Sense objects and sensations

Joy is contained in the self, and not in external objects. An external object per se does not cause happiness or even pleasure. The same object may arouse different sensations on different people, so the object itself is not a cause. The cause is in the mind of the perceiver. Realization of this truth will enable one to be detached towards external objects and seek peace and bliss within the self alone. This truth may be illustrated through the following examples

1) A dog believes that the enjoyment in tasting blood while chewing a bone is derived from the bone, whereas the blood is from its own gums

2) A person drinks alchohol or does drugs looking for the 'kick' which actually comes from his own brain and at the expense of his own body and mind

3) A person smokes a cigarette looking for the rush which comes at the expense of clogging his own lungs and arteries and preventing him from experiencing breathing fresh air

4) A person views images of scantily clad women, indulges himself and experiences pleasure

In these cases, the 'enjoyment' is not free, but comes at own's own expense. The expense is a loss of vital energy or health. The capacity for enjoyment is only in the self, and if channelized wisely, can lead to permanent bliss. But the perceiver attributes it to the sense object, which may be the bone, the alchohol, the drug, the cigarette, or the images, that trigger a temporary response of pleasure in the brain, but cannot create a state of bliss.

The fact that the enjoyment comes not from the object, which is only capable of triggering a temporary response in the brain is proven by the fact that the same object, when indulged in subsequently, fails to provide the same satisfaction. So, the person indulges more and more and still does not get the same satisfaction that he initially used to get easily. The satisfaction derived initially from one single puff is not later experienced even on smoking a full pack. Still, the smoker does not realize that the enjoyment that he is seeking lies within and not in the cigarette. Thus deluded, he continues to smoke cigarette after cigarette. This eventually diminishes his own capacity for enjoyment and leads to self-destruction.