The Destruction of Excitement

Monks, attend carefully to forms. Recognize the impermanence of forms as it really is. When a Monk, attending carefully to forms, recognizes the impermanence of forms as it really is, he feels indifferent towards forms.

With the destruction of excitement (pleasant feelings) comes destruction of craving and desire; with the destruction of craving and desire comes destruction of excitement.

With the destruction of excitement, craving, and desire the mind is said to be well liberated.

(In the case of sounds, odors, flavors, physical objects, and mental objects, the discourses are similar to that of forms.)

(Reference: SN 22.52)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares how the mind can be liberated through the elimination of craving/desire which leads to excitement (i.e. pleasant feelings).

If a Practitioner can understand that they are eliminating the unEnlightened mind’s fetter/taint/pollution of mind described as sensual desire where it wants to base its inner feelings on impermanent conditions, they can then actively work to eliminate all discontentedness.

The Enlightened mind will still experience fun and joy but, those mental qualities will not be based on impermanent conditions that the mind attempts to hold on to craving them to be permanent.

Instead, the Enlightened mind can experience the situation, and then let it go not craving for it to be permanent. The mind needs to recognize the impermanent nature of forms, sounds, odors, flavors, physical objects, and mental objects, no longer craving/desiring for them to be permanent.

If the mind craves for pleasant feelings through The Six Sense Bases, it is only welcoming and inviting in the painful feelings and feelings that are neither painful-nor-pleasant.

As long as the mind is stuck in this constant cycle of pursuing pleasure through impermanent conditions, it will never experience the lasting and satisfying peacefulness, calmness, serenity, and contentedness with joy in the Enlightened mental state.