Can turning away from pleasurable experiences actually limit our practice?

In this talk René Rivera shares that there are wholesome states that signal we are on the path to awakening. However the pleasurable states often get a “bad rap” in Buddhism as something to be avoided so as not to trigger craving.

René summarizes the importance of pleasure by quoting Betty Martin:

“Pleasure is a powerful change agent. Pleasure helps you make friends with your body and that changes the sense of who you are in the world, and your sense of self worth, value and compassion. Many fears and inner conflicts resolve. That is why it is often said that pleasure heals.”

He also leads the sangha in an exercise to explore an everyday object with one’s hands. The intent is to find the ways in which we may find nourishment by introducing the act of noticing. Focusing on pleasurable sensations is a good way to begin because that’s where our mind naturally gravitates anyway.

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René Rivera is a meditation teacher, restorative justice facilitator, and leader, working and learning in all the spaces in-between race, gender, and other perceived binaries, as a queer, mixed-race, trans man.

René teaches heart-centered, trauma-informed meditation, at the East Bay Meditation Center and other meditation centers. He has co-led the first residential meditation retreats for transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive people. René is a restorative justice facilitator for the Ahimsa Collective, working to heal sexual and gender-based violence.