The Hermit and the Nymph

I chanced upon this delightful tale of Indian mythology that seems to demonstrate Epicurean hedonism in much less dry terms. Exerted from the Star Online by Dr Devdutt Pattanaik:

Life on earth, he began, was created with a great churning of primal waters. First to spring forth from this was Laxmi (or Lakshmi) - the joy of life incarnate, the goddess of beauty, plenty, health and wealth.

Where a beautiful woman goes, prosperity follows. This is why Hindu brides are decked in such finery. They represent diminutive doubles of Laxmi herself, and as wealth follows them into their new homes, so they bless them.

Out of the waters also came the apsaras, beautiful water nymphs (from the Sanskrit apsa for water), embodiments of human emotions, or rasa, who danced for the delight of heaven.

Everywhere the apsaras went, sparkling water flowed, feeding life, generating bounty, laughter and pleasure. But water did not come without its dangers, as the tale of Gajendra at the lotus lake exemplifies.

While idling by the lake with his herd, Gajendra, King of Elephants, was attacked by a crocodile that clamped its jaws around his leg and attempted to drag him under. Gajendra implored Vishnu for aid and was saved in the nick of time. “The water that gives us lotuses also gives us crocodiles,” was the King’s verdict.

Yes, the same water that creates lush, lusty, sensual life can also destroy. And so began asceticism, a rejection of beauty, riches, and other such water-derived hedonism. Shortly after which began the eternal struggle of the dry and dusty holy hermit and the wet, voluptuous nymph so celebrated in Hindu imagery.

One holy man in particular mastered rejection so well that drought followed in his footsteps. Heaven’s response? “Let’s send women to him, beautiful women, and remind him of the joys of life.”

For the key to life is not dry abstinence nor watery excess, but a wise and harmonious balance - a beautiful balance - between the joy and sorrow water brings

French Economic Stimulous Boon to Hedonists

Apparently the French government in an effort to promote its wine and cheese industry will be hosting cocktail parties in America (NPR Story). It looks like Thursday, June 4th kicks off this celebration as the "French Cocktail Hour" - I'll see what I can do to help the French economy, but more importantly maintaining the proper joie de vivre befitting a hedonist.

Enlightened Hedonism - The Subjectivity of Desires

A critique of hedonism is that it is a selfish act, and as such, concepts of altruism, or self-sacrifice that are normally expected of a moral system are absent. Morality seems to require that our desires be denied or sublimated for some common good. In practice though, these moral systems still must convince someone to accept and internalize the “moral” path so that it becomes more desirable that an act requiring sublimation. Thus our desires to steal are replaced by our desire to live in an orderly predictable society, or perhaps a desire not to be beaten or killed by the intended victim. This is the social contract that is negotiated every day.

The challenge of most moral systems is the appeal to some sort of metaphysical objectivity. Sometimes that might be God’s will. Often the Golden Rule is invoked, “Do unto others as you would have done unto you.” But whatever the categorical imperative underpinnings, it is our own selfish and subjective existential experience of the world that trumps all these metaphysical systems.

Now let me make this clear, enlightened hedonism need not be godless and free of some objective reality, or spirituality. Rather these things are simply irrelevant outside the personal beliefs of the person pursuing his or her desires. Questions of the existence of God, or the internal experiences of other people, are all questions that shall remain a mystery to hedonism. Our own experience and internal dialogue are our only window into the world and we can only speculate as to what exists outside our experience.

While we can presume that others have similar experience of the world as we do, it is still a fundamental mistake we make in our day to day interactions. Everyone is unique, and despite any similarities, there will always be differences. Thus as we start to examine and indulge our own desires we must also realize that they may not be shared.

A mistake of the unenlightened hedonist is that his desirers are universal. “Everyone wants to get ‘high,’ ‘laid,’ ‘revenge,’ etc.,” claims the unenlightened as he alienates himself from those around him. There is nothing wrong these pursuits in themselves, but when projected onto others one runs the risk of creating resentments, being annoying, and possibly jeopardizing the very pleasures hoped to indulge.

At first blush this doesn’t seem to be a problem; after all we are all comfortable with having different likes and dislikes, different tastes - we say, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” completely comfortable with notion of subjective value in matters of aesthetics. However, giving the same treatment to our ethics and moral values seems different – doesn’t everyone accept murder as wrong?

Yet can it be any other way? Once our basic needs are met, what is to guide our way or pull us out of our indolence? The answer of course is our desires, our own personal pursuit of happiness. Still, if everyone is pursuing their different and contradictory passions does not all social interaction descend into anarchy and chaos? How can this possibly form any sort of moral or ethical code? But it does - particularly when we take an enlightened approach to our hedonism, the pursuit of pleasure through knowledge.

