Pain and Suffering

    (I offer this as a small gift to all my fellow humans suffering in the world this moment; you are not alone, nor will you ever be. May the pure silence of this moment, infused with peace be both a beacon to you and a hope for your eternity.)

    As human beings we all have experienced, and will experience various levels of pain and suffering, both physical and mental. This is the fact of existence as an animal with a nervous system on this earth. Surely medical and psychological science has done much to help alleviate some of our pain and suffering but there remains this state at times, unavoidable and unrelenting. Many of the great wisdom and religious traditions have tried to provide answers as to why we suffer and how we can overcome it. But I offer one small morsel for you now.

    Who is it that suffers? And what remains through all the pain, through all the anguish, through all the hurt? You must look deeply at this right now, in this moment. Who suffers? The body, the brain, the mind suffers. But what remains untouched through every negative wave of pain, sorrow and suffering? What is it that is always there throughout? What never suffers, what never knows pain? Is there something here? Is there something very subtle, very quiet beneath everything else? Is there something which is there through the moments of bliss and the moments of suffering? Is there something that never fades away?

    There is a tremendous opportunity here if we can look through the suffering, not evade it, not suppress it, not pretend it does not exist. Through all of it, you are there, shining, grace-filled, the silence itself. All the pain, suffering and hurt can not touch that which you are within, that which is you in the Pure Silence of now. 

    So when in pain, see what is there at the core, before, during and after all suffering. If you can see that for one second, you will see the eternity that you are and that pain and hurt have no rule over you at all. Bodies are born, live, break down and die. That which you are is never born, will never feel pain and will never die.

May you know the peace and tranquility of this moment!

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