Spiritual Pleasures

What comes to mind when I say pleasure to you?  I would guess it would be everything from a tropical vacation to a decadent, chocolate dessert to sweaty and uninhibited sex to rocking out with your favorite band.  I bet that most of us would not associate any of those activities with a spiritual practice.

I think what we experience as pleasure is primarily connected with our senses.  I wonder if being spiritual means that we need to be removed from those senses?  Is it totally an inward practice?  Our goal in finding peace and enlightenment is from going inside?  Do we need to be disconnected from our touch, taste, sight and hearing in order to get to those feelings of kindness and compassion - the hallmarks of being spiritual?

I want to assert in order to be spiritual that I need to be sensual, in touch with my senses for that is what it is to be fully alive.  This is the way to be present, in the moment with the world around me. So given that assertion and taken to the extreme, does hedonism equal being spiritual?  Or do I get off the hook by asserting that if I do anything mindfully with kindness and joy then it's spiritual?

I guess the bigger question is why does it matter whether I label my activities as spiritual or not?  What is the point?  the goal?  the purpose of being spiritual?  I think my desire to be spiritual is my desire to live my life with meaning and in order to do that I need to live my life fully.  I want to have purpose of being here on this planet.  I believe in order to do that, I need to engage all of my senses, my mind, my personality, my character, my body, my wisdom, my experiences in living my life.

I believe that joy is our birthright for when we are joyful then we allow all those other qualities be brought to bear to live our lives fully.  Pleasure is one avenue to tap into our joy. Ipso facto, doing pleasure is enabling me to do my Life's Work.

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