In this concluding talk, we explore the two worldly winds at the heart of nearly every human experience: pleasure and pain. Drawing from the Lokavipatti Sutta (AN 8.6), we look at what the Buddha meant when he said the world “revolves around” these conditions, and how our constant chasing of pleasure and avoidance of pain keeps the cycle of saṃsāra spinning.

Rather than rejecting these experiences, the Buddha invites us to step off the hedonic treadmill by transforming our relationship to them—recognizing their impermanence, feeling them fully, and not being pushed and pulled by every emotional gust. We examine how pleasure and pain drive all the other worldly winds, how they show up in daily life and relationships, and how equanimity offers a path to freedom right in the midst of it all.

This talk closes our four-part series by bringing together early Buddhist teachings and modern psychological insight to show how a wiser relationship to pleasure and pain can steady the heart and open the possibility of a more liberated way of living.

Prompt: What is something in your life that brings both pleasure and pain?

Sitting segment that complements the talk portion on Pleasure and Pain

Group Date: 11/25/2025