Krishnamurti was asked the following question: "What is the significance of pain and suffering?"
Here is how i would answer that question.
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Well, just starting off, when you mention "pain and suffering", in spiritual terms the first thing i think about is Buddha and Jesus Christ. But that may be just me, so let's see what our trusty dictionary has to say out both "pain" and "suffering". The following are what i am using for my definitions.
- Pain is an unpleasant feeling that can be sharp or dull, and can be a signal that something is wrong with your body. It can be a sensory experience, an emotional experience, or both.
- the state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship
Before we get started we have to decide whether a "feeling" is the same thing as a "state". The question is: can you have "pain without suffering" or can you "suffer without pain"?
Just right off, the only way i could see "pain" and "suffering" being separate entities, is if one was not "active" and being thought off. Like suffering without thinking of it in terms of pain. Like having a pain, but not thinking of it in terms of suffering.
I think it is time to move on past the definition part of this exercise. In this case i am not quite sure whether i was just killing time, or whether something will come out of the above.
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The fact that "pain" can be either a sensory experience or an emotional experience, or both is a big deal. One (sensory) tends to deal with the body, the other (emotional) deals with the mind.
Just the fact of the above, puts "pain and thus suffering" on the "right side of the equation" (if you know what i mean). I mean the side of "impurity", the side with the universe of all things, with mixed truth, and the "self", self-consciousness. Pain and suffering are not "Pure", which is a requirement for the left side of the equation. Get it? It's a new way that i am trying for you to understand how Duality is going on together all at the same time--pretty efficiently and effectively i might add.
So, now then, considering the above, you might ask why i might think about Buddha and Jesus from a spiritual basis when i think of "pain and suffering". Buddha and Jesus reside on the "left side of the equation". Why would you think of them in terms of a "right side" impurity, like "pain and suffering".
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Good question. Now here is how i would answer your inquiry:
First of all, Buddha knew more about "suffering" than anyone before him. Buddha, an anointed Prince, went to the end of human pain and suffering, personally studying it all the way, both physically and mentally. No one ever wanted to understand pain and suffering more than Buddha.
And do you want to know something? Buddha conquered "pain" and "suffering" when he was functioning on the "right side of the equation". And that victory alone moved Buddha to the "left side of the equation".
When you can conquer "all pain and suffering" (i.e., without any sensory or emotional experience) you have arrived. The trouble is this: there is only one way to do accomplish this feat and that is to . . .
Make your Soul (Self) the observer, feeler, in lieu of the body and mind (the self) The Self cannot feel pain and suffering because pain and suffering do not exist in the purity of the Soul. Pain and suffering exists in the body and the mind.
What Buddha discovered was this: "pain and suffering" are simply things and things come and go. Don't pay attention to any of it. Ignore it all, it doesn't really exist. It's all transitional. It comes and goes. Sometimes it is here and sometimes it isn't. That makes it totally inconsistent with the Reality that is the Eternal, Non-changing Being. So, let go of it all, Buddha says. Let it be.
If your "pain and suffering" is such that it is totally impossible for you "to reduce" the amount that you are suffering, you may want to talk with a professional who deals specifically on this issue. The spiritual side of the equation tells you to ignore your "pain and suffering", and that all is "good in the world". If you cannot do that, and that is a pretty hard thing to do, then just to get started you might seek help as i mentioned.
I know that it is difficult to believe that "all is good in the universe" when you, yourself, are suffering pain. That simply is not the way that God should operate--is it?. If "all is good in the universe" why should there be so much "pain and suffering"? Why should there be any pain and suffering at all?
Here is where i throw my Enlightenment Sutra and end my discussion regarding Buddha and pain and suffering, before moving on to talk a little about Jesus and his suffering. I call the following Exponential Reality.
With the Acknowledgment
That Love Is the Constant
In Exponential Reality,
Then the Reality of the Cosmos
Is Exponential Goodness.
What Is Enlightenment Like?
It Is Like Looking up at the Ceiling
And Knowing
That If at that Very Moment
The Ceiling Would Collapse
Down on top of You
And Destroy You,
That the World and Cosmos
Would Continue on
Towards Exponential Goodness.
Happiness is Knowing
That Every Moment in Time
Is Moving Closer to Perfection.
Buddha knew this better than anyone. If there is one issue with Buddha, it's the fact that his tendency was to "do no harm" by believing that "no action was better than wrong action". Buddha was less of a "spiritual activist" than Jesus. Jesus was more on the side of "right action is better than no action." And that is what got him killed. Buddha, like i said, was more on the side that says "no action is better than wrong action" and that kept him alive.
The trouble with Buddha's approach is the fact that "right action is preferred over no action." And Buddha didn't necessarily believe in such a thing as "right action". That's how i see the difference between Buddha and Jesus. One was simply more active than the other. One was more of a passers-by than simply a sightseer.
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So, if that is the case, then let's flip to Jesus and his pain and suffering and let's see what we can make of that.
I think most people would agree that Jesus' suffering took place when he was on the cross. We know that Jesus was suffering, because he asked the question: "Father, why has thou forsaken me?" It was the pain and suffering on the cross that made Jesus cry out and ask that question.
This is so important from a spirituality standpoint that it must not be ignored. When Jesus cried out regarding his pain, it showed that he was a man, a real human being, someone who could suffer pain just like all the rest of us human beings. If Jesus was not a man, and only a god, then what good would it be to follow him, if you were not a god, yourself?
There is no question that Jesus belongs on the left side of the equation, but we must remember that all of us have a Soul that can put us on that side of the equation, too. Jesus had an "active Soul". And that should be "our goal", too. Action as a compassionate passers-by.
The main question that i believe needs to be answered by us today is this: Did Jesus have to die on the cross to save all the rest of us? Did Jesus have to be a martyr in order to save all the rest of us?
That's the story line isn't it? Jesus died on the cross to save mankind. It seems that it turned may have turned out that way, maybe. Much of the world follows his written words.
There is little doubt that Jesus could have saved himself, if he had wanted to. He did not want to. He wanted to be a martyr in order to "die for the rest of our sins". Sounds a little far-fetched, but it's possible.
But if that is the case, then for whose sins are we to "die for"? Whose "pain and suffering" are we willing to take on in the form of martyrdom?
What are we to do about our own "pain and suffering" if we don't turn it over for our inner Soul to manage?
The significance, therefore, in "pain and suffering" is this. Pain and suffering exist in the universe of all things. To eliminate this worldly pain and suffering, you must shift your complete focus onto the spiritual side of things (towards your inner Soul). The Soul knows no pain and suffering. The Soul diffuses pain and suffering to the point it is meaningless.
If you had "pain and suffering", Buddha would tell you to forget it (them). If you had "pain and suffering", Jesus would tell you to fix or cure it (them). Buddha was a "pacifist". Jesus was an "activist". The Titanium Rule of Existence tells you to be an "activist" first, and a "pacifist" second (in the fallback option). It's as simple as that.
Your inner Soul is essentially "your answer to everything". We can talk about "pain and suffering", "joy and happiness", "black and white", but none of that means anything without the good intentions of an "active Soul" that understands the Titanium Rule of existence: Right action is better than no action; and no action is better than wrong action." Period. That's it, folks.
