Rx for Suffering
Humans, unlike all other species on our planet, have a unique relationship with pain. In 2019 the CDC estimated that approximately 20% (50 Million) of American adults live with chronic pain. Furthermore, as many know, we face (and have faced for a while) a persistent opioid epidemic in an effort to alleviate the pain. Like any medication (especially opiates), the body builds a tolerance, sometimes requiring greater dosages. While drugs are very effective at reducing the sensation, they do not address the suffering. For many people, their pain is both physical and emotional, and it defines them. As a medical professional, I certainly am not advocating the cessation of opioid use as there are many situations where such drugs prove pretty effective (especially in the prehospital setting).
Moreover, I am advocating for a closer look at the relationship between our pain and our suffering. Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional. Suffering pertains to a narrative whereby pain refers to a sensation (or multiple sensations).
Our relationship with pain in some way marks our path through life, taking us on twists and turns mostly to avoid suffering. The opposite is often true in the presence of suffering, whereby we travel down paths in various attempts at numbing or suppressing through pharmaceutical or other means of escape. From an early age, we form a seemingly inseparable link between pain and suffering, between the sensation and dreary aftermath that follows. Interestingly enough, while many people try to eliminate pain, which can be a catalyst for positive change, I would argue a more serious attempt needs to be made to stop suffering. Pain is inevitable; suffering is not. Breaking this link between pain and suffering is how you arrive at a genuinely freeing conclusion that you are not your pain.
At a basic level, pain is a sensation. When you stub your toe on the corner of your bed at 3 am, that sharp, stabbing feeling that shoots up your leg is pain. Pain is a unique and complex conversation between your brain and the rest of your body. Pain can mean a variety of things to different people based on your conditioning. In the case of a stubbed toe in the middle of the night, the momentary sharp pain serves as a learning reminder to turn the light on next time. It does not mean that you are clumsy, worthless, unable to train the following morning, etc. When we attach these narratives to our pain, and through that narrative, we give birth to our suffering. Which, according to the laws of karma, only leads to more pain and thus more suffering; the cycle is endless.
Thousands of years ago, the Buddha offered an inevitable truth: to be human is to suffer, and the root of our suffering is our attachment. Based on the simple example above, I would argue that attachment to the narrative we tell ourselves links pain and suffering. It is easy to get lost in the consortium of profound ideas like alleviating suffering, what pain is, etc. My challenge is simple, not to be confused with easy. Recognize pain as a sensation. Become an observer of that sensation, even at that moment at 3 am, when it is the most difficult. Recognize that pain is just a sensation and that closer observation of that sensation will eventually lead to fruitful action. A traumatic event becomes nothing but the event itself (i.e., getting shot is nothing more than a piece of metal slicing through your body). Pain, when stripped of the biased narrative of suffering, can be a brutally effective teacher and we would be well served to not ignore but explore, without judgment and attachment. Inevitably, this will allow you to define your pain, not your pain defining you.
