Consciousness moving on the surface of the body is stimulus, which causes pleasure. When consciousness shrinks then pain and suffering arise. Suffering is the shrinking or contraction of consciousness. When consciousness moves through the body in limited channels, pleasure is experienced. Repeated enjoyment of stimuli causes inertia and dullness. Often cooks do not enjoy their own food. The same piece of music heard over and over again loses its charm. People in the sex industry do not enjoy sex.
If stimuli are observed, then consciousness expands and becomes peace. With awareness the stimuli lose their significance, whether they exist or not makes no difference. When the sun is shining, it makes no difference if the candle is lit or not. To realise that all pleasures are just stimuli and that you are more than the stimuli brings freedom. Pain is nothing but consciousness wanting to expand and to become free. Freedom is liberation from the craving of stimuli. Pain is not a permanent state.
Like the insomniac who has forgotten how to sleep, most of us have forgotten how to be at peace and in bliss. Just as the natural tendency of water is to flow downward, and the natural tendency of air is not to be under pressure, the natural tendency of consciousness is to expand and be at peace.
