptions of mind, weakeners of wisdom. What are the five?

1. Sensual craving...
2. ill-will...
3. sloth-and-torpor...
4. restlessness-and-remorse...
5. skeptical doubt...

"There are, meditators, these Seven Factors of Enlightenment, which are nonhindrances, nonobstructions, noncorruptions of mind/heart. When cultivated and developed, they lead to the realization of the fruit of true knowledge and liberation. 

"What are the seven? The enlightenment factor of mindfulness... equanimity... [8][b]."

Ven. Anālayo emphasizes: To overcome the hindrances, to practice satipatthana [the Four Foundations], and to establish the awakening factors [the Seven Factors of Enlightenment] are, indeed, according to several Pali discourses, the key aspects and the distinctive features common to the awakenings of all buddhas of the past, present, and future [9].

Ven. Anālayo supports this by identifying that, in all extant Sanskrit and Chinese versions of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness Discourse (Satipatthana Sutta), only the Five Hindrances and Seven Factors of Enlightenment are consistently identified under the dhamma contemplation section.

Contemplations of the Five Aggregates clung to as self, Six Sense Bases and Four Noble Truths are not included in one or more of these non-Pali language versions [9].

In terms of gaining insight into and overcoming the Five Hindrances, according to the discourse on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, the Buddha proclaimed:

 

"How, meditators, does a meditator live contemplating mental objects in the mental objects of the Five Hindrances? Herein [within this Doctrine and Discipline], meditators, when sense-craving is present, one knows, "There is sense-craving in me."

When sense-craving is not present, one knows, "There is no sense-craving in me."

One knows how the arising of the non-arisen sense-craving comes to be; one knows how the abandoning of the arisen sense-craving comes to be; and one knows how the non-arising in the future of the abandoned sense-craving comes to be [10]. More: The Five Hindrances

Let's talk about sex: poetry (6/19)

When sexbots arrive, will they have Replika data?

Visit my weekly Peace Class at PRS, Hollywood.

Sex is a sticky subject. Uh, mmm, icky finicky touchy (not touchy) sticky subject -- ooh, it's nasty. Don't talk about it! What's brown and sticky? A tree. We aim to unstick it.

Sexworld flash fiction (Koertge)

This Thursday the SPARC Centre Gallery (Third Thursdays) monthly poetry reading arrives, featuring South Pasadena Poet Laureate Ron Koertge and Wisdom Quarterly's very own peace activist and poet Mandy Kahn.

See her weekly (Wednesday night) Peace Class at prs.org. The subject this warm month? A theme of passion, romance, getting down and dirty, and summer love with an OPEN MIC segment running throughout the reading. That means YOU can come and read, too.

Mandy Kahn's Peace Class (returns in Sept.)

English only?

In English Rumi might sound filthy and vulgar.

• The Mathnawi of Jalaluddin Rumi: Reynold A. Nicholson (free download, borrow, and streaming: Internet Archive)

What is the sound of one hand... Uh, mmm, no, what is the sound of 1,000 jaws dropping?

Just say "no," Adults. No one should have sex. Better those energies were expended following something far more useful. But what could possibly be more useful, or more enjoyable, than sex?

Once the Bodhisattva (Buddha-to-be) reflected, "Why do I, being subject to aging and death, also seek things that are subject to aging and death? What now if I were to seek out that which is beyond aging and death?"

But if everyone dies and everything eventually passes away, what is not subject to aging and death? What is beyond impermanence?

There is one element that has overcome aging and death and that transcends all suffering, that has overcome sorrow, lamentation, and disappointment. And that is the unconditioned element called nirvana.

Nirvana is better than sex?
Nirvana is better than anything. Everything else is ultimately disappointing. Why? Everything else is subject to incessant arising and passing away. We cling. It fades. We hurt. We are left empty and dissatisfied. Things reveal themselves to be impersonal, unable to stand independently.

As close as nirvana is, realization of it is a long way away from those who do not practice, who do not apply themselves, who do not determine to realize it in this very life.

Even for such people, there is serenity or samatha meditation, which gives access to amazing levels of bliss, serenity, and -- by adding vipassana on top of right samadhi -- degrees of liberating-insight.

As close as calm-and-insight meditation are, realization serenity or wisdom are a long way away for those who do not practice, who do not determine to realize them in this very life.

There's a reason to sit, a better form of pleasure?

Even for such people, there is virtue, which is a more sublime form of joy (piti, rapture, pleasure, bliss) beyond reproach, beyond blame, worry, or any remorse.

