*PAIN - also see SUFFERING, CROSS, WAY, PATH, STRUGGLE
Antonyms: PLEASURE, JOY
There is no quest without pain, there is no lover who is not also a martyr. Birth pains must be endured in the spiritual as well as in the material world. This divine neccessity of pain is necessary to share in the travail of a world of Becoming. (Mysticism, p267)
A person whose awareness is really centered recognizes the value of both pleasure and pain. When we are there in the middle, we see that truth contains both the highest pleasure as well as the greatest pain. We cannot build walls to separate the discussions of pleasssure from the discussions of pain because they are two sides of the same coin. (Stillness, p54)
Rumi teaches "The cure for pain is in the pain. Good and bad are mixedd. If you don't have both, you don't belong with us." When we accept our pain, it can nourish us. When we fight it, it only becomes another brick in the wall that isolates us from ourselves. (Stilness, p76)
Don't run from pain too quickly, but stay with pain and let it teach us. Escaping pain yemporarily via drugs, alcohol, sex, etc. only makes pain worst later. Pain is like birth pain, once it passes there is joy. (Fransican Friars, 5/97)
Use the pain. That's why it's there, to help you focus. (Tenth, p61)
No pain, no gain; No pain, no glory.