Ramji,
Quick technical question. Does scripture support defining security, pleasure, virtue, and freedom as successive stages of spiritual development? It’s seems that way.
Ramjji: Yes. Generally people are fixated on security before they start to chase pleasure. Pleasure seekers who become addicted often realize that excessive attachment to the senses is a moral issue and go for virtue (dharma). Once a person has more or less mastered these three motivations and the zero-sum nature of the pursuit of anything becomes obvious, he or she will seek freedom.
But as I am going through the writing process it appears that some, not all, addicts (pleasure seekers) who have repressed their desire for security, because they lack the self confidence to chase it, revert back to security seeking once they are able to achieve sobriety. What do make of that?
Ram: Yes. Generally sense pleasure gives more short-term pleasure than the idea of money. Plus money is generally required for the lazy pleasures that tamasic people favor, so there is always a tension between these two impulses in them. Rajasic people who favor the pleasure of exercise, however, don’t tend to have this conflict because they are working to master their bodies which basically requires will power, which is a virtue. But the romanticization, socialization and aspirization of fitness can make fitness expensive for undiscriminating people. Sattvic people don’t tend to regress as they are more aware of the consequences of their actions and tend to be proactive with reference to security. Children should be conditioned me to chores, homework, etc. before play. It is a very useful discipline which should be maintained throughout one’s life. A financial cushion takes care of rainy days. When the cash flow starts to slow down one should immediately curtail spending discretionary income.
The lack of self confidence with reference to security is a throbbing yellow light presaging immediate danger. Pleasure seeking is the be all and the end all of affluent societies but it is a dangerous stage in their development because pleasure seeking saps the will and people don’t do what needs to be done. We’re seeing the downside of pleasure seeking now in an increase in social and political conflict.
