We all want to be happy, but increasingly people seem to be making a serious mistake—confusing true happiness with temporary pleasure.
This kind of transient, pleasurable, purely material happiness can be briefly induced through drugs like alcohol, cocaine and opioids, which trigger the release of neurotransmitters, the chemical brain messengers such as dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins. These neurotransmitters temporarily stimulate the reward system of the brain, and thus increase feelings of pleasurable excitement and satisfaction.
Some people, arguing that pain is like an illness which needs to be eliminated, believe that all suffering must be eradicated from life experiences through medical technology and genetic engineering or other means. They would not subscribe to Viktor Frankl’s view that “man’s main concern is not to gain pleasure or to avoid pain but rather to see a meaning in life.”
Believing that freedom from pain, pleasure, and ultimately material happiness is a goal in itself may lead to its being sought after as a commodity that can be synthesized in clandestine laboratories (amphetamines, LSD, opioids) or factories (alcohol, cannabis), sold for consumption, and hailed as an energizer of the body and mind. We see that exact dynamic at work in our society today.
This kind of temporary, purely physical pleasure can be found in pills, drinks or substances to smoke, inject and serve at parties as a substitute for happiness. It can stimulate brain cells and reward centers, excite emotions, and offer moments of artificial joy and ecstasy. Such a commodity, however it is administered and whatever form it takes, while causing an immediately pleasant effect, usually has the long-term consequence of creating mental deterioration, emotional instability and dysfunctionality, with ultimately tragic results. That temporary, false happiness can cause addiction, diminishment of judgment and cognition, and ultimately the death of the soul or the body. c/o: ABDU'L-MISSAGH GHADIRIAN https://bahaiteachings.org/distinguish-true-happiness-temporary-pleasure/
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