Entertainment is a prime necessity of our lives. The nature of the human mind is such that it always needs and aspires for joy. This eternal quest drives it to seek entertainment. At a superficial level, entertainment is an event, performance, or activity designed to give pleasure, relaxation, or enthusing diversion. Playing of sports and reading of literature are usually included in entertainment, but, more specifically, these are called recreational activities, because they involve some active participation beyond mere leisure.
People usually long for an opportunity to have some entertainment and are often seen spending substantial time and money for this. But do they always get joy? Do they know what really entertains their minds and how? What is the science or psychological basis of entertainment? What is the reality of joy, and what are the dimensions of its existence and experience? How can we get lasting happiness? Before we look into these intriguing aspects, let us first glance through our common observations and conceptions.
Diversity of Entertainment:
People do have different tastes for entertainment, but in some form or the other, it usually relates to some sort of sensual pleasure or instinctive joy. Natural instincts of the mind are such that it craves the instinctive joys of taste, fragrance, melody, the sight of beauty, etc. This is why many people are so keen on eating delicious food, they feel some kind of ‘joy’ in eating. Drinking tea, coffee, cold carbonated beverages, or liquor, outing, picnicking, participating in horse races, playing or watching games or sports, watching cinema, etc are also common means of entertainment.
Some people like comedies, of these some prefer absurd comedy, some like obscene jokes and gestures, while others choose classic and witty comedies. Some are fond of reading and writing, and some like (re)creative activities like gardening, painting, etc. Whereas for some these are a part of their professions and livelihood, such people need not necessarily enjoy these activities. Easy and common modes of entertainment these days include – listening to music or dialogues of favorite actors/actresses; watching movies, music videos, dances, and plays; participating in such activities, or simply talking about these, etc.
Driven by instinctive urge or sensuous lust, some people find amusement in erotic thinking, imagination, watching, or creating
pornography and substandard movies, and other sexual activities. Frequent excitement of genitals does them more harm than giving any entertainment. The fire of sensuous lust inflames higher with every such activity. But there is a limit to the physical body so one can’t remain engaged in it for a long stretch of time. Erotic thinking and sensuous orgasms negatively affect hormonal secretion. Immediate hazards include lack of mental concentration and imbalance of conduct. This kind of entertainment diminishes their potential for deep and focused thinking and courage of moral refinement and impedes the ascent of their character in several ways.
People addicted to such amusements are often found dissatisfied, easily irritable, short-tempered, or suffering from some physical ailments and psycho-complexes. Sustenance of such entertainment risks complications like mental infirmity, perversion, or even psychopathic mentality.
Another kind of entertainment that dominates the less evolved mentality is that driven by the greed of the tongue. People eat or drink anything that gives a zingling stimulation, or titillating, juicy, sweet taste to their tongues. Some are crazy for fried spicy stuff while some others for cheese-full, buttery softness and others crave lavish sweets. Increased greed of the tongue and burning of health and money are certain here rather than the attainment of any real entertainment. It is the tendency of greed inscribed in one’s mind, that causes the tongue too long for taste.
If there were any real entertainment in eating as per these instincts, then one should have never got bored of eating the same taste, the same recipe again and again, every day, every time…. (!) For the moment, even if we don’t consider the problems of being stomach upset, the amount of cooking effort and money required, etc, the basic and most obvious question here is – how and why something that was a source of pleasure gets turned into boredom. Is this what entertainment is meant for – giving rise to temporary and then contradictory feelings?
Similar is the case of entertainment through the medium of eyes. People like to watch colorful paintings, photographs, fireworks, etc. Wonderful fireworks are produced at the venues of grand celebrations! But what is the net entertainment except for a momentary delight? And, at what cost in terms of money and air pollution? Assuming that cost was immaterial for one, even then, will he continue to like with the same affinity, watching the same fireworks for hours? No. In the normal course, no one would. Instead, if one would have spent the same amount of money and effort in helping someone needy, the happiness generated by this act of benevolence would have been more intense and longer lasting than that obtained by fireworks and crackers. The wastage in hogging food for greed could similarly be saved and the resources could more constructively be used for some good and productive work that would make more people happy and thus return manifold happiness to the doer too.
Roving out and visiting tourist spots is also a futile exercise and illusive entertainment unless supplemented with augmentation of knowledge and new experience of interacting with people around.
It is true that because of its natural agility human mind looks for varieties. Therefore the same kind of entertainment may not amuse it for too long at a stretch. Then why does it not explore the infinite varieties of entertainment stored in every manifestation of Nature? Some people enjoy watching magic shows, circuses, skilled performances of trained monkeys, shows of snake charmers, etc. Look at the gamut of magical mysteries and amazing creations enfolded in the grip of Nature! Everything is astonishing here. Everything around is vibrant, capable of inducing new joy every moment!
