[HugoZyl]

Dearest venerables and good friends 🙏🏻

  Trust this message finds you well during the coldest time of the year for most people (-16 degrees outside this brother’s home right now).

  Grateful to be able to ask a question on this honorable forum. The question is what did the most holy Buddha mean when He referred to sense pleasures as ‘a pit of burning coals’? Did He mean…

  1. It is just a figurative way telling people trying to reach Nibbana that they have to give it up…?

  2. In comparison to other realms, it really is like burning coals. For example, human’s bread is much better than cow’s bread (grass). But at the higher heavenly levels, their bread is much better than human’s bread. So the king of heaven would think eating human’s bread is like eating ____ (I do not know what to use as an example; put in your own example 😊)…?

  3. It is a false perception. Thinking your food tastes nice is the same as thinking you see the color red (which the venerable Lal has gone out of his way to persuade us does not exist)…?

  4. It actually hurts you. We are really being hurt by that nice taste because it can very easily lead to clinging, which is the cause of dukkha…?

  With much gratitude to the most beloved Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. 🕊️

[Lal]

I am glad to see that HugoZyl is seriously contemplating this critical point.

HugoZyl asked: “The question is what did the most holy Buddha mean when He referred to sense pleasures as ‘a pit of burning coals’?”

• No, it is not #1. It is actually the truth. 
• All other points #2 through #4 hold. 

However, just saying “sense pleasures as ‘a pit of burning coals’” and trying to avoid sensual pleasures is not going to work. In fact, forcefully avoiding sensual pleasures will generate dosa and paṭigha and may even lead to depression. 

• One must ‘see with wisdom’ the truth of the statement.

The following are only a few suttās where the Buddha made that statement: “Dukkhadhamma Sutta (SN 35.244),” “Khīṇāsavabala Sutta (AN 10.90),” “Alagaddūpama Sutta (MN 22),” “Dasuttara Sutta (DN 34).”

• This point must be carefully investigated and understood.
• Yes. Understanding that colors are not in external objects (or in sunlight) is a starting point. That is explained in the post “Colors Are Mind-Made (Due to Kāma Saññā).”

I will gradually address the issue of saññā as a mirage in the new series of posts in the “Buddha Dhamma” section. It is good to review the basics of Buddha’s teachings and gradually move on to advanced topics. Without the basics, it could be a struggle.

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