The purpose or function of pain??

[lemex]

Originally Posted by lillyj

For me i often see pain as an indicator that something is wrong or out of balance. And then it could be viewed as a teacher.

I know in buddhism pain is veiwed as a positive thing that can actually cleanse your karma if you can have a pure experience of it. And not hold onto any attachments . But i find this view too extreme for me.....

I have noticed the idea exclusive to placing emphasis on your when isn't it our. We all have karma and there is collective karma. Karma is so much more inclusive.

If it is viewed as a teacher then it is about lessons.

Karma can be thought of as cause and effect. Karma isn't a reward or punishment. The second arrow is a good analogy about suffering. You are to have an experience of it. The second arrow tells us pain illicts pain.

The greatest weakness I see in how karma is thought of is in not seeing that the your karma affects my (everyone's) karma. Collective or group karma is the next lesson.

[wstein]

Originally Posted by lillyj

...What role could pain have on the spiritual journey??
Assuming that this life is to be used as a return to wholeness...

Pain is a notification that there is an opportunity to either avoid damage or to improve/grow. In the context of this question, pain is alerting you to something that is not as 'whole' as it could be. Intense or acute pain would indicate you are moving away from wholeness.

Originally Posted by Sir Neil

At one level, pain is a safety valve. Without it, we would do tremendous damage to our bodies which we wouldn’t even know about. Pain is the body’s way of telling us that.

Yes thats a very good point!

[Native spirit]

There are different types of pain.Mental Physical or Emotional all are as important as the other.


Namaste

[Miss Hepburn]

Some good responses here.
This is like the age old question just asked re if God is Love...so why was there the Holocaust, etc.
Does any answer or opinion really satisfy people?
Well, I don't think so if they are stuck in a cycle of worldly logic.

There is a Big Picture going on spanning lifetimes, it's a deeply spiritual situation...it is not as simple as
stating as fact: ''It's our karma''....which has been deleted here.
And why?
Because some of the highest souls, most selfless are born with birth defects on purpose...so it is said.
And it is not because they (necessarily) did some bad thing! There are reasons.
Ya wanna know some diverse reasons?

I say: Be still and understand the workings of creation more, then - because personal insight is the best and
all the answers are inside in silence waiting to dawn on you. Voila! Or,
Read people who have understood things thru years of research or meditation or NDEs, themselves.
We've got :
Many Lives, Many Masters, Dr. Brian Weiss
Journey of Souls, Micheal Newton
A World Beyond, Ruth Montgomery
All the books by Robert Schwartz, who explains it so well in simple terms...researching extensively, like many above.
Youtubes and books by Anita Moorjani -85 pounds, 4th end stage cancer, that died - came back, was healed and understood WHY she made herself sick...
Because we do have that aspect, too...but not in all cases.
Each case has it's reasons. And there is an ultimate wonderful reason ...which is not my place to say.
That's my input anyway.

[utopiandreamchild]

I'd rather pleasure than pain.

Pain doesn't serve a purpose at all.

utopia

[utopiandreamchild]

Pain causes suffering.

It's no good.

Worthless.

utopia

Actually pain can be quite soothing... Like therapy......

I have heard of some people using pain as a useful thing to help them.....

[utopiandreamchild]

Originally Posted by Dude111

Actually pain can be quite soothing... Like therapy......

I have heard of some people using pain as a useful thing to help them.....

But that would be experiencing pleasure as in, finding pleasure in things that some would say are painful/hurt.

It's not the pain they're focused on but the pleasure.

utopia

[lemex]

Originally Posted by utopiandreamchild

But that would be experiencing pleasure as in, finding pleasure in things that some would say are painful/hurt.

It's not the pain they're focused on but the pleasure.

Actually not as used in the context of therapy. Regardless, pain is negative, especially for the body and it is known the body can and will be harmed with too much negative energy. Examples are, prolonged pain causes stress, contributes to physical aliments, reduces one's immunity. Still, the purpose of pain as has been noted has a biological nature, function, and awareness and other pain also mentioned follow the same rule. So yes it can be said there is purpose. It is therefore more than some construct. Pain is an observation and has meaning. The problem still remains the ripple effect of it. Instead of the word pleasure, I use the word balance or harmony. They are the same to me. Pleasure is an outcome. I also think post 12 says it well and am in agreement.