"There are five strands of sensual pleasure. What are these five? Forms
cognizable by the eye that are wished for, desirable, agreeable and
endearing, bound up with sensual desire and tempting to lust. Sounds
cognizable by the ear... odors cognizable by the nose... flavors
cognizable by the tongue... tangibles cognizable by the body, that are
wished for, desirable, agreeable and endearing, bound up with sense
desire, and tempting to lust. These are the five strands of sensual pleasure. The pleasure and joy arising dependent on these five strands of
sense pleasure, that is called sensual pleasure.
"Now, if someone were to say: 'This is the
highest pleasure and joy that can be experienced,' I would not concede
that. And why not? Because there is another kind of pleasure which
surpasses that pleasure and is more sublime. And what is this pleasure?
Here, quite secluded from sensual desires, secluded from unwholesome
states of mind, a monk enters upon and abides in the first meditative
absorption (jhana), which is accompanied by thought conception
and discursive thinking and has in it joy and pleasure born of
seclusion. This is the other kind of pleasure which surpasses that
(sense) pleasure and is more sublime.
"If someone were to say: 'This is the highest pleasure that can be
experienced,' I would not concede that. And why not? Because there is
another kind of pleasure which surpasses that pleasure and is more
sublime. And what is that pleasure? Here, with the stilling of thought
conception and discursive thinking... a monk enters upon and abides in
the second meditative absorption... in the sphere of the infinity of
space... of the infinity of consciousness... of no-thingness... of
neither-perception-nor-non-perception.
"If someone were to say: 'This is the highest pleasure that can be
experienced,' I would not concede that. And why not? Because there is
another kind of pleasure which surpasses that pleasure and is more
sublime. And what is this pleasure? Here, by completely surmounting the
sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, a monk enters upon and
abides in the cessation of perception and feeling. This is the other
kind of pleasure which surpasses that pleasure and is more sublime.
"It may happen, Ananda, that Wanderers of other sects will be saying
this: 'The recluse Gotama speaks of the Cessation of Perception and
Feeling and describes it as pleasure. What is this and how is
this?'
"Those who say so, should be told: 'The Blessed One describes as
pleasure not only the feeling of pleasure. But a Tathagata describes as
pleasure whenever and whereinsoever it is obtained.'"
M 59
