A simple seeker was recovering from yet another surgical procedure.
“It hurts.”
“Yes.”
“Why do you say “Yes” as if my pain was a blessing?”
“It is.”
“A blessing?”
“Yes.”
“How is that possible?”
“Are your wounds healing?”
“They seem to be, this time.”
“How do you know?”
“The nerves in the area are active.”
“Does their activity indicate healing?”
“I don’t know.”
“But they live?”
“Yes.”
“That in itself is a blessing.”
“Yes, but they hurt.”
“Are you suffering?”
“Where are you going with that?”
“Where might I be going?”
“Pain vs suffering?”
“Yes. We feel pain with physical senses, while suffering is an emotional response that can be controlled, if we choose to control it.”
……..
A simple seeker’s note to herself
“Perhaps my suffering comforts me in my time of pain.”
“Is that a healthy situation?”
“Healthy?”
“Yes.”
“In what sense?”
“Life enhancing.”
“Surely, rejoicing in pain would suggest an unhealthy mental attitude.”
“How so?”
“I’m aware of feeling pain, and my awareness seems to activate self-compassion.”
“Yes. Go on.”
“You’re leading me down one of your paths, again.”
“Yes.”
“So I feel compassion for my suffering, and not for my pain?”
“Yes, and in the deepening awareness that it is your suffering that attracts your compassion, healing gradually takes place.””
“My suffering is reduced?”
“Yes, and more. When your natural healing energies are released from their focus on your suffering, they are then more able to cope with the source of pain.”
“I need to learn to relax and feel the pain, without self-pity?”
“Yes.”
……….
Simple Seekers 