Enlightened Hedonism and the Will to Pleasure

In most discussions of ethics, hedonism is often called up as a negative example. It’s almost a given that the selfish act of increasing one’s pleasure is inherently flawed and contradicts numerous ethical principles, such as “providing for the greater good,” “the reduction of suffering,” or in some circles even “God’s will.” And yet, it is often the starting point for any theory of value, as it is one of our most primary existential experiences. After all, if I’m doing something because it feels good, and the “right” thing is contrary to that, I need something fairly compelling to make me want to change.


But I think we dismiss hedonism too quickly. While most moral theories call for us to reject our base hedonism, I call to groom and refine them, to maximize and even elevate our selfish pleasures. I call this, Enlightened Hedonism. Furthermore, I contrast it as an elevated form of hedonism that rises above the random satisfaction of immediate desire. Still, it is something much more than deferred gratification.


But before we proceed down this path, we need to understand that this will to desire is not a beginning state, rather it only comes into being after certain precedents are in place. There are forces that pull, and those that push; that attract or repel; Eros and Thanatos; love and death. The pursuit of pleasure and desire is thus contrasted with the avoidance of suffering and pain.


Pain remains the primary motivator, and our suffering that gets our first attention in deciding what course of action to take. These are represented in the lower level needs of Maslow’s hierarchy – food, shelter, safety, etc. We feel suffering when they are absent. Thus any sort of enlightened hedonism is not possible until that suffering is alleviated. To be sure there are many philosophers and schools of thought that see life as suffering but I think this only tells half the story.


Fortunately, most of us already have our basic needs met, though we may not have realized or accepted that yet. The reduction of suffering produces a mindset of scarcity. So that despite the goods or wealth we may have accumulated, we see its finite mortal nature. What we have, we can loose. As long as we think in those terms, our minds dwell in the expectation and anticipation of nothingness. Enlightened hedonism is a call to reverse that dichotomy, and to start thinking in terms of abundance, what can be accumulated and enjoyed as opposed to what can be lost.


It is dwelling between these two states that is the biggest nemesis to enlightened hedonism, the state of indolence. Here we are in place of comfort, with basic needs provided for, personal pain and suffering no longer motivate. Boredom sets in with the ennui of indecision. No path seems right – nothing seems to matter – and we get the first taste of nihilism. Here we may dabble with our first taste of hedonism, indulging our pleasure with little thought or reflection; we turn to drink, sex, or other thrills to make us feel that we are alive only to return sober and sated into the inertia of indolence.


The goal of enlightened hedonism is to move out of this state, to explore different pleasures, and pursue them. It is a process of self discovery, and self actualization. But it must begin here, in a state where one can begin to change one’s mind set from scarcity to abundance.

Hedonism and the Recession

Reading an article in the Toronto Star, Canadians won't surrender guilty pleasures, I’m reminded that hedonism carries with it connotations of extravagance and decadence. One almost presumes that to be a proper hedonist one must be wealthy, or rather born into wealth where notions of “day jobs’ are just irrelevant. But I think this article shows that even in economic downturn, most of us are still well able to make room to continue to indulge at least some of our pleasures. This I think is an illustration of enlightened hedonism in action.

There is of course the old adage that money cannot buy happiness, but we all know form a practical standpoint, it certainly can make it easier. Even that ancient manual of hedonism, the Kama Sutra, reminds its readers that one must have some means in order to fully explore one’s pleasure.

The truth is, few of us reside in that wealthy class where work and compromise is never required, and yet we all find time to pursue our wide and diverse desires. We all must go through our existential arithmetic, weighing the circumstances at hand, taking into account the risk of our potential actions, and of course the benefits or pleasures that we seek.

But as an enlightened hedonist, looking for the pursuit of pleasure not just as a distraction, or entertainment, but as a path to fulfillment, there may be other opportunities that emerge. One of the key outcomes of a change in economic circumstances is it forces one to look at their priorities and thus spurs a round of creative thinking. One cannot remain complacent, but rather must explore, experiment, and take a risk that otherwise may have never taken.

To be sure one could (and to some extent probably should) take the approach of finding acceptance and appreciation for the pleasures one has: being with friends, taking in the beauty of one's surroundings, or finding gratitude in what one still has. But there is also a more active approach one can take, seizing this as an opportunity to take action and find new ways to satisfy ones desires - or perhaps even discover new pleasures to pursue. It starts with engaging one's curiosity, asking "what can I do in these new circumstances?" It continues with a bought of creative brain storming exploring new possibilities, and ends with experimentation, testing the new ideas, and perhaps discovering some new pleasures for further exploration.

So while I may have to pass on that flight to Paris and dinner at Man Ray, perhaps I’ll stay home, take a walk, pull out some art supplies and try to create something pleasing. Who knows what I might come up with?