Hello lodonyo,
I am glad that you did not take my answer the wrong way. Some people get upset when I point out certain things.
There are always two sides to issues like this.
1. On the mundane side, we need to live a healthy, comfortable life.
2. When we contemplate the rebirth process and the possible future suffering, we need to realize that any type of joy that we may enjoy is of limited duration.
Those two MUST BE balanced.
– Without living a healthy, comfortable life, we will not able to spend time learning Dhamma and practicing.
– Think about a very poor person or a person who is not well most of the time. Their minds will be distracted handling issues related to those issues. They will not have a calm, peaceful mind that is required for learning/practicing Buddha Dhamma.
But living a comfortable life does not mean unnecessary “enjoyments” like video games or watching TV all the time. Those are wasteful activities.
– In fact, once one gets used to living a simple life, one would not want to have anything to do with such wasteful activities. Peace of mind is infinitely better than having an agitated mind playing video games.
– When you start learning deeper aspects of Dhamma, you will want to spend ALL your time figuring out those subtle issues. You will not even think about “mundane pleasurable activities”. Once one gets traction, there is no turning back. I know that not only from my experience but also from the experience of several others who have made such drastic changes in their lives.
Yes. As you have stated, understanding anicca/anatta nature will automatically get your mind off of such “pleasurable but meaningless activities.”
– There is a different type of “pleasure” associated with a mind free of craving for such “mundane pleasurable activities”. That pleasure is of different nature, but long-lasting.
See, “Nirāmisa Sukha”