We spend our lives avoiding pain and pursuing pleasure, whether in sex, intellectual prowress, economic affluence, or spirituality. Why?

Understand pain as part of pleasure, and the distinction between the two grows fuzzy. We fight pain, try for pleasure, even though doing so can only increase both pleasure and pain. Where desire for pleasure exists, so too must pain exist, because pleasure is not constant, and does not last forever. If we desire unending pleasure, we will undoubtedly feel pain when the pleasure inevitably subsides.

So should we avoid both pleasure and pain? No, not of pleasure or pain arises naturally... But perhaps running from pain or pursuing pleasure is both futile and frustrating, since it always has both the desired effect and its opposite.

Life changes by itself - pain follows pleasure no matter what, and so does pleasure follow pain. When we try to change the pace of this natural fluctuation in order to escape pain, or when we try to stop the fluctuation in order to hold on to pleasure, only frustration can occur.

Perhaps we ought to try to avoid pain by a less intuitive, more circuitous route. The pain can be avoided by not avoiding it. It is more a conviction of mind which will overcome suffering than a motivated ego.