Pain is a portal
Like happiness, pain is a temporary experience.
What turns pain into suffering is the story we keep repeating to ourselves because we want to believe in it.
There are many beautiful people in the world, in fact, regardless of our preferences, people are beautiful.
Yet, there is also as much suffering in the world. And it’s painful to observe.
Everyday, most go through their lives with a lack of presence and aliveness. One routine after the other. Lost in their thoughts. Caught in regrets. Aspiring for a life that seems out of reach. Paralyzed between hope and despair.
The main reason we suffer is because we are caught by our life’s experiences.
Is it our fault? Not entirely. For the majority, unfortunately, apart from traits borrowed from our parents and other closer influences, we don’t know how to deal with pain.
Right from the start, we perceive pain as being “bad” because it doesn’t feel good — so whenever we experience pain, we become all emotional. And not properly dealing with those emotions is the reason why we suffer.
Why do we believe pain to be bad in the first place?
Because we’re attached to pleasurable experiences. Is it wrong? Again, not at all. Being unaware of this unconscious reasoning however has its price; the price of attachment to “good” and avoidance of “bad.”
Ultimately, the pleasurable and the painful are all temporary.
Another important point is to understand the role pain plays in our earthly journeys.
We’re attached to our lives, to our conceptions of the world, to our beliefs. We derive our feeling of security out of our past, what we have experienced and been through.
We experience pain when we’re pulled out of our comfort zone. It’s that simple.
It may occur through the loss of a loved one, through losing our position in society, through losing our wealth, through being cheated, through being rejected — the examples are endless; the principle however prevails: pain gets us out of our own ways and if processed properly, it helps us grow as a person.
What you want to do to discover for yourself whether feeling pain is a good or bad thing is to observe yourself in times of ecstasy and happiness, but also observe yourself during painful times.
If you can remain neutral to some extent during happy times, you will find it more natural to do so during painful times. And because you’re not so overly emotionally invested in your pain anymore; you won’t suffer.
You will have enough self-awareness to look into your pain, and understand what life is wanting to teach you. This is how we learn from our life’s experiences, release our limiting beliefs, and embrace healthier ways of living. This is how we evolve.
Note: Some experiences are healthy for our growth. Others are not. But nothing is good or bad. The work of all spirituals is to simply perceive, as purely and as neutrally as possible. Sticking completely to the what is.
I hope this piece brought you some clarity on the subject. Be sure to let me know if you have any related questions through the comments.
As a final note.