Christian, a reader of this blog made a very interesting question: is suffering important for you to get some sort of enlightenment?
In my opinion it isn’t necessary. As a Catholic, the example of Jesus is quite telling: he traveled all his life, having dinners, meeting people and yet we remember him going though “passion” , nailed to the cross in the last days of his life.
The same applies to other avatars of humanity, such as Buddha: they were enjoying life. But for some reason the idea has gone round about suffering as a justification for us to go to heaven, or to sacrifice to others.
All my work is based in sharing the best of life and transmitting your happiness to others.
I would like then to hear your opinion on suffering and this attitude towards the spiritual path.
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Suffering, i love it, as i love everything that can give me a sensation of a sort. Everything is knowledge to be known. A journey with ups and downs, Joy and Suffering, love and hate; duality of all, of everything in this universe is a joke. ME and YOU, i believe in this in ME and YOU! We are here on this playground. We can only be kids in our “soul” our short life dose not provide the time to grow up.
What i know; we are one of the symbiotic living things (human) and we need to experience. As human to human we are the love and the promises we hold on.
“All my work is based in sharing the best of life and transmitting your happiness to others.”
I feel you my friend, you are happy making others happy, this is something to hold on to. It’s nice to see the beauty where nobody see it. Sharing the knowledge we change the world, I cheer to you my friend.
I had never considered the question, “WHY do we suffer” until I read ‘The Fifth Mountain’. Having been raised as a Catholic, many of my conversations with God in my teens and early adulthood resounded with “God, why do these bad things happen to me?” or “God, why do these things ALWAYS happen to me?!” Throughout the course of the book I thought long and hard about my own experiences and adventures through life and evaluated my personal experiences with suffering.
The act of suffering, whether it be physical, emotional, spiritual or psychological has helped in my evolution. I now have better perspective which allows me to brush off life’s little bumps and bruises as brief moments in time that challenge my growth, patience and fortitude. They teach me about the kind of love and compassion that I want to possess, and in turn motivate me to share that love and compassion with others. Regardless of the pain, I know that I will come through the experience with an expanded soul and a stronger will – a will that involves the desire to succeed and share the joys of life with others.
Through the process of understanding my suffering, I believe that I’ve also learned to understand joy and the importance of love in our lives. By love i don’t refer necessarily physical love but love and kindness to the people who cross my path in elevators at work or during my commute. I now find so much joy in those simple conversations on the bus as I commute home from a long day at the office or a friendly chat with a stranger. I try to savor and enjoy all of those tiny fragments of wonderful that I encounter throughout the course of the day. It’s not always easy, but it’s a challenge that I frequently set myself to take.
By accepting suffering as a natural and inevitable part of my life, I’ve also developed a greater desire to help others. I volunteer with various organizations on weekend projects and chair the board of a local non-profit that provides financial education to people in transitional housing programs. Through my involvement in these activities, I believe that I am bringing hope and fragments of joy to the lives of a suffering few and I hope that they in turn will “pay it forward”, and provide the same light for others.
Tracing back to your recent post on balance, I believe that suffering is there to balance the joys in life and to keep us strong, ethical and community oriented.
I learned all of this from you Paulo. Thank you.
Well, here’s an idea in regards to enlightment.
The bimbo who isn’t stupid is the enlightened bimbo.
In the chasm of my heart the wild wind blows
and I am left to cry
alone,
afraid,
again,
forever?
Education, is an enlightened bimbo because she knows that there are no guarantees in life, that her prince charming will actually be prince charming; or that he will die; or that someone else will steal him away; or that you might not decide to give him away.
As well, an education gives her a sex appeal of another kind. It’s magical. Rather then a one way discourse of repeated ‘uh, huh’s’, & ‘yes dears’ she actually gets to participate on a two way street. Only an enlightened male will appriciate that. And it protects your future.
Yet, still
in the aftermath of my despair
I heard the voice of another child cry,
and I knew that I was not
alone,
afraid,
again,
forever.
Thus up out of the ashes I rose
and like magic
tweaked my sisters nose
for the memory of her
so young
so sweet
all despaired
for lack of meat.
What are sapphires, rubies, and champagne.
Colors and bubbles.
A sapphire dress,
a strawberry in the bottom
of a glass of
seltzer water
with a twist of lemon. Viola! Sunshine.
