Maturity substitutes higher meanings for personal pleasure, elevating loyalties to the utmost concepts of life situations and cosmic relations, while evil arises from making personal evaluations absolutes. [1] In the morontia world, there are countless spiritual realities that surpass and enhance the material pleasures familiar to mortals. [2] Recalling past experiences provides pleasures, allowing for the enjoyment of celestial humor and spiritual amusement throughout our ascending lives. [3] The desirability of pleasure (the satisfaction of happiness) requires man to navigate a world filled with the potential for pain and suffering. [4]
Amusement madness was a reason for Roman decline, along with overtaxation, unbalanced trade, and the degradation of woman. [5]
The soul's hunger for satisfaction cannot be fulfilled by the pursuit of physical pleasure; true elevation and nourishment lie beyond the confines of vanity and fashion. [6]
The insidious pursuit of vanity threatens to undermine a highly specialized civilization, as the desire for pleasures now overshadows the basic need of hunger. [7] Experiential meaning adds value to pleasures; isolated and purely selfish pleasures can lead to a meaningless enjoyment bordering on relative evil. [8]
Man is entitled to enjoy physical pleasures, but the goal of human self-realization should be spiritual and eternal, transcending mortal associations and institutions. [9]
The modern pleasure mania poses a great threat to family life, as self-gratification becomes the primary focus over traditional incentives for marriage and societal institutions. [10] Self-deception in enslaving pleasures arises from being led astray by one's own natural tendencies. [11] Jesus of Nazareth demonstrated the folly and sin of using divine talents for selfish gain, similar to Lucifer and Caligastia. [12] Enjoy life's pleasures in all forms, but beware of the fatal consequences if they harm property, marriage, or home. [13]