As close as virtue is, it is a long way away for those who do not practice, who do not determine to realize it in this very life.

For such people, endowed with virtue, they may enjoy sex that harms no one and does not involve anyone dependent on others. For those who are independent, self-supporting, who are capable of consenting and making their own decisions. Let's talk about sex between them.

Hey, did you ever consider Tantra?

One need not imagine that sex brings one closer to enlightenment -- as Great Vehicle (Mahayana and esoteric Vajrayana) practitioners following the pre-Buddhist Indian path of yogic Tantra may imagine.

As ordinary householders living in the world -- interested in wealth, prosperity, and personal satisfaction through gain, fame, and endless distractions -- sex may serve that purpose.

It of necessity will be disappointing (dukkha). If it were not, the Buddha would never have pointed out a better path to pursue, a way thing to strive for, a superior form of pleasure. There is another way that goes against the stream (the current, the flow), does not pull one by the floods, does not entangle one in the revolving wheel of rebirth and redeath (samsara).

Is anyone going against the stream?

Noah Levine, scandalized founder of Dharma Punx, Against the Stream, Refuge Recovery

• 

  A path to go against the stream

  The path of the spiritual revolutionary is a long-term and gradual journey toward awakening (enlightenment, bodhi). If we want a quick fix or easy salvation, this is not it. Turn back now, plug back into The Matrix, and enjoy that delusional existence. The Buddha's Dharma is a path for real rebels, malcontents, and truth seekers. The wisdom and compassion of the Buddha is available to all, but the journey to personal freedom is arduous. It takes a steadfast commitment to Truth and, at times, counterintuitive (against instinct) action. We have at our disposal everything we need to undertake this journey. There is only one prerequisite -- the willingness to play, to do the practice, to follow the path through the darkest recesses of our minds and hearts, to stand in the face of great resistance and fear and continue in the direction of freedom. For those who are willing, the ability is a given. The Buddha isn’t a god or deity to be worshipped. He was a rebel and ford finder (who rediscovered the way crossing over), an overthrower, destroyer of ignorance, the Master Physician who re-found the path to complete freedom from suffering. The Buddha left a legacy of Truth for us to experience for ourselves, not to believe in him. The practices and principles of these Teachings, the Dharma, lead to our direct experience of knowledge, wisdom, compassion, and full liberation. This is not a faith-based philosophy, but an experiential one. The point of the spiritual revolution is not to become a "good Buddhist," but to become a wise and compassionate being, to awaken from our life of complacency and delusion and ignorance and to be a buddha, an awakened being. In order to do this, it is helpful to study the life and teachings of the original rebel, the Wandering Ascetic Sid — the Buddha.

What about love and relationships? That is different. We are talking about sex.

Love is grand. Most people have nothing higher to live for. And as an English word we confound it with all kinds of loves, when it only refers in this context to romantic love, which feels great but is not what people really mean. It is like referring to the prestigious and selfless faculty when one really means the greedy and despised administration or the mishmash of students. "School" means all three, but we put the best face on it.

The same with relationships. They can be great educators, harder to endure than a monastic life. But most are not. We pretend they are because they can be. But most of them, most of the time are not. Yet everyone claps and says "Awww" when anyone gets engaged. Awww, what? Awww, they're going to be so unhappy, and then the world can say to them, "Welcome to the club."

So let's stick to the subject and talk about sex.

• Men want sex, it is said.
• Yes, so do women -- even though it is said that they do not.
• Well, if they repeatedly indulge and stress about it, they will be caught up in stress and disappointment. But that stress is the only happiness they know.
• Right! It's like the Buddha comparing sexual craving to a leper's itch. The itch gets so bad, the sores so itchy, that placing an arm over an open fire can feel like a downright relief. Fire cauterizes the wound and so soothes the itch. It keeps one from going crazy, even at the cost of great pain or disfigurement.
• If only there were a way not to feel crazy yet not get burned.
• We don't have to have wait for heartbreak to feel "burned."
• Oh, totally. Good sex, great sex, unreal sex is still disappointing, to say nothing of the mediocre sex we mostly all settle for.
• Should independent people have sex?
• If they want to. They're free to. They can even do it while practicing virtue (sila). There is no reason for guilt, self-recrimination, or holding wrong views about it. Abstain, it's better, but indulge with a clear conscience that we are not "forbidden" to do it. One day, some days, meditate, too.
• They might succeed in meditation.
• Successful meditation (jhana, absorption) is better than sex -- full of rapture, joy, and supersensual bliss called piti.
• I've heard. But how could bliss be supersensual?
• There's a higher bliss, a better form of pleasure that is not dependent on the body or bodily feelings and pleasant sensations.
• You think?
• I know.
• Then why would anyone go back to sex as a source of relief or attempted-happiness?
• Those blissful states aren't always available to everyone; they take practice, which takes persistence and a little commitment. They are not permanent or reliable all the time. I mean, they are always there but not always available to everyone. We have base cravings and very strong habits.
• Restraint is good.
• Yes, it is great. But that's not always what the mind wants. And the mind usually gets what the mind wants.
• That's for sure. The body is weak compared to the mind even when the spirit is willing.
• Spirit?
• The breath, the prana, the Spiritus.
• Oh yea.
• Well, good times.
• Good times.

