The only thing worth doing: Avoid pain

Philosophy Forums Philosophy
1

If you take Buddhism at its basic level: Life is suffering. Even without some grand theory, pain is common to our senses.

The are two ways to get to the pain: wanting or avoiding.

Many people want, as pleasure seems the opposite of pain, even if contains pain in disguise. Which it always does.

I avoid. It’s not superior. However, it is an overlooked stratedgy.

Everyday we don’t have physical pain is a goddamn miracle. Because physical pain is on tap for each our futures.

For some people, earning a lot of money allows them to avoid pain. For others, money is a magnet for pain. So each case is different.

Do you want or avoid? How’s it working for you? Do you hurt less than those around you now?

2

I do a combination of both. I like to lay around and make sure that I feel good and all, then go to the mall and buy shit.

3

you could say thats what my life is about.

4

Like the seasons, in which you can’t properly appreciate summer without having to go through winter, you can’t have pleasure without experiencing its opposite. I would not want to lose the ability to experience either of them.

5

Nice.

6

When we die, it might be like a candle being snuffed out, cool relief of nothing.

Or Heaven, and the infinite pleasure, how do we reconcile the pain needed to understand warm glowing sensations implied by cloud comfort.

Experience is not much of a thing to me, maybe overrated. Glad you enjoy your memories of the experience, wonder if you’ll take them with you, and for how long.

7

I don’t believe in any Christian concept of Heaven and Hell, but I’m willing to concede there might be something in the idea of reincarnation.

8

What about living in (with) pain?

I mean to say, embracing it. Pain is a part of life, so rather than try to avoid it or keep it at bay, why not accept it and let it run it’s course? Pain, like pleasure, is fleeting, and I think trying to learn to appreciate all the sensations of being alive is worth something.

9

I dont appreciate pain because it allows me to appreciate pleasure since pleasure doesn’t let me escape the return to pain, which increases with age.

Reincarnation is a bit masochistic, kinda like a rock tumbler for shaping the sufferer.

If God throws me in a sink hole, then throws me a rope, am I thankful? Thanks, you saved me from the danger you created.

I don’t beileve either, but the whole heat of the summer and the cold of the winter are unpleasant.

I don’t want to say, “Yay! I’m something. Better than Nothing!” because bird songs are beautiful crying.

10

You sound like a glass half empty sort of person. You needn’t be, you can be a glass half full person any time. It’s just a question of attitude.

11

I have to live with pain. Embracing it is a noble idea, but why don’t I just go ahead and crucify myself and get to the heart of the matter.

I appreciated the sensation of smoking crack. Pleasure zone supreme.

I can tell you the before and the after of that pleasure are the worse internal pains a person can inflict on their own soul. It like a chalk board screech of the soul.

Fleeting is the only consolation.

12

I have to live with pain. Embracing it is a noble idea, but why don’t I just go ahead and crucify myself and get to the heart of the matter.

I appreciated the sensation of smoking crack. Pleasure zone supreme.

I can tell you the before and the after of that pleasure are the worse internal pains a person can inflict on their own soul. It like a chalk board screech of the soul.

Fleeting is the only consolation.

13

I have to live with pain. Embracing it is a noble idea, but why don’t I just go ahead and crucify myself and get to the heart of the matter.

I appreciated the sensation of smoking crack. Pleasure zone supreme.

I can tell you the before and the after of that pleasure are the worse internal pains a person can inflict on their own soul. It like a chalk board screech of the soul.

Fleeting is the only consolation.

14

I have to live with pain. Embracing it is a noble idea, but why don’t I just go ahead and crucify myself and get to the heart of the matter.

I appreciated the sensation of smoking crack. Pleasure zone supreme.

I can tell you the before and the after of that pleasure are the worse internal pains a person can inflict on their own soul. It like a chalk board screech of the soul.

Fleeting is the only consolation.

15

I think the glass is half full, and I’m amazed the glass even stays in form for as long as it does, given that it will break.

16

I think this makes good sense, Blurred, but only up to a point. Oftentimes pains serves the specific purpose of teaching us to avoid - a hot stove, scratching to excess, etc.

I think there’s something to be said for tolerating and even trying to ignore pain in certain circumstances, but that can’t be expected when the pain is excruciating. Some pain you can’t simply overcome with “attitude.”

17

Nano-bug, I believe you must be in pain now as you speak. I’ve had short excruciating pain, and long dull pain drawn out of several years, the memories do nothing to me as far as making me speak of pain in such a manner. But, maybe I just haven’t experienced enough. But, I think, correct me if I’m wrong, if you had a break from the physical pain and the psychological pain of anticipating it for a month then you wouldn’t be inclined to worry about avoiding it or wanting pleasure. Of course that’s only for the sake of argument. I know that you’re right; I have lots of pain to look forward to.

Sartre said that pain is meaningless to someone fulfilling their project. Maybe he’s way off, I’ve had a hard 2012 up until September, and I already had read about that from Sartre, but it didn’t occur to me to try the techniques related to that philosophy. I’d had barely any pain in the last four months now but when I did it worked. But, that proves nothing for such little pain. As I said I have some pain to look forward to, I’d like to know if these techniques are useful before then. Well, if anyone is interested I could try to share my techniques, but they’re very difficult to explain.

18

Wait, wait, wait, are we talking about physical or emotional pain? Because I don’t think the two are really comparable in this context.

19

No I’m not having body pain, only mental pain. But I don’t think for a minute that once physical pain enters my life permanantly that it won’t laugh at the mental pain I’m complaining about now.

Even if we buy something to make us feel good, we then have fears it will be lost or stolen or broken or it just never lived up to what we imagined it would be like to own it. All of that is a form of pain, even if it just mental.

No body pain, but I feel like having this body is burdensome and I’m tired of lugging it around. When something like arthritis hits, I’ll curse myself for complaining this way, but it will come in the form of regret, which will be more mental pain.

20

Blurry, both.