Vividly, I remember there was an article written by a Taiwanese writer. She classified pain into various types, small, medium, big, and super pain, and then short, middle, long, and pain as numb, etc. She was suffering from "glass bones" since her teenage, and she has been living with pain since then, until the day she died by the sixties. The news (or merely rumor) said that she was actually killed by her Indonesian maid, who was so fed up taken care of her and kicked her on her chest without knowing this could actually kill her, and she did. Even at this page of her life, she showed her forgiveness and told the paramedics who was sending her to the hospital that it was her that fell down and trying to forgive her Indonesian maid who actually was emotionally exhausted and kicked her by accident. She wrote every word with much more effort that us, due to her breathing issue and her body conditions, but she continue to write and her publications and books, and more important her spirit had encouraged a few generations and many people around the world. Reading her articles are such an enjoyment!
What is the meaning of pain and suffering? Many religions offered their reasoning. Some worth digging deeper into it and some, in my point of view, just taken as par value. To me, it's more of a relativity issue. If we may pause and think for a moment, most of our life time, if you are willing to think in this direction, are filled with happy or at least "pain free" time. Okay, we may have a flu occasionally, and we had a headache. We may even over-drunk ourselves and have a hang-over. but in general, most days we are in a state of "pain-free" condition. At such a state, you would never asked what is the meaning of pain and suffering. Only when you are suffering from it, like me now, that you may want to dig deeper into it and trying to find meaning of what you are suffering from, or if at all, if there are anything inside them. Honestly, I don't have a clear answer now, and I am still eagerly looking into it.
Share with me if you have any good thoughts on this.
This beautiful flowers are provided by Sheena, delivered to my house by David.
Dear Matthew,
ReplyDeleteI am not sure whether there are meanings to everything, and for pain and suffering, I really cannot fathom any possible meanings underlying, particularly for those that are NOT humanly induced, like war and poverty.
Other than saying it is part of the Nature of Things and that this is part of the evolution process....well, that's the science part of me talking!
Some religion may say pain and sufferings are part of a "test" for all of us to see how much we can endure and how convicted we are with our beliefs. It could well be true. At the very least, it gives us the will to carry on and the strengths to continue, hoping for a positive finality, whatever and wherever that might be!
Another "possibiltiy" is that it made us think and look deeper into ourselves to see what life (and death for that matter) is all about and how we should live it. Well, you have definitely taught us a lot on that account, and we are forever grateful for it. I believe it has made a lot of readers a better person because of these "pain and sufferings" of yours.
You talked about funeral arrangement for yourself the other day. Here is something different: Have you thought about holding a ceremony (to celebrate life, as well as death) BEFORE our deaths? Will that give us more opportunutites to pour out the feelings for you? I am seriously thinking that for myself as it gives us a chance to hear the good and bad things about ourselves (if our friends are honest) and become a learning experience for the rest - what to do, and what ought not to do!? It could be more "value add" to the process of living and dying, then just celerating life and mourning death.
I am not sure whether these are good thoughts (I seriously doubt it) that can help you probe deeper into the meanings you are seeking, but I felt compelled to share it with you!
Talk soon!
R
Raymond,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the sharing! Your words are gold.
Yours, Matthew
What is the meaning of pain and suffering? I see it as a training tool to us all. When a person suffers pain, even simple pain caused by flu which makes ache and pain in the entire body, we feel a sense of helplessness, finding it difficult to do simple task such as getting out of bed to get a drink. By experiencing pain, we learnt to care for others. Suffering can be a way of helping us to develop compassion; it makes us less selfish and more caring towards others. How much do we learn depending on each individual: some may be inspired; some may feel anger or bitterness; some feel depressed and lost faith in life!
ReplyDeleteWatching your suffering Matt, I learnt to appreciate the simplest thing in life: every breathe; every step and every sip of water which we all take for granted. In some moments last week I could see that you were in great pain, but yet you still managed to show your calm and dignity in order to make everyone around you feel comfortable. You are a great teacher Matt.
Irene,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your encouragement. I shall surely try my best to keep this up!
Yours, Matthew
I honestly think that life wouldn't be fulfilling or satisfying if suffering and pain didn't exist.
ReplyDeleteA great quote from one of my high school classes that I will always remember is that "no good fairy tale doesn't possess a villain or monster."
There has to be tough/painful/suffering things in life in order for every person to be able to grow, challenge oneself and at the end of the day will be stronger in ways they couldn't of ever imagined.
God does not give one anything they cannot handle.
A wise and great person told me that, and I believe it is true.
Everything happens for a reason as tough as some things may seem and everything will work out. Keep positive, keep making the right decisions and let the cards fall where they may. But at the end of the day - there will be hopefully no regrets and just a life of as much happiness and peace as one could have found given his/her situation.