I feel that I made some small improvement in my thinking in regards to pleasure vs suffering in the rebirth process. I thought I would share it.
Imagine if someone offered you #1. That out of 365 days, you can spend 364 days in the deva & brahma realms and only 1 day in the lowest hell realms in exchange for not learning/practicing the Buddha Dhamma vs #2. 364 days of suffering in the human realm and 1 day of pleasure in the realms above humans. Your guaranteed to attain Nibbana within 7 existences. I’m sure the people who understands/see’s and is fully convinced of the Buddha Dhamma would take the second choice, but what about others if such an offer fell onto one’s lap?
This is how I would see choice #1 from Anicca, Dukkha, Anatta.
Anicca = Not to our liking, meaning even if I got what I like/desire for, in the end I’ll never be able to keep it or maintain it to the way I like. If I have understood Waharaka Thero correctly, he taught that one way to see Anicca is that if anything that’s Anicca, it’s vexatious. Although it’s very subtle, but sensual pleasures are vexatious. Even though one is enjoying pleasures, it’s vexatious because #1 one cannot keep or maintain the sensual pleasure to our liking. Even if we can keep the same sensual pleasure, the law of diminishing returns sets in #2 when it’s gone, we want more of it. Thereby creating further craving (tanha)/liking/wanting to fulfill the 5 aggregates. #3 When we have tanha and we don’t get what we want, it’s vexatious.
Dukkha = When we can’t keep or maintain the things we like them to be, we suffer FROM AND FOR it.
– What I mean by suffering FROM it, means it’s vexatious when we can’t keep or maintain the things we like them to be and wanting things to be to our liking but not getting it.
– What I mean by FOR it, is that we have to keep doing abhisankhara just trying to maintain/keep what we like or trying to get what we like. When we do abhisankhara, we are exhausting ourselves physically and mentally and keeping us in the rebirth process. Worse if we’re not careful and end up doing dasa akusala or apunnabi abhisankhara, we know the consequences . . .
Anatta = If I’m trying to get what I like, but I’ll never end up getting what I like. It’s a helpless cause. It’s like trying to fill up a bucket with gold, but there’s a hole in the bottom of the bucket. Tell me that’s not a helpless cause :D
– As well it makes one helpless being in sansara, because one will just keep trying to get, keep and maintain what they like, but it will never happen. Worse, they end up in the apaya’s, then they are truly helpless. All of this suffering/pleasures there is no essence to it.
So what would one choose? 364 days of pleasure and 1 day of suffering in hell. These pleasures are essence less, one can’t keep, maintain those pleasure. Because of that one suffers FROM and FOR it, as well one becomes a helpless cause in Sansara.
vs.
There’s a teaching in the Buddha Dhamma “If someone offered you, to be pierced by 100 spears a day for 100 years, in exchange you will know the four noble truths like never before”
364 days of suffering in the human realm, but one will know the four noble truths like never before.
What would one choose? :)
I’ll choose to take the 100 spears and put an end to this suffering/pleasure cycle (rebirth process) as soon as I can because it’s a “helpless” cause to be in sansara.