Desire isn't pleasure. Desire is essentially an expectation with an ultimatum: I want this thing, and if I don't get it, I'm going to be unhappy. Desire is a sl

Desire isn't pleasure. Desire is essentially an expectation with an ultimatum: I want this thing, and if I don't get it, I'm going to be unhappy. Desire is a slightly more intense form of 'to want'. Pleasure is a subjective, aesthetic experience. Increased dopamine levels certainly map to increased feeling of pleasure, but you can also experience pleasure without increased dopamine levels. You can feel pleasure about just about anything - it's just an idea in your head. You don't even have to "want" that idea, as in expecting it, working towards it, etc. It can just kind of pop up in your brain and you can feel good, or you can search for it and make it pop up. I think the distinction is really whether you have pleasure as your goal, and whether you let outcomes change your state of mind. If the root of suffering is the dissonance between desire and reality, avoid suffering by not having a stake in the outcome. Decide to experience pleasure when you want to, without attaching it to an expectation. Go for a walk to look for pretty flowers, but don't expect them to be there. I would again compare it to a gift: don't feel bad when you don't get one, but enjoy it when you do.