Most of humanity lives a life in an effort to reduce pain, increase ones well being, satisfying cravings and needs. This is something which is important and it has enabled the continuous evolution of mankind since thousands of years, towards higher complexity.
But living intoxicated in this model, one develops an automatic attachment to pleasure and wellbeing. This takes a form of a pathological addiction. Problem is that these romantic destinations of pleasures are mostly transient. These sensual gratifications either weather away with time, or have a potential suffering inherent ingrained in them by design.
If one observes closely the way life unfolds, one comes to terms that it is suffering which is constant and real. And most of the greatest creation of mankind have happened in an effort to alleviate suffering. Nothing great has ever occurred from the passive cradle pleasure. There always have been pain which has straightened and carved out beauty out of human existence.
Having said that I do not mean to paint a pessimistic outlook of ones existence. It might be true that a person at the moment is experiencing absolute bliss. But then my point is two folds - one is that it is transient, and the other is that a passive pursuit of pleasure is useless by itself. It is a spending. Not an earning.
Having said pleasure is transient, it is also true that pain is transient too. But there is a unique attribute in pain. It presents an opportunity to human to create something beautiful, to be able to alleviate the pain. It is totally up to the personal choice of a person. Whether she wants to be drowned by the pain, or she wants to carve out something new to transmute the pain into a work of art. Pain gives a kick to the person - a push to the protagonist, to go for something new, something creative. That personal choice not to get perturbed by pain, and not surrendering to the biology, social conditioning or ignorance ingrained in human awareness, and standing with strong defiance against these lesser dimensions of existence, immersing oneself into creating something inspiring, makes life relevant.
Probably life might be considered as a canvas made of suffering and pain in the background. Along with this, human beings are provided with a brush and paints which they use to transmute the background of pain with strokes of human ingenuity and creativity. There is an ingrained urge to avoid/remove/transmute all these pains in the background, hardwired in humans by the natural selection.
Point here is about bringing to oneself the acceptance that the life indeed is born out of the darkness of suffering. This acceptance gives immense freedom, and an awareness that transmutes all fear, apprehensions, worries, hatred, stresses, and innumerable other negative states of mind. When a person knows that suffering is by design a universal truth, she does not get perturbed when disturbed by the same out of a blue moon. She accepts it as an opportunity to use her brain to do something about it. Typically manifest problem solving stance.
Another important outcome of using such a model of reality is that happiness and states of well being are taken up with more gratitude. No moment of bliss is taken for granted, and it is experienced with full veneration. At the same time there is an awareness that - "this shall also pass away". There is an added grace of gratitude, non-attachment and freedom complemented to ones existence.
As far as interpersonal relationships are concerned, such a stance brings about an increased level of compassion. It tends to remove the focus on the other person's in-adequacies, towards the actual problem, and what the mind of the self is going through. Similarly this added wisdom better equips a person to handle catastrophes that might land up out of a blue moon, in any form - natural, sociological or medical disaster.
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