261. Understanding Pain

No one likes unwanted pain and most pain is unwanted. When we are experiencing pain, we usually want to get rid of it as quickly as possible.

Some of the pain we experience is wholly unnecessary. It is caused by choices that we or other people have made and it would not have occurred otherwise. This includes the pain caused by systems and institutions human beings have created and support, which can inflict incredible harm on our minds and bodies.

But there are also pains that are not like this, pains that are simply part of what it is to exist as a human being. Some of these pains are caused by maladies and diseases that are outside of our control, but that we can sometimes alleviate using medicines and treatments. Others are akin to the pains we feel when we’re training our bodies — the aches that accompany growth and development. These pains arise from doing what is worthwhile but difficult, from pushing ourselves further than we would usually go.

In general, pain is an indicator that something difficult is happening for our bodies. The difficulty we’re undergoing is sometimes harmful, but not always. To act from compassion, we need to be aware of the wide variety of pains a human being can experience. This awareness comes from attention to our own experiences and from listening carefully to the experiences of others. Becoming deeply aware of what causes harm and what does not is essential for compassionate action.

Compassion aims to meet the needs of ourselves and others and often this means doing everything we can to reduce unnecessary pain. Compassion cannot directly eliminate pain in the same way as it can eliminate the emotional suffering that is produced by attachment. But acts of compassion do help to expand our awareness, including our awareness of which pains are unnecessary and how we can act creatively to prevent those particular pains from recurring.

Acting from compassion can sometimes also mean that we will experience pain. Even the growth of our awareness can be uncomfortable and occasionally painful. Helping to meet the needs of others can sometimes involve doing things that are painful for us to do. To understand that these pains are not to be avoided is an essential part of what it is to be aware.