Pain.
- clearstreamzendo
- Aug 11
- 3 min read
This weeks topic for reflection is pain. This is not a pleasant topic but it is something we all have experience with. In fact to be alive in a human body is to know pain. Many of us start life with a slap and an angry scream from the resulting pain. Hearing this the mother in the midst of her pain, cries with joy from the sound of her alive new born child. To be human is to know pain.
Please join me in a rational investigation of pain. I have heard that our sense organs send signals into our nervous system. Sometimes our nervous system recognizes the sensation as being physically dangerous and flags it as painful. This turns the experience of a cut into a painful cut. This is done to get our attention and encourage us to take action to remedy the situation. The sensation of pain is created within our bodies to satisfy a perceived need in the moment. We categorize different kinds of pain for example physical pain, chronic pain, emotional pain and mental pain. I think fear can have an aspect of pain mixed in. There are ways to lessen or eliminate pain such as over the counter or prescription drugs, illegal drugs and alcohol, various types of meditation techniques, and hypnosis. It can be helpful to understand what goes into the experience of pain.
I noticed when I was young that when I suddenly hurt myself if I screamed out in pain the pain felt more intense. If I remained calm and quiet the pain felt less intense. I also remember running to my mother crying with a painful scrapped knee. She would kiss it which didn’t take the pain away but somehow this made it okay. Eventually the pain went away and it healed. Until it healed I had a wound to show off and be proud of. What has been your experience of pain? What is your relationship with pain? I have only had a few encounters with overwhelming pain that was more than I could bare. Fortunately it passed before long. How do you deal with the pain in your life?
As I grow old I experience more and more physical pain as my body weakens and becomes less flexible and resilient. It is harder to do things I used to take for granted and it is more difficult to be comfortable. Older bodies break and heal slowly if at all. This is painful. When body systems are working well I’m unaware of them. When they are uncomfortable or painful I become aware and concerned. I’m becoming aware of a new normal of fragility and discomfort. My body is giving me more and more opportunities to let go. Letting go of the way I used to be and letting go of expectations of how it should be. There is comfort in knowing that impermanence and change is truth and letting go is a natural process to be embraced. There is solace in knowing there is no true escape from pain in this human life. In Zen we say sometimes it’s helpful to not take it personally. We are not alone and maybe the pain is not our fault. Nothing lasts forever. Everything is impermanent including pain. We all will eventually die and loose our functioning bodies and the pain that comes with them. But we don’t die along with our bodies. This changing life continues to another way of being.
How do you experience, see and deal with the pain in your life?
Please join us for morning Zoom zazen from 7:00 to 7:30 Tuesday and Thursday, in person zazen at the McNail Riley House Saturday morning from 9:00 to 11:00 and Sunday morning Zoom zazen and discussion of the topic for reflection blog from 8:00 to 9:00 Pacific Time. Here’s the Zoom link:
Meeting ID: 811 6100 3357
Passcode: 278259
Gassho,
Futai
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