Re: MD Re: Off-topic? physical pain vs. suffering

From: Chris Phoenix (cphoenix@CRNano.org)
Date: Sun Aug 22 2004 - 16:24:31 BST

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    By "suffering" I meant the suffering that comes from physical pain. I
    have not thought about the suffering that comes from an external event
    like the loss of a loved one.

    I just finished re-reading an excellent book on how applied psychology
    and applied Buddhism (plus applied physiology and several other things)
    can be used to build a rather nice society. A major theme in the book
    is how to deal with death and loss. The book is _Island_ by Aldous Huxley.

    The best one-sentence summary I can give of the book is, "Pay continuous
    attention to the here-and-now, turning every activity into the yoga of
    itself." If the second part of that doesn't make sense, ignore it; the
    first part is still good advice in general.

    On the theory that grief causes physical misery as well, it might be
    worthwhile paying attention to that process. It might turn out that
    some part of the misery is self-reinforcing and unnecessary.

    For the mental part, my only suggestion (and I offer it only as
    tentative theory) is to pay here-and-now attention to the various
    patterns and processes of thought, memory, and emotion, especially
    semi-conscious efforts to suppress any of the above (which makes them
    persist). Of course, this is probably easier when practiced in advance.

    And be easy on yourself, and make sure you have friends and loved ones
    around.

    Chris

    MarshaV wrote:

    >
    >
    > Loss can be considered under the heading of pain and suffering? I had
    > to put my little dog to sleep this morning. She was 16 1/2, and pure
    > buddha nature.
    >
    > MarshaV
    >
    >
    >
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    -- 
Chris Phoenix                                  cphoenix@CRNano.org
Director of Research
Center for Responsible Nanotechnology          http://CRNano.org
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