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CHOOSING PAIN

When the little mermaid cut off her tail to be with the man she loved,

Her human feet hurt like walking on broken glass.

But at every step the pain reminded her of an act of love,

And so she loved him more.

Pain is a transformer. Sustained periods of physical or emotional suffering force us through a barrier

to a place where we are ready to open ourseles up to any power that can sae us. !his is deeply

personal stuff and all our flaws and wea"nesses are e#posed$ for it ta"es no prisoners. %istraught

and powerless$ we may turn to prayer or meditation for aid and thus discoer a deep calm and

comfort$ because these practices release endorphins that raise the pain threshold and protect us from

psychic shoc". Can we use consciousness&raising techni'ues to aoid suffering( Can )nlightenment

release us from Shia*s dance( +rom the painful cycle of birth and death(

+or if the little mermaid had been )nlightened she would not hae got into this pic"le in the first place$haing no place in her heart for self&destructie passion. She would hae iewed her loer with calm

serenity$ unseduced by his strange humanity$ his loely singing$ and the thing in his trousers. She

would hae remained swimming safely in her comfort&,one among her salty fishy family$ feeding off

oysters$ free from the horrors of Or"ney island porridge&ma"ing and whis"y&drin"ing. She would hae

been innocent of attachment$ illusion and hostility$ an e#ample to us all. -ut she chose the path of

suffering. hy(

/aybe she 0ust wanted to ta"e part in the rec"less human game of profit and loss$ torment and

delight$ horror and disenchantment$ insemination and parturition( !o e#perience the engorging of the

human heart and the isceral pounding of the loins. !o get stuc" in. !o heae and sweat. !o giggle

and frolic. !o belong. !hey say een the Gods crae this 0uicy fruit sometimes$ and ris" all to submit

to wea"ness$ humiliation and pain.

!here is no doubt this ultimate relationship with Shia$ the Source of -eing and Creator of all 1ife$ can

sae us from our deepest horrors$ fears and sufferings and gie us the strength to 23eep -uggering

On4 53-O as Churchill would say6. And that our spiritual self can rescue our helpless earthly self at its

most ulnerable and e#posed. -ut soon we find we are tested increasingly by challenges that only

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mortals can resole. It is not enough to be saintly$ lead a good life and loe our neighbours7

something more is as"ed of us8 character. And this is constructed painfully day by day through

abrasie contacts with our only too human fellows. It*s a test of humanity not of spirituality.

As we are spirit incarnated in flesh$ so the incarnated self eoles by enduring hardship$ fear$ struggle

and pain$ and common eeryday courage is needed. Aoidance of suffering is not spirituality$ and is

not the answer. Hae we not the guts to brea" through this crust of dread and burst forth$ cra,y$

laughing and shining to aim for the sun(

e belong to the world because we are human. 1icensed to die in agony$ to suffer the unbearable

loss of children$ to bruise and bleed from the insults$ betrayals and brutality of our fellows & is not our

greatest achieement simply being here( Suriing( -uggering on( Is this not our pride and our

glory( /ust the fear of powerlessness and suffering thrust us onto a path of aoidance$ to pursue 2A

State of -eing4 when we are already in one( Hae we not been gien Shia*s great gift of life to

celebrate the whole of it$ the muc"y and diseased$ the incomprehensible odours of staration$ the

suffering of others( e cannot escape these things7 they are ours. Our family. !hey belong to us. It

hurts our feet to wal" on them but that ma"es us loe them more.

(from SHIVAS DANCE by E. J. Ward)