Pain Must Have A Stop

[Guest guest]

A modification of this method is given in the Upanisads and by

Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras, which consists in the conscious entity -

the Self - taking the position of a witness of phenomena and being

aware that in any perception, feeling or experience the Reality is

not to be found in the experience but in the experiencer, the feeler,

and the perceiver. That is, what is seen is not the Real but the seer

(the conscious Self) is the Real; what is heard is not the Real but

the hearer is the Real; what is felt is not the Real but the feeler

is the Real; what is thought is not the Real but the thinker is the

Real - He is the witness, the True, the inner controller. Thus there

is no involment in, participation of, or attachment to the experience

and neither pleasure nor pain will be experienced as such. The waves

of the mind deprived of the power of the Self will subside and cease

to be troublesome.

 

Here the question may arise as to what happens to the pain-bearing

karma remaining in the mind of one who has accomplished disjunction

or the position of a witness? The answer is that this cannot be

accomplished until the mind is purged of that kind of karma. That is,

the impression of inertia and indolence (tamas) and those of selfish

action, ambition and violence (rajas) must have been removed and only

the tranquil (sattvic) condition remains.

 

Again, we may think that since pain is the result of the accumulated

karma from the past resulting from the action based upon ignorance

and desire, it might be possible for one to create such a karma

through virtuous and selfless action that eventually one may be free

from pain altogether. But pain can at best be only attenuated by this

means, for as long as one functions in the body and mind there will

remain some kind of pain. There is what Patanjali calls `guna-vrtti-

virodha' - the interplay and counteraction of the gunas, the forces

of nature which now cause pleasure and again cause pain.

 

The second way to cope with pain is by love and devotion to God

(bhakti). By directing these feelings to God pain is transformed and

sublimated. The mind-waves are identified with God by means of a

strong feeling of love for Him in a relationship of mother, father,

friend, servant, child or beloved. The mind thus concentrated on God

becomes pure and sattvic, and the tamasic and rajasic modifications

which cause our pains are overpowered and merge in the ruling emotion

of love. Not that one does not feel pain any longer, but pain is

accepted with good grace (and sometimes with joy) as coming from the

Beloved. For God as the all-in-all is not only the creator and

preserver of the universe but also the destroyer and He who gives

life and brings joy and happiness is also He who brings pain, misery

and death. The true devotee receives both opposites with equal love

and grace. We often find this standpoint expressed in Christian

mystical literature. For example, Jean Pierre de Caussade states,

 

`To suffer in sweetness and in peace without offering any resistance

is to suffer in the right way ... You are to thank God, as though for

a grace, for what you suffer meanly and weakly ... these God-wrought

calamities, if rightly viewed, are worth more than all worldly

prosperity. For they are over in a moment while their fruits are

eternal.' And, writing to a friend, `When I think of the infinite

value of your present tribulations I dare not wish for them to end;

what I do wish is that you shall be kept in a continual state of

sacrifice and self-abandonment, or at least, that you shall strive

after this, yearn for it and unceasingly beseech God for it. When our

hearts are thus inclined, our wise employment of tribulations and

afflictions advances our eternal welfare more than do successes and

consolations.'

 

- Swami Yatiswarananda

 

To be continued...