Common first date mistakes to avoid (allwomenstalk.com)

• How To (video); Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly, orig. 12/15/11-4/23/24; Noah Levine on going against the stream (edited by Wisdom Quarterly)

Alcohol, religion? The Buddha: abstain

Drinking in accordance with Mediterranean Diet means virgin olive oil not liquid ignorance.

.

Cold Christian monks consume weak wine.

Religion and alcohol have a mixed up history. The world's religions have had different relationships with alcohol, reflecting diverse cultural, social, and spiritual practices across different traditions.

Some religions are strict in prohibiting consumption, viewing it as "missing the mark" (sin) and harmful to spiritual and physical well-being, whereas others incorporate it into their rituals and ceremonies because, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Come get drunk with me, Flanders! - God, no, Homie

Booze can't be bad. Drunk Whitey's going to heaven!

Throughout history, toxic alcohol has held significant roles in religious observances, from the use of "sacramental" wine in Christian sacraments to the offering and moderate drinking of omiki (sacramental sake) in Japanese (shapeshifter-taming) Shinto purification rituals.

O, Buddha, should people avoid alcohol?

Buddhism calls on practitioners to avoid consuming alcohol (surāmerayamajja, referring to the types of intoxicating fermented beverages), as it violates the 5th of the Five Precepts, the basic Buddhist code of ethical conduct as it disrupts mindfulness, leads to negligence and heedlessness, all of which impedes one's progress along the Noble Eightfold Path [2] to serenity, insight, enlightenment, and the blissful liberation of nirvana.

Bacchus pour wine for panther

Christian attitudes towards alcohol shift all the time, with some sects and denominations advocating for moderation, while others promote abstinence. The use of sacramental wine in religious rites, such as the Eucharist, underscores a symbolic significance within Roman Catholicism (and the Vatican) as well as subsequent Protestant Christian theologies, to say nothing of more original Coptic and Eastern Orthodox views.

Hinduism in Śruti texts, such as the Vedas and Upanishads, says consumption of alcohol and/or intoxication is considered as a recipe for weakness, while in Smriti texts, the verses contradict each other and allow the use of alcohol for some castes, but remind everyone that total abstention is better.

Temperance or premature death?

Islam says the consumption of alcohol is strictly prohibited, according to Muslim teachings, reflecting its foundational role in shaping Muslim identity.

Across various religious traditions, attitudes toward alcohol mirror broader societal norms and values rather than strict adherence to religious texts since society is more influential in shaping individual behaviors and attitudes than religion.

Research on the correlation between religiosity and alcohol consumption reveals the complex interplay between religious affiliation, cultural context, and drinking patterns. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for informing public health initiatives and interventions aimed at addressing alcohol-related issues (like alcoholism, domestic abuse, child molestation, sexual misconduct, theft, negligence, injury to reputation, cancer, mental illness, morbidity, obesity, dementia, and so on) within specific religious communities.

Drink up, Dumb@ss. We love rounding you up.

As societies grapple with the complexities for profit alcohol consumption (which makes many private companies rich while costing society inestimable harms), further exploration of the intersection between religion, culture, spirituality, and health behaviors provides insights into how individuals navigate their spiritual, religious, and social identities concerning alcohol.

Buddhism is not a monolith with two major schools, the back-to-basics Theravada (that follows the teachings (-vada) of the historical Buddha and his enlightened disciples or (theras-) and the more scattered Mahayana ("great boat," which makes up 90% of Buddhists). Tibetan Vajrayana, while spoken of as yet another school, is subsumed as a Mahayana sect.

