About yesterday's debate in the comment section about pain and suffering, I subscribe to that old notion that pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional. No way you can go through life without encountering pain, as I see it. You prick your finger with a pin; it hurts. As a child, you fall off your bike and scrape your knee when you're learning how to ride. That hurts. You fall in love with someone who fails (inexplicably!) to fall in love with you. You get cancer. That brings pain. You fall, when you're old, and break a bone. It's all pain. I don't believe, Carly, that any single human being can get through life without it.
But yes, you're right: suffering is not inevitable. In theory. But it takes a whole lot of practice and skill to learn to live without it. Suffering is what we choose to add on to the pain when we cling to it, as you so rightly note. What you say about movement is interesting here, because to let go of the pain is, in a real sense, to "move on" from it. My current experience with Dr. Steve is also interesting in this regard, because in some sense pain is where we choose to feel it; and when he talks about the flow and the blockage of energies, he's clearly talking about movement.
As usual, Carly, we're not so far apart in our thinking on this subject. In my judgment, at least. Have a great weekend, everyone. And if you have a spare moment and the interest, I'd love to know your take on this. Are you in pain? Do you suffer from it? Let me know...
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