Brugmansia a dit:
What about some alcohol and coke then?
That's the thing. I've heard about after-parties turning into orgies, but invariably coke was used during such adventures. And practically all one-night-stands involve alcohol. Since I've more or less vowed never to do coke, or become drunk again, it's unlikely I'll ever get involved in such sexual celebrations. I never kissed or slept with anyone I didn't already know for months. And never had intercourse on the first night either. Since the intensity of physical arousal grew slowly rather than suddenly, all relationships lasted several years (with ups and downs of course), and I never felt particularly needy during my times of being single. So I guess it's one or the other: long term relationships or dodgy parties. Except for the psychedelic experience I'm wary of any type of intense enjoyment, because I rarely see them produce good fruits. The fruits of orgiastic parties are sexually transmitted diseases (including the ones spread by kissing such as herpes labialis etc.), addictions (coke, alcohol, sex, nicotine) and hangovers.
The Bhagavad-gita divides everything in life (people, mental states, activities etc.) into three categories: sattva, rajas en tamas, the three gunas or strands of nature. Sattva means goodness or truth, rajas means passion and tamas means ignorance, darkness or inertia. There's one verse in particular which explains the difference between happiness in sattva-guna as opposed to happiness in raja-guna and tamo-guna. The happiness of sattva-guna is described as "poison in the beginning but nectar in the end", whereas the happiness of rajas gives the nectar first, but ends with poison.
The poison of sattva is the 'pain' of self-restraint and self-discipline, with the nectar being fruits like love, illumination and joy. The nectar of rajas is the instant gratification of the senses, such as the excitement of sex, booze or a cocaine rush, with the poison being diseases, hangovers, addictions and depression. Tamas is described as providing poison in the beginning and poison in the end. I guess that applies to church services, but it might be the authors of the Bhagavad-gita had something else in mind.
It's a nice passage, so I'm quoting it here (with some corrections):
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Chapter 14
Material nature consists of the three modes--goodness, passion and ignorance. When the living entity comes in contact with nature, he becomes conditioned by these modes.
The mode of goodness involves purity, illumination and ethics. Those situated in that mode become bound to knowledge and happiness.
The mode of passion is born of unlimited desires and longings, and because of this one is bound to work.
The mode of ignorance causes the delusion of all living entities. Those in this mode become bound to madness, indolence and sleep.
The mode of goodness conditions one to happiness, passion conditions him to the fruits of action, and ignorance to madness.
The manifestations of the mode of goodness can be experienced when all the gates of the body are illuminated by knowledge.
When there is an increase in the mode of passion, the symptoms of great attachment, uncontrollable desire, hankering, and intense endeavor develop.
When there is an increase in the mode of ignorance, madness, illusion, inertia and darkness are manifested.
By acting in the mode of goodness, one becomes purified. Works done in the mode of passion result in distress, and actions performed in the mode of ignorance result in foolishness.
From the mode of goodness, knowledge develops; from the mode of passion, greed develops; and from the mode of ignorance, foolishness, madness and illusion develop.
When the embodied being is able to transcend these three modes, he can become free from birth, death, old age and their distresses and can enjoy nectar (amrita) even in this life.
Chapter 18:
That which in the beginning may be just like poison but at the end is just like nectar and which awakens one to self-realization, is said to be happiness in the mode of goodness.
That happiness which is derived from contact of the senses with their objects and which appears like nectar at first but poison at the end is said to be of the nature of passion.
And that happiness which is blind to self-realization, which is delusion from beginning to end and which arises from sleep, laziness and illusion is said to be of the nature of ignorance.
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So my type of party would have to be sattvic, if possible.