What does this Zen saying mean?

pain is biological, suffering is psychological.

"Pain Is Inevitable. Suffering is Optional."

(Zen Aphorism)

Sermon by Rev. Mike Young

Preached November 12, 1995 at

The First Unitarian Church of Honolulu

http://home.hawaii.rr.com/uuchurch/sermons/111295....

THE FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH OF HONOLULU

A Unitarian Universalist Congregation.

The full sermon is a good read, but this is just my opinion. Here is the part of the sermon that answers your question.

"The same idea as in the Zen aphorism is in the Power of Positive Thinking material albeit in a somewhat distorted fashion. It is part of the kernel of truth in the New Age notion that you create your own reality.

The problem with most of the formulations of it is that they seem to be saying that your suffering is your own damned fault. Suffering is NOT our fault. It is not that we choose to suffer. It is that no one has ever taught us how to choose not to. Not that we opt for it, but that we don't opt not. There is a way not to suffer. Most of us don't know it. Or, knowing it, don't believe it's possible for us."

ME!

Your GrandParrents knew it as "Sticks and Stones will break my Bones, but names will never hurt me!"

While physical pain can be blocked out with a well diciplined mind (because you cannot think about 2 things at the same time), for the most part suffering comes from worry about material wants, not needs. The message is that to want for nothing and you shall leave most of the pain in life behind. The only thing in this life you have control over is how you choose to feel... I hope this answers your question.

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Pain is part of the human condition and it is transient in nature, whereas we are not, essentially.

In essence we are spiritual beings, trapped in a bodily prison that is the human condition.

Suffering (our reaction to pain) is attachment to the human condition.

Ride the pain, be an observer, contemplate the cause:

this body and this mind are not real, don't 'become' the pain as it will pass.

By becoming the pain, whether physical, mental, emotional, other, or a combination thereof, we "suffer" as we lose sight of reality.

This sounds so sufi also :)

Thanks for sharing.

Salaam.

:::additionally::

I think periods of suffering are an important part of the human condition, as inshaAllah we are made more aware of our state of separation.

"Don't speak of your suffering -- He is speaking.

Don't look for Him everywhere -- He's looking for you.

An ant's foot touches a leaf, He senses it;

A pebble shifts in a stream, He knows it.

If there's a worm hidden deep in a rock,

He'll know its body, tinier than an atom,

The sound of its praise, its secret ecstasy --

All this He knows by divine knowing.

He has given the tiniest worm its food;

He has opened to you the Way of the Holy Ones."

----- Abû'l-Majd Majdûd b. Adam Sanâ'î

I as an individual, can not stop the pain that might cause from sth out of its natural order, but suffering is the way i choose to feel about it.

I might break a leg and have a lot of pain, but i will not suffer after that when it is back to normal.

However, if i lose sth i love, that wont bring me pain, that is suffering of not seeing that again. and it will go if i try to forget it.

Pain plays with your body and Suffer plays with your mind.

i loved the sentence, thanks for sharing it.

pain is inevitable means it can't be avoided but suffering can be avoided.

Lets go through it like pain is a thing(feeling) that makes you just think about it, and doesn't allow you get your concern over something else. But often when you suffer something like pain or stuffs, you think over things also..

lolz.....too confusing I don't know either cause pain gives suffering and suffering is because of pain.

I don't know. We must think over it thanks for asking.

The fundamentals of Buddha's teachings include the idea that "life is pain" or "life is suffering" or "life is frustration".

Buddhism is about how to end that "pain".

Thus, Pain is inevitable. Suffering is not.

Suffering in our minds we can control. Pain as an input we cannot avoid.

All in all - it is a matter of how you handle the pain in order to aviod suffering.

Even though the body is in pain, the mind can still be happy.

Pain is natural in life, and therefore we must accept it when it comes!

Suffering, is something we can choose to avoid!

That is the short expansion of the saying, the rest I will leave to you to understand, it you so choose.

Zen scriptures are beautiful.

Everyone endures pain -- it cannot be avoided. Suffering can be endured and reframed.

Edit: Have you read Viktor Frankl's books? Interesting reading!

Suffering is a choice. It is not necessarily the outcome of pain.

Tell that to a chemo patient.

That's bullshit

I've been in labour five times, and each time, I tried to go to that goddamn beach that they talk about in lamaze, and you know what? That was bullshit too. It ******* hurt so bad I wanted OUT OF MY BODY!!! 32 hours of pain? Yeah. easy for a buddhist monk to say so. It's ******* suffering.