something to think about
along the line of me becoming so spiritual and forgiving (!) (read previous post), I have been thinking about something that the yoga instructor in my class mentioned the other day:
Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.
She had learnt this from her teacher, I'm sure it's a very famous saying but don't know who said it in the first place. Anyway, the point is: pain does not have to bring suffering, if we chose to act upon it and bring something positive out of it ( i know, i know, a lot more easily said than done). Instead of hurting, we can try to deal with pain consciously, something I personally never do. I usually suffer for a long time, and then run away from pain, and try to let it go away without me noticing. It never does though, it'll just go hide somewhere and when you least expect it, will come back to torture you.
Hmmm, I have to think about this process more carefully, who knows, maybe one day I too will be able to stop suffering consciously.
15 comments:
there is another concept: patience.
that is more or less the solution in mideast/islamic cultures compared to happiness in zen. and it depends on something you define as hope. so although you can't forget the pain you ease it consciously not with happiness but maybe with happiness in future. and then you try to enjoy the suffering!
kinda wired, i know. but whichever works, right?
hm! I kind of liked this idea too...
nicely said!
Thanks Saba for sharing your thoughts.
I am not trying to be wise or anything, but isn't pain by definition something which makes you suffer? In fact, one of the definitions of "to suffer" in dictionary is "to be in pain".
One might argue that you should act in a way that pain won't be pain for you anymore, that I can think of (not necessarily agree that it is possible). But then it is different from what your teacher has said. So I would take what your teacher said with a grain of salt. I can't read her mind but most probably she wanted to say:
You can not avoid bad situations but you can avoid feeling emotional distress caused by them?
Sorry but I always have problem with vague statements like this by spiritual motivators. In my humble opinion, life is simple enough that we do not require such vague statements to deal with, if (that is a big if) we can shed all the extra things from it :)
"Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional"
I like this idea and I think it is so true.
Alis,
I think you're just playing a word game here! I definitely think that pain and suffering here have different meanings, whatever the dictionary says! and yes, she probably meant that painful situations happen no matter what you do, it's how you deal with them that matters (which I believe is what I wrote, maybe not clear enough).
Well not really it is not playing with words (though it does not hurt to be exact in what we say so that words can't be misinterpreted but that's a different topic)
The message that one can opt not to suffer is a little far-fetched and strange. Actually "the ability to suffer" is one of the most humane things (it is an ability in my humble). Now asking us to simply let go of one of our defining features is not compelling. But the trying to learn to deal with it is a message I can understand. Deal with it meaning: not letting it cloud our better judgment, not letting it drive us towards making irrational decision. But again that does not mean we won't be suffering.
One might interpret this as playing with words (though I beg to differ), but even if it is the case it is good to be exact with words, after all many many philosophers think language is the source of misunderstanding.
typos: (sorry I didn't proof read)
2nd paragraph 3rd line insert "opinion" after humble
2nd paragraph 5th line the --> then
ok, so for some reason my comments sounds very harsh! I didn't mean it to!
no hard feelings baba! harsh chie :) yadet rafte you shouldn't me serious?
Remember I have the most clouded judgment in world these day after graduation hehehe ghazie man ya ghazie oun babai ke kenar good nesheste mige lengesh kon ya ouni ke mige kal agar tabib boudi sare khod dava nemoudi :) If you had a mustache I would have asked you too "let it go under your mustache" (translate)
So basically it all simplifies to "acceptance", right?
I don't know, but for me these spirtitual sayings make me happy for a second and then when I go back to real life I can't find a place to fit them in...I think the problem is that life lessons, at least for me, are mostly learnt by realization, like after going through so much pain you just stop crying...maybe not though, what do I know anyway...
being conscious all the time is the most painful act one might do. consciously controlling your consciousness is so painful to my opinion. for example, you are dealing with your dearest one's loss and you are so conscious about the whole act but the whole process is very painful.
i think consciousness is painful itself.
so true roodi, so true...
pain is holy. suffering is fun .. or so says me.
suffering, by definition might be anything but fun!
Great saying.
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