Physical pain and psychic pain

There is a general notion that if we go through suffering, tribulations and physical pain then our system will be purified. This idea is not founded upon reality. There are many people who are suffering because of their past karma or because undivine forces are attacking them, but we can’t say that they are nearing their destination. No! They have to aspire more sincerely in order to reach their destination. We shall not welcome pain; we shall try to conquer pain if it appears. If we can take pain as an experience, then we can try to transform it into joy by our own identification with joy, which we then try to bring into the pain itself.

Physical pain, vital pain and mental pain have to be transformed into joy through our constant inner cry for something that will give us real and permanent satisfaction. In the spiritual life the best thing is to take pain as an experience which has to be transformed into an experience of joy. Joy is the only eternal reality, the only permanent and everlasting reality. But it is absolutely wrong to say that each time we suffer we go one step ahead towards our goal.

There are various roads to our destination. On one road we have thorns in the way; the other road is a sunlit path. When we can go on the sunlit path, why should we suffer from thorns or any other obstacle? Suppose you want to go to Manhattan. There are roads where the traffic is very bad, but there may be a road where there is no traffic. How fast we reach our destination depends on which road we take.

There are some people who feel that pain is indispensable, but it is not necessary to go through suffering before we can enter into the kingdom of Delight. Many people have realised God through love. The Father has love for the child and the child has love for the Father. This love takes us to our goal. Our philosophy emphasises the positive way of approaching Truth. We have limited light; now let us increase it. Let us progress from more light to abundant light to infinite Light.

Many human beings do not pray and meditate. They have material possessions and achievements and are leading a comfortable life. When the results of their own ignorance come to them, then they suffer. Some people also have gone through painful periods of doubt, fear, worry and anxiety in the spiritual life. This pain is worse than physical pain. Self-doubt or doubt of God is the worst possible pain. "I cannot do this," or, "God won’t do this for me. I cannot work for God." This kind of doubt is our worst torture. There can be no pain more bitter.

We know physical pain, vital pain and mental pain. But there is also psychic pain. On the ordinary human level, we get psychic pain when someone whom we are attached to deserts us. But on the spiritual level, psychic pain is an inner pain, a sense of supreme loss, the feeling that our Beloved Supreme, for whom we are crying, is still far away. Once upon a time we had infinite wealth, but we have lost it. We are like a traveller whose money drops from his pocket on the road. Here we are travelling in the world of ignorance, and we have lost our inner wealth. This kind of psychic pain is extremely significant. This pain is like a hunger, an inner urge to reach the Highest. One kind of hunger is for name, fame and earthly achievements, but inner hunger is different. Psychic pain comes from eternal hunger, which is absolutely necessary in the spiritual life. Without eternal hunger we will not be able to reach the highest, ultimate Goal. In the spiritual life dissatisfaction with finite achievements will not be like ordinary dissatisfaction. In ordinary dissatisfaction when we don’t get something we want, immediately we revolt and we stop praying for it. It is like sour grapes. But in the spiritual life, dissatisfaction is very sweet. We have something and we feel that this is not enough. We came from the Supreme, who is infinite, eternal, immortal. How can we be satisfied with the achievement of the finite, knowing that we are chosen children of the Supreme? It is our soul that is bringing to the fore the message that nothing finite can satisfy us. Only the Infinite, the Eternal can satisfy us.

The highest discovery is this: we came from Delight, we are in Delight, we grow in Delight and at the end of our journey’s close we retire into Delight. Delight is now in the inner world. The outer world is all suffering. We see people quarrelling and fighting. We have many undivine elements in us: fear, doubt, anxiety, worry and so forth. But when we go deep within, on the strength of our highest meditation, we discover that Delight was our origin, our Source. In Delight we play the cosmic Game and at the end of the cosmic Game we again retire into Delight.

From:Sri Chinmoy,The illumination of life-clouds, part 1, Agni Press, 1974
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