The Good and the Pleasant

In the Upanishad "Katha," which I have just read, we learn

"The good is one thing; the pleasant is another. The two, differing in their ends, both prompt to action. Blessed are they that choose the good; they that choose the pleasant miss the goal. Both the good and the pleasant present themselves to men. The wise, having examined both, distinguish the one from the other. The wise prefer the good to the pleasant; the foolish, driven by fleshly desires, prefer the pleasant to the good."

"Is this true?" I 've been thinking to myself on subway travels throughout the city. Is there a good and a pleasant? Yea, the answer has come back to me. It seems that our animal desires, when not tied to a higher purpose or goal, do not often lead to any experience that truly makes us grow as humans. Of course, because they are actions that are connected to our most base impulses, so how can they make us grow? That being said, how about actions that are not base, how about actions such as sitting around a watching television? Again, mostly the pleasant? What is good about watching much of the television out there? Of course, here we also have the component that on some level we are learning about our universe, our cultures, our world. This is often a tiny component, but it is still there.

But, there is a scale here. I must say that this world seems more complex than black and white. Those things , those activities and actions that we could consider completely "good," coming from peace I would say, and bringing peace, coming from knowledge and bringing forth knowledge are small. It is a goal to reach. Yet, from my vantage point I wonder how my world would look without the pleasant. Without travel, without trying various foods and music. All these things, from the vantage point of the awakened mind, would no doubt seem simply pleasant. But, these experiences can also open doorways in one's mind and heart that lead to higher places. This can obviously be a crutch, but I also wonder if the good must be exclusionary of the pleasant.

Does one who lives his or her life in pursuit of the good, automatically abandon the pleasant, or just focus on the good and renounce the goals of the plesant? The wise prefer the good to the pleasant, claims the Upanishad. Perhaps this means that the wise still enjoy some things that are merely pleasant, but would not sacrifice the good to experience them. I have a ways to go even in this respect. However, the enjoyment of the good is always deeper and more meaningful than the pleasant.

Am I being too generous to the pleasant? Maybe. But still, the world is one of enormous complexity and depth. It seems odd that the awakened mind and heart would not find this of interest and joy even if they did not pursue it. But perhaps the reason I say this is because I am still in Plato's cave and can not fathom what it truly means to awaken.