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“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional”. — Haruki Murakami
Every day life confronts us with challenges, big or small, that somehow make us feel bad or create a sense of discomfort. These experiences are an integral part of life and often cannot be avoided. But, is it possible to learn to understand and evaluate them from a different perspective so that we can avoid suffering more than we should? If you are going through a difficult time in your life, I hope the following story, “The Two Arrows” can offer you a different, brighter perspective on the meaning of your suffering and make you aware of why we suffer in life, so that you can put an end to it. Happy reading.
THE TWO ARROWS — PAIN VS SUFFERING
Once upon a time, Buddha was sitting with his disciples when a man approached him and asked, “Why do I suffer, why do people experience pain and sorrow”?
“Pain is inevitable in life, but suffering is optional”, Buddha replied, and then he went on, “Let me explain it through a metaphor. There once was a man who was shot with an arrow; as soon as the arrow hit him he felt pain but, instead of pulling out the arrow and seeking help, he began to worry about the consequences of being shot.
