Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Pain is easy.

Dealing with pain is easy. Now, leaving yourself open to it, letting yourself experience, be vulnerable to, the whole spectrum of human experience, and really living - now, that is difficult.

11 comments:

jbmoore said...

It's not pain until you hurt, and fear of pain or loss motivates a lot of people, maybe all people.

anonymous julie said...

Notwithstanding that pain is an interpretation of sensory input.

Dan said...

Yeah...
But there's always Franny & Zooey to remind us of what's what...

anonymous julie said...

Dan, what is what? Not to play games, but because you bring up a book I enjoyed and I hope you'll elucidate a little more...

Dan said...

As in Bodhisattva, Tonglen, concern for others as an antidote for pain, pain of one's own, and of others...
what Franny & Zooey is about...
by way of the knowledge that there are no others. And yet... and yet...

isaiah said...

Is this a quote, Julie? (Can I quote you:)

CE said...

I won't try it. I prefer to work and play safe.

anonymous julie said...

Dan, my head's going to burst if I try to process that one right now. But thank you; I'll respond later.

Isaiah, it's a Stanley/Julie concoction, except that he said, "dealing with pain is so fucking easy it's a joke". Quote away.

Imemine, I don't blame you.

Shan said...

I disagree, I think the pain is more difficult.

jbmoore said...

I think he means that there's two types of concern. There's concern for others as an escape from our own illusory psychological pain, and then there is genuine concern for others based on the knowledge that the others are you. The latter is true love. But then if we are all one and these bodies mean little because they are just shells, then why bother with concern for others if they really are you? I mean from God's perspective, this must be somewhat amusing, and yet that love is all pervasive.

And I should have made myself clear. Physical pain is real. That's what I meant by it's not pain until it hurts. Psychological pain seems real. It's hurts as well, until one knows what it truly is, an illusion.In a sense, a broken heart is illusory because the one who is hurt is usually the false self because that self's expectations weren't met.

CE said...

Fear of pain and suffering is called anxiety. Anxiety too is suffering.