At the end of my lane, is a beautiful waterway. When the sun sparkles off the water, I used to think of diamonds. One day, I squinted my eyes to see something in the distance, and low and behold, the sparkles shimmered, danced so fast they it looked like it was raining. The sun/son was reigning. I was so excited I told my son about my discovery. He chuckled, ‘Gees mom, everyone knows that’.
But I didn’t. So focused on the diamonds I didn’t notice that it was already raining/reigning sunshine, fire and brimstone (burning stones/diamonds).
Leaf said and I quote,
<>
I like that. We are made in the image of God/Good. God/Good was a creator. We are creators. We need to be creative about the things that we desire,need,want. That or suffer?
I can’t remember where I got this from, it goes like this:
“Pain is inevitable, but suffering is an option.”
Much love, Georg
Suffer to reach enlightenment? I may not know what true enlightenment is, but I did experience something that filled me with the wisdom of the universe, that gave me the answers to all questions in my heart. For a moment I felt the light travelling through me. Enlightenment? I don’t know if that’s how it would be described in an encyclopedia, but that is the word I use for what I experienced.
And yes – it was after suffering, after a deep cut in my heart, after a shock so strong, it truly shook me to the bone.
More about what happened: http://mikajussi.blogspot.com/2009/01/thank-you.html
I think that most people here have the same general thoughts about suffering and its place in our lives…..that it is there to be learned from, grown out of as the phoenix of the ashes.
I have read up to chapter 5 of your new book Paulo
and thought
Igor was suffering
then made the street vendor to suffer
…..Santiago suffered for what he believed in, till he got his reward (which wasn’t in the next life!)
The Zahir, was obvious the man was suffering without his wife
the point is
we all suffer
and do we want to read a story where there is no suffering and so, no lesson to be learned? or would that be a story at all, if no-one were suffering?
I believe that suffering may lead to enlightenment in some cases, and in others, not. But, as others have said, it is definitely not to be a martyr.
O woe is me – I’m going to be so blessed in the after-life….
Get real
Jesus went to dinner and parties
produced more wine
and healed people
he didn’t say to the sick;
Go, your suffering will make you whole
did he?
If we suffer
we owe it to ourselves to figure out why
learn a few things
and move on to the next zone
one of the biggest mistakes we make is
looking for our happiness in the wrong place
ie
partner, job,
when it is always within ourself
our own joy to share
our inner peace
not dependent on any other thing or circumstance.
This we take with us
and if we could only remember
there would be less suffering
and we’d be able more to rise to a challenge
with a grin
and in Love
Love
I remember the sentence from one slovak book – Suffering brings catharsis. But I imagine suffering like when you are sad and you don´t try to put your feelings inside but show them. When I sometimes cry, I feel better after that. But suffering should be short term. I agree that person should do all his/her best to live fair life. Sometimes we have to face suffering. There is also some people who think wrong that their destiny is suffering. If I meet person who is always telling about his unfair life to me, it takes all my energy and especially when I know there is more people with difficult lives but they try to see better side of life.
I really enjoy your blog!
I fully agree. Suffering isn’t necessary for enlightenment. But at the same time, the active avoidance of suffering is an obstacle to enlightenment. Many of us do experience suffering and it can be a gift because the way “out” is through.
I love your books because make me cloudless and I can hope in life.
Thanks to exist
Mother Teresa said,
“I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love.”
We all are differnt. We all have different life.
I believe we all have different path to the enlightment.
One needs suffering, another doesn’t need suffering.
In my case, I needed suffering.
When I encountered the biggest suffer in my life, I chose to accept it and to suffer after trying so many times to escape/run away from it unsuccessfully. I realized the suffer was within me, so that I could never run away from it because I could never run away from me.
I am not a Christian, but I opened Bible and learned that even Jesus had prayed his Father to remove his suffering.
“My Father, if it is possible, thake this cup of suffering from me! Yet not what I want, but what you want.”
“My Father, if this cup of suffering cannot be taken away unless I drink it, you will be done.”
This has given light in my despair. So I decided to drink the cup of suffering as Jesus did.
I stopped running away from it or covering it up with justification.
I just didn’t avoid to suffer.
It was really tough but I somehow was feeling comfort or peace or love or whatever (I don’t know what it was) deep inside so that I was able to do what I needed to do in my daily life and wanted to give love to others even though I was suffering so much on the surface.
After for a while, I have experienced a beautiful sensation when I was suffering one night.
I felt love flowing out from my core gulping a massive rock (my suffer) and melting the rock.
How did I know it was love?
When I felt it, I knew it was love. It could not be mistaken.
The love was very gentle, soft, warm, comfortable and yet very strong.
I just couldn’t stop saying “Thank you.” with tears of joys and happiness.
If I didn’t take the cup of suffering then, I would still be struggling to run away from the suffering or covering it up.
Now, when something that would give me a cup of suffering happens, I take it as something that I need to experience in this life to get closer to be whole. And I enjoy the experience.
But I have a friend who understands oneness how to BE without going through suffering. She says that the “universe” comes into her and gives her the answers she needs. She told me she was like that since she was very young.
I needed suffering, she didn’t need suffering.
What we need to experience in this life is different from person to person.
The important thing is that God loves us all.
I really feel, that suffering is inportant for us.
Regret to say, that I have suffered quite much during my life, but ‘Everyone has it’s own cross’ as we usually say in Hungarian. Eventhough I need to tell everyone that without that pain, I wouldn’t be the same person, I’m sure that suffering gives us quite much. If we didn’t suffer during our lives, if everything always as perfect as we usually only dream, we wouldn’t be able to thank God those moments when we are happy.
People can be classified as believers in God and atheists. A lot of material is available from both areas. Based on it, we have to choose a side, and I’ve chosen to be an atheist. As an atheist, I think spirituality is fear and respect for the unknown, things we believe to exist, but cannot be proved to exist. So suffering for something unknown, whose existence itself is in question, cannot be acceptable.
Life may be full of suffering and joy…. it is how one interprets each which defines him/her.
No I don’t believe pain and suffering are necessary to enlightenment. Most of us are stubborn and only realize things when they are hit on the head. So people get mixed up that suffering is a necessary part to learn because that is when most take the time to pay attention. But if we are to go throught pain we might as well take something from it as we should all experiences.
Suffering is not part of the path to spiritual enlightenment, but people in search of this enlightenment often suffer as a result of the time before they cut away from their old life and move towards their personal legend.. In essence the suffering comes in not seeing, but when one opens their eyes the suffering eases and they see that the suffering comes from their past and the claws of society and other people’s ideas of religion and politics.
I believe that suffering is a necessary part of the spiritual journey for some. Many people in the West have lost their spiritual values and meaning. Sadly, this is part of our society’s values. More emphasis has been put on intellectual and material success. So many people have numbed out on their emotions because rationality is praised. Therefore suffering is often necessary to put people back in touch with their emotions and for them to realise what really is important in their life. It also opens them to compassion for others. The lessons we learn through suffering are the ones we usually retain. That is if we remain open and put it to positive use.
Hola Paulo, me siento muy agradecida de poder compartir lo que pienso y lo que siento sobre este y otros asuntos. Esta vida que vivimos hoy, es un prestamo. Somos viajantes que estamos llamados a tracender a otro lugar. Veo mi cuerpo como una vasija que contiene dentro la escencia de mi ser. Hasta cierto punto es pesada y tiene que ir formándose a base de experiencias y de opciones. Algunas de esas experiencias traerán consigo grandes alegrías y satisfacciones mientras que otras nos pueden producir malestar. Optamos por asimilarlas de manera distinta. Según se presenten ante nuestra capacidad de acojida. Hay personas que tienen una gran fortaleza para afrontar momentos duros y otras no tienen lo que se requiere para sostenerse en la caida. En una película que se llama puente hasta Therabithia presentan como una jóven impacta la vida de un jovencito. Esta chica tiene una manera de vivir la vida disfrutando de las cosas sencillas y de una imaginación sin límites. En su paso por la vida del jóven le enseña al mismo a no permitir que la mentalidad generalizada logre opacar su imaginación y sus sueños. Pienso que nosotros hemos sido contaminados por una vorágine de formas de pensar que no nos permite ser como niños capaces de amar, ser felices y espontáneos.
May Kassab,
If you don’t mind my asking, what countries, that were leading peaceful lives, found that the numbers of their artists were restricted? I have never heard that, and am curious. Or, perhaps you could point me in the direction of a book, or web site where you gleaned this information?
We are not victims of our sufferings, we provoke them in order to get enlightement.(Dr. Deepak Chopra)
During World War II , there were hunddreds of writers and artists from Germany, France… However, the number of artists was very restricted in the countries that were leading a peaceful life. Suffering enhances production and creativity.
However, people should always seek happiness and do not think that they don’t deserve it.
No absolutely not. I don’t think you have to suffer, but life does throw things at you in which you have to deal with. I am only seeking illumination for my life, not pain, although that seems to be a part of life as well.
It is funy, but on Sunday my daughter called me she said there was a dead fish in the garden, I have a pond with about 28 fish in.
I looked out and saw it was dead a beautiful golden fantail, lying limp its eyes staring into space. I really didn’t want to have to deal with its corpse, but had to.
I wrapped it up in a paper sheet, and went to put it into the bin.
Then I realised, from the warmth in my hands that it might actually be alive, so I thought I would give it a chance and put it back into the pond.
I was amazed, this seemingly dead fish, just literally jumped back into the pond, full of life, although a little bit injured, the next day I checked and it was still alive…
I was reading your story about the frogs, in the warm water afterwards, and this has meant a lot to me.
Many thanks
I think a lot of the comments here equate suffering and pain. I think that’s not always true. Pain occurs – when we are experiencing a sickness, grief, or death. But suffering is different. Suffering is NOT of the moment – it is due to the fear that something will, or will not happen in the future, or it is related to the past…And no, suffering is not necessary to attain enlightenment. If we are constantly aware of ourselves and the working of our own mind, then we can avoid unnecessary suffering, also also become more enlightened in the process…
Savita – fantastic comment! I’ll have to print it out as well, and remember that. As Swami Vivekananda said – “Be perfectly resigned, perfectly unconcerned; then alone can you do any true work. No eyes can see the real forces; we can only see the results. Put out self, forget it; just let God work, it is His business.”
I was really happy to see this question here, it helps me answer some of the questions I am facing too…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP8nuhfwcIg
Stelios Pisis music.
LOVE.
Thelma
http://www.dramafilmfestival.gr/31st/en/films/19.html
Stelios Pisis.
We comlain and we say we are in pain or we suffer.. The story of Stelios Pisis speaks by itself. There was a T.V. program about him lately and I felt quilty for my complaining so many times about insignifficant everyday problems. I was into tears. He speaks about God and thanked him for giving him life and music. He moves only only finger and thus he .. writes his music on his computer.
LOVE,
Thelma
Suffering is necessary , important? I dont know. I dont think so. Many people dont like it , dont know how to pass through it and learn from it .Lessons/enlightenment can be learned from many ways. Some people learned a fake lesson abut suffering and hang onto it.
i think all suffering leads to an awareness.if one is lucky enough to accept.we all conciously and unconciously cause suffering to different degrees.we must forgive ourselves and others.emotion be it good or bad can change us on an atomic level.there are so many types of suffering,to be able to express our suffering to ourselves and others can most definetly become our medicine.love and healing can happen when there is no cure.awakening can come at what seems like a price ,some call it irony ie learning to live while accepting ones illness. loss can also make you feel alive with pain and when you travel through your pain you can obtain a comforting perspective .i think we all have an inner force that rarely allows us to regress personally after suffering.suffering for me is making me harness my life and grow as a person.it is true the bad gives me solice in the good.x
Hello Dear Paulo, hi everybody! But this one is for Savita Vega (sorry).
I came to this blog to meet and talk to and learn from a person I long have considered my friend – Paulo Coelho.
But I found much more than that: I found many people who I am attuned to. Even those that I disagree with are somehow close to me.
And now I feel like finding another friend. Her name is Savita Vega.
Dear Savita, I am so glad having you in my life. And I am so thankful to you for your wise commentaries that come miraculously at the very moment of need. Thank you for sharing your ideas on suffering. This is what I feel, too. I was just unable to word it so precisely. And, again, you were exactly on time for me to hear it.
God bless you, Savita.
God bless you all.
This is spoken from a non-Christian point of view. I do believe in life we have to have encounters, that make us suffer mentally, physically or both, to become the people we are today. Some tend to learn from those encounters and become better people, some tend to pursue their lives justifying those happenings and making excuses for their bad behavior towards others. It’s what You make with what You got, that counts. We all have suffered in our different ways in life, but we always survives. In Estonia there is a famous saying: ‘Whatever doesn’t kill You, makes You stronger.’ And I believe in it… but it does differ, of what kind of strongness we are talking about. Either we learn from these things or we put negative actions behind them while living on.
We do need these things happening to us… but I don’t think we have to celebrate it and put it out and be proud of it.
And actually, if we manage to grow a healthy personality, we come to realise, that even if we can’t ever be “thankful” or fully accept what has happened, we needed those things to understand something about life. Whatever bad has happened to us, it was good for some reason, even if we don’t realise it right away. That’s what I believe…
There are people who are guarded from the bad situations… but I don’t think there ever is a person who’s life has not had any encounters that have hurt them in any way. Or maybe then their thinking is as I described before – that everything happens for a reason. Everything is neccecary in some way, even if we don’t realise it right away.
Have a good day!
I truly agree with you – suffering is not what GOD or the Universe requires of us. Our most important mission is to strive for happiness, love and unity with other people. When I grow, all grow, when I am happy and love I contribute to more love and so on… Life is not without pain but I can strive for the best, for the opposite. Love and Light to you! Charlotte
Dear Paulo,
we all suffering but we dont realize that coz every one have his own experience of suffreing – me as an example i am suffreing from being lonely and i am afraid to be in love yes i have had bad experience i wanna be a tree have branchs reach the sun , i don’t know what i want but i want to be a mother.
Thx
Shaimaa
For me suffering is not necessary for enlightment, it can even be disturbance.
It may sometimes bring some kind of enlightment but whatever it is I do not believe God that is Love should expect us to arrive to his revelations and enlightments through suffering.
On the contrary !
I can accept stoicaly suffering that when inevitable, but to surch it to come to greater enlightment, never!
Love
Luce
For me suffering is not necessary for enlightment, it can even be disturbance.
I may sometimes bring some kind of enlightment but whatever it is I do not believe God that is Love should expect us to arrive to his revelations and enlightments through suffering.
On the contrary !
I can accept stoicaly suffering that when inevitable, but to surch it to come to greater enlightment, never!
Love
Luce
Jesus’ suffering on the cross was ‘necessary’ because it was the last resort almost, for humankind to grasp any kind of understanding of the power and nature of love.
When i was young, i sacrificed, but i didnt ever feel i was suffering.
later when i was ill throughout my twenties – i really felt as if i were suffering – and indeed i fell victim to the fears injected in me through religious beliefs of how suffering can lead the soul onto greater things…
perhaps the only thing suffering has taught me is to never give in to fear – and to have greater faith, to not regret et al…
I believe at heart that suffering is not the greatest lesson that people should be paying attention to; rather responsibility.. with this then you can attain/reach the same destination.
There are many types of suffering, and each person has his or her own habits of reaction to punishment (what they reap out of it, whether they revel in the pain or rise above it) and the manner that they inflict punishment onto themselves.
The idea that people need to suffer in order to learn might be one that has been taken out of context over the years due to archetypal examples in religion and other belief systems. In my opinion, since the end goal of suffering is ‘knowledge’, then we can easily achieve this without having to harm ourselves or others.
How can we do that? It is to develop empathy. I have discovered that it is not necessary to actually have to starve to understand what it feels like, or lose a loved one in order to understand how much they really mean to me. Life is so full of information and things that demand your immediate attention, that we can neglect to develop the most intuitive of all our survival tools. Learning to really put yourself in other people’s shoes, to breathe the air they breath, to live within a quick but concentrated thought their entire life story, can teach us so much about other people’s experiences. Even if their suffering makes a ghost of an impression on us, then that may be enough. It has managed to pass through our skin and into our consciousness.
But then again, there are areas of understanding that can only be reached by first-hand experience.
I had never thought about Jesus that way, again, Paulo Coelho pointed an obvious thing everyone knew but hardly ever thought about. I don’t remember the Bible says that Jesus had to work in his adolescent life.
Well, if you don’t count being God’s Son King-of-Earth-and-Heaven as a profession, he had pretty enjoyable life. Short, though. But how cool is that, traveling, partying, never getting sick, talking to daemons and God in his spare time.
Who would care about a couple of days of suffering and death when you can always resurrect? Plus, he spent a day in Hell- can you imagine? This is really awesome, being in the worst place in the universe that no one can come back, and you just walk in and get out when you’re done.
But we’re not Jesus Christ, we’re cursed by God and suffering is just a part of our world. Simple as that.
I think suffering in itself is a relative term, however I don’t think on it’s own is a necessary element of enlightenment.
The way I experience enlightenment is by connecting to myself, and feeling connected to the energy of others – other people, animals, nature, the universe. I believe having suffered allows me to rejoice in the connectedness and inner peace I now feel and because of that I appreciate it much much more than I would had suffering not occurred in my life.
I think however some form of suffering, which is unique for each of us, is a valuable experience in life from which to grow and learn from. It’s what teaches us humility, compassion and self-respect, it’s what reminds us of the things that are really important and helps us find our way back to our personal journeys when we have strayed for perhaps a little too long. It helps us find our own moral compass and connects us to others to help them through their own suffering. It is part of what keeps us human.
Suffering to reach enlightement.
It all depends with how we all define suffering and the feeling that we gain in suffering. Some people might feel that by going throught difficult situation the reward can only be something greater than what they had endured. We cannot be in a situation of suffering for ever. We all have to fight hard to gain happiness, to be rich, to maintain a familly, it is all about concession.
Suffering to reach enlightement…yes, in my opinion because it is not as easy as it may seems. We do not know where to start, we do not know if we are doing the right thing, and if we have to reclude ourself from society to better communicate with our higher self, it can be challenging for those who have always enjoyed living in what we call society. Fasting, forgetting about the so call luxury, and material world can be seen as a way to suffer to gain enlightement. But the reward is so great that we forget that we are suffering and only think about the great gift that we will receive.
Suffering in the spiritual sense…
I think it is very important to make a difference
first of all what is really suffering and what is not.
Here in the western world we don’t know much about it,
everyday we complain a lot, although we have everything
to live good lives.
First when something really bad happens do some start to understand, like when someone dies in a traffic accident, when a home burns down, when someone is diagnosed with cancer or some other very serious disease.
You should not forget that Christ did suffer, he had the choice to walk a total other path, but still he choosed although he knew the end of it. During the night in Getsemane he suffered, the last hours on the cross he suffered.
and every day there are people in the world who will suffer because of their choices, they know their family will break with them, that they will loose their job, that they will get into prison because they speak their mind.
It is suffering, but one they “choose”
and therefore still perhaps not as heavy
as a sudden change that “attacks” you.
But also suffering that comes suddenly can be turned into a spiritual battle when you try to find some sort of meaning with it for your own life.
Why must it be one or the other? don’t both happiness and suffering belong in spiritual faith? they are both parts of life. How do we know when we’re truly happy if we have never suffered?
J’ai personnellement beaucoup souffert dans la vie, parce que je suis trop empatique.Un autre a été la souffrance causée par l’ère communiste avec toutes les frustrations.
Mais j’ai sorti toujours de la souffrance plus lumineux et plein d’appétit pour la vie.Je crois que la souffrance peut profondement spiritualiser.Personne ne veut souffrir,mais parfois,elle vient. Important d’y aller.Chaleuresement,Adriana.
No.
But how do you define suffering? It could be the excruciating physical pain. Lingering emotions of doubts, uncertainties and fears. I would say that life indeed is full of struggles. Struggles that could mold us to be mature and to understand life better; and to even defy all odds and our society’s notions of what could be possible or impossible. This could be a common place, but in the end it is how you view life that would really matter. Your perspectives and the way you accept or defy the things that come your way. Life could be tough at times especially if we insist to do things our way or to not give up on what we want to achieve-and to not yield for our dreams. Though if we look back, it’s funny how things that made our journey tougher and our struggles that made us suffer could be the same memories that are sweet to remember. We could win and achieve our goals and it would be a joy. Or maybe lose. But still there is peace in not yielding for ourselves and for what we want in life. There is peace in not making the best regret in life-of not trying at all and just letting ourselves be paralyzed by fear. There is peace in knowing that we gave our best shot and face our struggles to live our lives to the fullest.
Suffering in itself can not be a prerequisite for enlightenment, as suffering, like happiness, is a perception. How we react to these perceptions is what is important. Life is in effect a balance between what we perceive as suffering and happiness. In order to give meaning to the concept of happiness, one must have an idea of what non-happiness or suffering is. Enlightenment evolves from a specific state of mind: a readiness, an ability and willingness to be content or happy – to endure with courage and dignity our pain or joy. Like Habakkuk said so poetically:
“Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Saviour” (The Bible, Habakkuk 3:17-18
i think that suffering is part of life and that each of us will some day go thru trials and tribulations. Suffering, and afflictions
serves to deepen us, which will enable us to gain different perspective of life,as we get older.
i dont think that suffering is needed in order to be enlighten, one needs to be open, and positive, make the right choices. We learn from other people’s mistakes, our own as well. Suffering is inevitable, but at the end of the day, we need that in order to grow, as a person. But sadly, i guess, alot of people have grown
numb and drained, weathering one storm after another. We all just
have to learn how to rise from our emotional rubble, and deal with
our problems, and move on.
Laudy -
There is a sign at Coles saying that on Friday all their profits will be going to the Bush Fire Appeal.
I also received a message from Mutsuko about it.
This really pertains to change, and our attitude toward it. Life is change. Change is perpetual, unavoidable, inevitable. It is the one constant of the universe. Change is inevitable. Where we run into suffering is when we meet with changes, which are beyond our control, and to which we are resistant.
For example: the death of a loved one, the break-up of a romantic relationship, even sickness, and old age – any event that marks a change in the circumstances of our lives and over which we ultimately have no control. In these types of situations, we want to exert our will and simply “make” things be the way we want them to be. In other words, the same. We want things to stay the same, or we want to repeat pleasurable experiences over and over again and have each episode live up to our preconceived expectations and plans. We resist death – both our own and that of others – although we know that death is ultimately inevitable – it is, after all, the only way out of here. There is no other exit, unless maybe you’re Elijah. Still yet, we never celebrate death, and very, very seldom welcome it as a perfectly normal and natural event. Once we are here, we want to stay forever, and wee want those whom we love to stay forever too. We resist the face of change that death simply is.
Similarly, if a love relationship grows untenable for either one or both of the partners, we still seek to cling to what has been. even sometimes when a relationship is obviously unhealthy for us and equally unsalvageable, we still dig in our heels and refuse to let go. In the midst of this struggle, there is suffering. The struggle itself is suffering.
Likewise in regards to sickness and aging. We struggle against the changes that are taking place in our bodies. We do everything we can to maintain sameness. We all, or at least many of us, want to remain looking and feeling thirty, even when we are sixty.
These are just a few examples of the infinite forms change takes as it sweeps across our lives, like wildfire before a strong wind, sweeping up anything and everything in its path and leaving a wake of apparent “destruction” and “devastation.” We forget, however, that it is the wildfire that makes way for the multitude of tiny flowers that bloom in the spring. Change is not only inevitable; change is good. it is only when we come to know this, not merely on a philosophical level, but on a deep, spiritual level, as well, that we cease to suffer ass we once did.
This does not mean that we must adopt a position of apathy, or that we cannot pursue our dreams and ambitions in life. Definitely, we should, and must. But there is a different attitude that we must learn to adopt in the process of these pursuits: Instead of thinking that we, as individual’s are in ultimate control of the situation, we should, rather, continue to put every effort into making the thing happen, into doing whatever we are doing, well and to the best of our ability, but then, in addition, we must let go of the outcome. At some point, we must let go, and let God to the rest. This is where faith comes in – not merely faith that God exists, but absolute and unshakable certainty that God is present and active in our daily lives and that whatever God does, he does it with our best interest at heart. It is sometimes very difficult to see this, especially in painful or very trying circumstances, but even then we must hold onto the certitude that everything will work out precisely the way it was meant to be, and that, although we cannot always perceive it, there is an infallible logic to the universe. All we have to do is do our best, utilizing the resources we have, and let God do the rest. In this form of letting go, there is to be found a peace beyond all comparison. And it is not apathetic; it is active.
So, the next time a challenging situation arises in your life, particularly on involving monumental changes beyond the scope of your ultimate control, try this: Make a check list of all the things that you CAN do, utilizing the resources at hand (not dwelling on the resources you “wish” you had, or that you think you “deserve”), then, one by one, check them off as you fulfill them. When all the items on this “to do” list are completely checked off, stop, take a deep breath, and consciously tell yourself that this is the point at which your responsibility for the outcome of the matter ends. Then say a little prayer asking God for his/her support in bringing this matter to fruition for the betterment and wellbeing of ALL involved. Then, exhale and let go. At the very end of that exhalation, you should begin to feel some relief from your suffering. But don’t forget to just keep reminding yourself every day, every hour if you have to, that you ARE NOT the one ultimately in charge here. The labors you have committed and continue to commit to this matter are yours -they are to your credit – BUT, the final outcome is God’s.
I’ll have to print this out now, so as to remind myself of it the next time that I meet with a form of change that I am tempted to resist, even after I have done all that I could possibly do.
Love to you all!
Savita
I’m in my 15th year of a progressive disease that by now severely affects bone, nerve, muscle and connective tissue. I’m mostly bedridden and dealing with multiple pressure sores.
While I think some adversity is important and even necessary to spiritual development, it’s clearly possible to have “too much of a good thing…”
Paul Maurice Martin
In Orwell’s 1984 his character suffers deeply,by the end he is everyhing but enlightened,he is actually destroyed.Nevertheless one has to keep in mind that Winston had always been convinced that he would fail,and so he does.
Can physical pain transform into something as positive as enlightment?I have my restrictions on that,having never experienced such suffering.
But I believe that spiritual suffering can become enlightment.Not always but it is a possibility.I consider lonliness to be an aspect of spiritual suffering,and I believe that enlightment can be born out of this suffering.An individual is bound to suffer when he/she realizes that he/she is alone,nevertheless the ways out of this are limited;assuming that this individual does not take the simple way out(by eliminating his/her self)he/she can be brought to light.He/she will accept his/her solitude and see how productive one can be even in the company of noone but one’s self.Had the individual never suffered during the process of the realization that he/she is alone,he/she would have never be enlightened towards the grandeur of one’s self.
Ofcourse is up to each one of us to embrace all moments with love,even those of suffering.
i am tottaly disagree that someone should suffer for my sins…being of none religion ,and yet feeling religious,and i don*t know well no religion,but as far as i know them i think they all preach the same things.u all know them better than me.
as for suffering…one doesn*t know the fire burns,untill touches it…through suffering we learn…as the most sure way to undersatnd and memorize our mistakes…there are a few who don*t need to burn to understand their ways.thank u,Mr. Coelho for enlightning me and awaring me. u r my angel-guardian.keep on wrighting
love to all
The Buddha taught four truths about life: There is suffering, there is a cause for suffering, there is an end of suffering, and there is a path of practice that puts an end to suffering.
I noticed that we also suffer, sometimes quite a lot, when we want something, but at the same time we know that we can never get it, it’s beyond our reach, it’s not for us. However sometimes it’s hard to explain ourselves that we have to give it up, forget it and move on.
the life is full of suffers but also it’a full of ways to overcom it so we need to control our fears fix our objectives and increase our faith in God cause God created us to enjoy our lives by realising our dreams to reach the happiness and at the same time overcome all the suffers which exists and make the happiness impossible.
by contolling our fears and emotiond we are able to fight suffering
I think when we suffer we don’t realize fully the process of finding of experience because suffering takes us in without a remain, but in course of time we understand it as a great lesson and we become more wise and more knowing.. I think that suffering compels us to hope on God and to ask him for a help and thus we become nearer to God… but I suppose it isn’t quite enlightenment although some part of it presents. I suppose that enlightenment is foremost knowledge which we must find and accumulate.
Hola:
Para mi el sufrimiento es algo inevitable… es como cuando aprendemos a caminar…todos tropezamos y tenemos heridas, pero con el paso de los dias las heridas sanan y aprendemos que lo mas importante de caernos es levantarnos y seguir.
Para muchos solo redimimos nuestras culpas cuando sufrimos, para mi el vivir en constante agonia no nos hace mejores ni mas sabios y mucho menos nos hace personas espirituales… podemos vivir pensando que solo las cosas dolorosas nos dejan enseñanzas, pero tambien podemos vivir disfrutando de las cosas bellas de la vida… como la sonrisa de los niños, las maravillas de la naturaleza, el estar enamorados, de nuestras familias y amigos.
Creo firmemente que la vida es muy corta para vivir tristes y que el arrepentimiento mata.
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