Basic Quests: For Pleasure & Meaning

Pleasure: RH'L1

Function:   To gratify personal self-centred sensual desires.
i.e. happiness is about seeking out opportunities to enjoy food, or sex, or attention, or beauty, or entertainment, or exercise.

So: The purpose of life is «to experience pleasure and have a good time».

In a balanced person, this Quest-L'1 need not interfere with hard work, family duties, or being a responsible member of the community. It is a Primal Quest, because there is a continuing search for certain specific pleasures that are fitted in around life's essential and unavoidable tasks.

NOTE: All higher Quests can also be described as providing Pleasure, but they do not see happiness/meaning as rooted in sensual self-gratification.

Recognizing «Pleasure» as a Primal Quest

This Primal Quest-L'1 is manifested throughout a lifetime and may be almost reflex and habitual. However, some people will have thought hard and deeply about life, and come to the conclusion that Pleasure is indeed what counts. So control of personal pleasure is viewed as unreasonable. It would be an interference with liberty.

Is this Quest for Pleasure just greed? Greed is manifested in a specific situation and is a dangerous form of excess that can and should be fully inhibited. By contrast, inhibition of pleasure-seeking could be regarded as a form of mental illness.

Correspondence to Root Hierarchy: Gratification of personal desire requires Action-RHL1. Action is intrinsic to indulging in pleasure, for ensuring the flow and variety of pleasures, and for controlling the process of gratification.

► Jump to how Pleasure works in practice.

Meaning: RH'L2

Function:   To live a life of purpose.
i.e. happiness is about the values and goals we deliberately hold and choose to pursue: often expressed as our «ideals».

The meaningful purpose may be mundane like a steady job, or elevated like charitable work; it may be personal like having children, or social like helping to build a community.

So: The purpose of life is «to find a personal meaning for existing».

It is easy to see that this Quest, even if problematic during its pursuit, can slot into everyday life and work without the potential for conflict that accompanies the Pleasure Quest.

NOTE: All higher Quests can also be described as providingMeaning, but they do not see happiness/meaning as rooted in any personal purpose.

Recognizing «Meaning» as a Primal Quest

This Primal Quest-L'2 is not about a particular task or a necessary goal, but a sense that the «right purpose» gives «meaning to life», and that no amount of pleasure can compensate for the absence of purpose. What remains constant in this Quest is the urge to find ways to realize personally chosen ideals. To suggest that this urge should be suppressed or resisted would seem strange and inappropriate. As a person matures and society changes, new purposes come in to replace the old. The ideals themselves may evolve, but the importance of choosing and having ideals never changes. Ideals become visible as a thread through a life.

RH Correspondence: Suitable purposes and ideals are not assigned or obvious. Finding realistic purposes and worthwhile ideals that suit you demands Inquiry-RHL2. Inquiry is required to determine how the purposes can be pursued, how the purposes can be funded and how to win social support. The meaningful purpose may be action-based, scholarly or communal in nature.

• Jump to how the Meaning Questworks in practice.

Finding a Different Quest

With these two Primal Quests, the search for pleasure and for meaning, it may seem that the vast majority of people are covered. Perhaps. Probably. It is hard to estimate, but empirical studies are possible.

Socialization is often heavy-handed and fails to recognize hidden potentials and drives within children. You may be struggling through life with an inner sense that something is not quite right, and that your Primal Quest is neither pleasure-L'1 nor meaning-L'2. You find yourself looking or even longing for something different. If you gravitate towards similar souls who share different, possibly «higher», concerns, then it will be easier for you. (Note: «Higher» does not necessarily mean «better» in any absolute sense.)

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► We are now ready to look at the first of these «higher» Quests.

Originally posted: 8-Jun-2012