Alcohol use in Vajrayana

In Tibetan Buddhism

Bodhisattva Avalokita, Sri Lanka

There are various Buddhist "tantric" (esoteric) schools or traditions, claiming their goal is attaining enlightenment, which go by different names [Note 1] such as

• Vajra-yana,
• Secret Mantra, and
• Mantra-yana [3, 4].

The Indo-Tibetan Buddhist tradition has been dominant in Tibet and other Himalayan regions [3] (Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, Mongolia, etc.) because Tibet was once an empire.

That tradition first spread to Tibet in the 8th century and quickly rose to prominence [5]. The Tibetan Buddhist tantric teachings (heavily influenced by Brahmanism and Hinduism from neighboring India) have recently been spread to the Western world by the Tibetan diaspora.

Nepalese Newar Buddhism, meanwhile, is still practiced in the Kathmandu Valley by the Newar people. The tradition maintains a canon of Sanskrit Buddhist texts, the only Buddhist tantric tradition to still do so.

Let's party like they do in India

In Tibetan Buddhism, it is traditional to offer a tsok (Tibetan for ganachakra) to Padmasambhava or other deities, usually gurus, on the tenth lunar day, and to a form of dakini such as Yeshe Tsogyal, Mandarava, or Vajra Yogini on the 25th lunar day.

Generally, participants are required by their bond or vow (samaya) to partake of meat and alcohol, and the rite tends to have elements symbolic of coitus (sexual intercourse), making it more reminiscent of pre-Buddhist Bon (Tibetan shamanism) black magic.

Traditions of the Ganachakra liturgy and rite extends remains of food and other offerings to alleviate the insatiable hunger of the hungry ghosts (including alcohol, which they intensely crave (as drinking and other harmful karma brought on by drinking is likely what led to rebirth is the intensely miserable Realm of Hungry Ghosts or preta-loka), genius loci (protective spirits or local genies the djinn), and other subhuman entities [6].

Zen koan: A little sake makes a lotta sense?

The [rationalization for the] use of these harmful substances is related to [a kind of deluded sophistry that rationalizes that] the non-dual (advaya) nature of a Buddha's wisdom (buddha-jñana) [sees nothing as inherently good or bad].

Since the ultimate state [in Hindu-influenced Mahayana thinking] is in some sense non-dual, a practitioner can approach that state by "transcending attachment to dual categories such as pure and impure, permitted and forbidden" [sinful or blessed, harmful or healthful, leading downward or upward, advised by the historical Buddha or condemned, practiced by fools or the wise, leading to more samsara or to liberation].

Bodhisattva Maitreya as a Central Asian king

As the Guhyasamaja Tantra [misleadingly] states "the wise man who does not discriminate achieves Buddhahood" [7] [because as no one ever said, the Bodhisattva (the "being bent on supreme enlightenment") attained buddhahood by doing just whatever and not discriminating.

It is exactly because that being, wishing to become a buddha, discriminated then pursued the path [Ten Perfections] that leads to the good that he eventually reached supreme enlightenment with the ability to teach and establish the Dharma in the world again after an unbelievably long period of darkness]. More

• Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit

SUTRA: When the trees talk (MN 45)

The great Isaline Blew Horner, an early British translator of Buddhist sutras, originally translated this discourse from the Pali canon. It is updated here into modern English in a vernacular that Americans might find easier to understand.

45. The Lesser Discourse on the (Ways of) Undertaking Dhamma

British translator I.B. Horner

Thus have I heard: At one time the Buddha was staying near the City of Sāvatthī in Jeta's Forest Grove in the billionaire's monastery.

There he addressed the wandering ascetics, saying: “Meditators!” “Revered one,” they answered. The Buddha taught:

“Meditators, these four are (ways of) undertaking this Teaching (the Dharma). What are the four? There is, meditators, the undertaking of

1. Dharma that is happiness in the present but results in suffering in the future
2. Dharma that is both suffering in the present and results in suffering in the future
3. Dharma that is suffering in the present but results in happiness in the future
4. Dharma that is both happiness in the present and results in happiness in the future.

Female wanderers are hot with their long hair

“What, meditators, is the first? There are some ascetics and priests (shramanas and brahmanas) who speak like this and hold these views: ‘There is nothing wrong with sense pleasures.’

“They indulge in sense pleasures; they gratify themselves with female wanderers (sadhvis) who tie their hair into pretty topknots; they speak like this:

Sadhvis are so very pretty!

“‘How can these worthy ascetics and priests, seeing some future danger in sense pleasures, speak of letting go of sense pleasures, lay down a full knowledge of sense pleasures?’