Nature’s Panorama:
Look at the sky. Its vastness embraces immense solitude – a slight experience of that itself is so exhilarating! A glimpse of the moving clusters of clouds, the thunders and glaze of lightening, the myriad of glittering stars, the serene void with its soothing bluish glow or charming rainbows and silvery clouds, the sight of the sky in so many ways can generate amazing thrill into one’s mind and, at the same time also fill it with inexplicable calmness, elating cheer, hope, and enthusiasm! The gigantic peaks of mountains, the snow, the greenery, the multiple shades of dawn and evening, and the twinkling glitter of stars, reflected all around are marvelous. The mind simply gets enchanted by the majestic beauty of Nature. The same is true of the melodious flow of rivers, the charming splendor of waterfalls and springs, the boundless grandeur of the seas, and the unflinching tides of waves. There is no parallel to the immensity enfolded in Nature’s beauty.
The deeper we see this astonishing creation, the more intense will be the curiosity, interest, and delight of our minds.
The human body itself is so wonderful! Its anatomy and physiology, its adaptive functions, the auto-regulated and self-organizing capacity of its cellular components, everything is just amazing. We may not be able to feel the continuous excitation and information processing of the neuronal network in the brain, the secretions of hormones, etc, but the beating of the heart, periodicity of the respiratory cycle, the elasticity of the muscles, the occurrence of sleep, hunger, etc as per the biological clock, the experience of chill, heat, etc as per the weather, and many common experiences of this sort keep illustrating the incredible system of Nature every moment.
The impulses of emotions are like a twinkling of stars in the endless sky of the mind. If we pay attention to these and look at the enormity and ups and downs of the thoughts, the ever-varying reflections of intelligence or absurdity in these, we will find that the mind is a perpetual Pandora’s box with infinite magical tools. And then, the wonders of the human intellect are simply beyond words. It is the majestic acumen, limitless grasp, unbounded creativity, and incisive analytical reasoning of human intellect that has generated the endless ocean of scholarly knowledge, philosophy, literature, and art, and created the gigantic mountains of scientific discoveries, inventions, and technologies.
Why only in humans? God has also bequeathed countless varieties of potentials in the gamut of other species. The flying birds in the sky make it a floating garden of dynamic flowers of multiple colors. The melody of their chirping adds to the cheerful music of Nature. From the tiniest insect to the largest wild animal – from amoeba to dinosaurs – each one has its own distinctive faculties and special nature. Their sizes, shapes, colorful appearances in innumerable shades – often changing randomly or at their will, their voices, ‘speech’ and body languages and modes of ‘distant – communication’ with their fellow creatures, everything in Nature is full of ever-new surprises and breathtaking splendor.
Thus, it appears that whatever is around us, easily perceivable every time is itself a grand treasure of astonishments, joyful wonders, and varieties.
Our social ambiance also provides us with plenty of choices for amusement. People around us, our social circle, our friends, children, youths, and elderly members of our family – each has his or her own personality, mindset, and emotional and behavioral makeup. Each one holds in his or herself, multiple characters and episodes of a grand novel or a movie, each one has his or her own moods varying with random tones and spikes. Everybody is living in his/her own world as per his or her perception of the outer and the inner world.
Why We Don’t See It?
Because of our superficial, prejudiced, or narrow attitude, many-a-times the world appears crude, random, and haphazard to us. People around also seem to be preposterous, troublesome, and irritating. Everything seems disorderly. Such impressions appear logical because we are unable to visualize an order or a regulating mechanism underlying the practically infinite dimensional expanse of the universe. But if we expand our vision and think and contemplate over the genesis of the enormous diversity enfolded in Nature, we shall see that everything, every element, every expression here is complete in its own existence.
Our superficial vision, in general, cannot show us reality in totality. Our conception, cognition, and conduct are relative, subjective, and incomplete because we mostly regard “maya (illusion) as true. In reality, as the Upanishads indicate – everything has originated from absolute completeness and is therefore complete (Purñam Idah, Purñam Idam).
Science has so far shown us that – every particle of matter, every atom, and every subatomic and nano fraction of it is in fact an expression of some energy or vibration. In other words, it has also affirmed that what we perceive as the shape, color, or touch of anything is not real. Moreover, what appears before us as true in the physical sense or is perceived by us through the sense organs is also changing all the time, even every few fractions of a second.
The work of maya is like a perpetual magic game. This game itself could be an ever-ready entertainment for our real selves. But the irony is that we are more attracted to the artificiality and illusions of this creation. We don’t even know our own reality. We feel our presence but don’t know the purpose and identity of our existence. How could we then know why we want entertainment and by what means?
An ignorant mind finds faults and boredom in everything. Nothing can entertain it. A wise mind sees purpose and order in everything and finds entertainment everywhere around the world, in every realm of the cosmos, in every expression of Nature. For it, there is nothing except limitless entertainment and joy in every facet of life.
Source: The Real Joy of Entertainment
