Hedonic hotspots

Pursuing more than a fair rightful need, Man, thou hast cornered every craven toy, Coveting vulture-like that grabs with greed, Indulging more, way far less to enjoy, Chasing false thrills on thy life’s every shore To gratify thy voracious desires, Fuelling around furious forest fires, Yielding less and less, fielding more and more. Thou hast far fewer brain spots of pleasure— Those that fuel in thee a raging fire, Beware, Nature has a rare erasure On thy streetcar with a brake-less desire That darts more dots O driving thou to strive, Yet, satisfaction does seldom arrive. Beware O man, ye covet in excess In hedonic hotspots’ frantic mad chase, Attempting to get more, enjoying less, Amidst all boundless bounties art thou blasé! ….. What ancient wisdom of ours long ere knew, Science endorses now its weighty view. ________________________________________ Happenings | 01.04.2007 | desire, joy, pleasure Poet’s note: A scientific study shows that wanting and liking are separate spots in brain controlled by different circuits. Only when these urges occur in sync, is the impact on brain powerful. But there is a catch. Brain has fewer mechanisms for pleasure than for desire. Hence humans are susceptible to wanting more than they can actually enjoy. Alas, science is only now beginning to understand the Indic thought spiritually and philosophically divined long ago, that too much desire which always frustrates man is not good. Minimizing one’s needs is the key to happiness. This poem has four stanzas, progressively reducing in size— from eight, to six, to four, to two— the hedonic spots for desire must gradually reduce in sync with those to enjoy.