“Saying, ‘Happiness is in the young, soft, and downy arms of this female wanderer,’ they indulge in sense pleasures.

“They, having indulged in sense pleasures, at the breaking up of the body after dying, arise in a sorrowful state, an unfortunate rebirth, an abyss, even in hell (niraya).

Sadhvi Saraswati-ji

“Here they experience painful feelings that are sharp and excruciating. They say, ‘These worthy ascetics and priests, seeing future danger in sense pleasures, speak of letting go of sense pleasures and lay down a full knowledge of sense pleasures.’

“‘But we, because of sense pleasures, now experience painful feelings that are sharp and excruciating, their cause being sense pleasures.’

“Meditators, it is as if in the last month of the hot season, a creeper's seedpod burst and a seed of the vine known as a creeper, meditators, were to fall at the root of a sāl tree.

“Then, meditators, the spirit (devatā, dryad) residing in that sāl tree, being afraid and agitated, might start trembling.

“Then, meditators, the friends and acquaintances, the kith and kin, of that spirit who resides in that sāl tree -- spirits of parks, groves, trees, those residing in medicinal herbs, grasses, and woods -- gathering together and assembling might give comfort to that sal tree in this way:

A worker in the wood might remove a vine seed.

“‘Do not be afraid, revered one! Do not be afraid, revered one! For a peacock might swallow this creeper's seed, or a deer might chew it, or a forest fire might burn it up, or workers in the wood might remove it, or white ants might eat it, or it might never sprout.’

“But, meditators, if neither a peacock should swallow this creeper vine's seed, nor a deer eat it, nor a forest fire burn it up, nor workers in the wood remove it, nor white ants eat it, it might sprout.

The monsoon rains may come to water the land.

“Rained on by the monsoon clouds, it might grow quickly, and a young, soft, and downy creeper, clinging to it might take hold of that old sāl tree.

“Then, meditators, it might occur to the spirit residing in that sāl tree: ‘Why then did these worthy friends and acquaintances, my kith and kin -- spirits of parks, groves, trees, those residing in medicinal herbs, grasses, and woods, seeing future danger in this creeper's seed -- gathering together and assembling, utter these comforting words:

You like that, huh, Red, my soft embrace?

“‘Do not be afraid, revered one! Do not be afraid, revered one! For a peacock might swallow this creeper vine's seed, or a deer might eat it, or a forest fire might burn it up, or workers in the wood might remove it, or white ants might eat it, or it might not sprout’? Pleasant is the touch of this young, soft, downy, and clinging creeper.’

The vine gets carried away and takes over.

“It might cover that sāl tree. And doing so, it might form a canopy above it. It might produce dense overgrowth. Producing dense overgrowth, it might strangle every branch of that great sāl tree.

“Then, meditators, it might occur to the dryad (devatā) residing in that sāl tree: ‘It was because of seeing this future danger in the creeper's seed that those worthy friends and acquaintances, my kith and kin -- spirits of parks, groves, trees, those residing in medicinal herbs, grasses, and woods, seeing future danger in this creeper's seed -- gathering together and assembling, utter these comforting words:

I'll cling to him and he'll be all mine.

“‘Do not be afraid, revered one! Do not be afraid, revered one! For a peacock might swallow this creeper's seed, or a deer might eat it, or a forest fire might burn it up, or workers in the wood might remove it, or white ants might eat it, or it might not sprout.’ For I, because of this creeper's seed, am experiencing painful, sharp, excruciating feelings.’

“Even so, meditators, there are some worthy ascetics and priests who speak this way and hold these views:

There's nothing wrong with sense pleasures.

“‘There is nothing wrong with sense pleasures.’ They, indulging in sense pleasures, at the breaking up of the body after dying, reappear in a sorrowful state, an unfortunate rebirth, an abyss, even in a hell (niraya).

“Here they experience painful feelings that are sharp and excruciating. They say, ‘These worthy ascetics and priests, seeing danger in sense pleasures, speak of letting go of sense pleasures and display a full knowledge of sense pleasures.’

“‘But we, because of sense pleasures, experience painful feelings that are sharp and excruciating, their cause being sense pleasures.’

“This, meditators, is called the undertaking of Dharma that is happiness in the present that results in suffering in the future.” More

• Scientists unveil missing law of nature in landmark discovery
• Sadhvi Siddhali Shree, Jain nun, veteran, film maker
• I.B. Horner (trans.), MN 45 (suttacentral.net); Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly