Oh, I am not at all sorry for my pain. (Though I think I know what you mean.) Pain is just a messenger. Only a resistance to pain causes trouble. Pain is sometimes close and sometimes far away, but it is always one of a person’s companions.
You were very, very kind to me once (well, specifically, once).
I hope to return this kindness someday.
I don’t know where this pain stems from…
But I hope that you are empowered by it.
Pain is what tells us we’re alive. When something painful occurs in our life, it’s an opportunity to learn a lesson and grow as a person.
Yes, pain is what tells us we’re alive, but it is love that keeps us alive and makes life worth living. Learn to love yourself to truly love others (and vice-versa).
I didn’t mean for that to sound like new-agey hippy-sloganing, but there is some truth to what was said in that sentiment.
lhw - AKA: The Straight-faced Clown AKA: M.C. Tape-Hiss
I don’t know if we need pain to tell us we’re alive, but we certainly need it to tell us that such a thing as peace exists.
There is an important difference between feeling pain and knowing, and appreciating it.
For the most part I agree with lhw on this one. Pleasure/Pain is a duality. We don’t have to think in dualities but if we’re going to, we have to consider each end to enrich the other.
Either way I think your assertion is flawed, LA. Why would there be -no- room for peace?
Pleasure - pain is both physical and mental and is always with us. One defines the other. I saw the last three lines as key. When we choose to cling to past pleasure,we invite pain into ourselves. The desire for pleasure unrequited is torment and pain. The hunger is good. It says that having released a specific desire, the pain subsides. There is now promise of moving again. The understanding gained from the experience is the reward.
Some experiences are like hitting youself in the head with a hammer. It really feels good when you stop…
Well that really depends. If we experience peace then we do not need anything to tell us that it exists. Peace is not pleasure. Pleasure and pain go hand in hand. We really should be grateful for both, not cling to or desire either. Peace is a quality of the heart. More than that it is mystical, it is made up of the stuff that Reality is made of.
Because pain is worldly, whereas peace is other-worldly.
That is still duality. Good and evil are manifestations of the human mind. And so heaven and hell are also.
I use peace in the absolute sense. When the universe is destroyed, heaven and hell will also be destroyed. They are not Real. They are all part of maya (illusion). That is not to say that illusion is not real. That is not to say that I don’t have this body or that this computer does not exist. But what animates this body is neither good nor evil. The good or the evil is a manifestation of my own mind, of my thoughts, individually and collectively over time, over lifetimes…The true nature of a human being is the part that has compassion/benevolence, the part that has wisdom…virtue. Virtue is outside of good and evil. Peace is a manifestation of virtue, of compassion.
I’m very very busy and don’t really have time to indulge myself on ILP at the moment, but I felt so compelled to come back and read your poem. I get it now. Like you wrote it for me.
