How To Beat Suffering? Poem by Arun Maji

What you worry about?
What are you distressed about?
Is that Pain? Suffering? Sorrow? Betrayal?

Look outside. What you see?
Night goes, day comes. Day goes, night comes.
Cloud goes, Sun comes. Sun goes, cloud comes.

Joy and sorrow, or high tide and low tide, they all come in rhythm. Everything in this universe has a rhythm. Everything has high and low.
This universe is one big music. Life is one big music.
Because tempo of music goes up and down, music is so beautiful.

Are you crying because of darkness? Please don't. Light is not too far. Light and shadow come in rhythm.
Are you thinking of killing yourself because of heart break?
Please don't. Love is not too far. Pain and love come in rhythm.

You are nothing but tune of a flute. Some infinite force is playing the flute. He plays it sad sometime, he plays it joy sometime.

Look at the sky. Does cloud stay for ever? No. All is mortal in this existence. But things are created again too.

Birth and death is the rule of this existence. Star must die, but star must be born again. Your joy must die, but your joy must be born again. Your sorrow must die, but your sorrow must be born again.

Joy and sorrow are nothing but two sides of one thing. In any given moment, you can experience only one side of it. You never can see both sides together. Can you see day and night together? Can you see high tide, low tide together? No, you can't.

Then why do you think you have to kill yourself because of your sorrow?
Sorrow is nothing but other side of joy. Are you in pain now? You must know, healing is on its way to your home. Wait patiently. Do things you can do. You will see, sorrow will die as it completes its destined life. And after that, joy will be born again.

Pain is that bad thing you receive. And suffering is the emotional distress caused by that pain. Pain is inevitable, but suffering is not. You can control your suffering.
In the space between pain and suffering, you stand. You can turn pain into either a fire or a flower.

Flame burns wood, but purifies gold. Heat softens potato, but hardens chicken egg.
It's up to you, what you do with flame of pain. Either you can turn your pain to fragrance of poetry. Or you can turn your pain to hatred for others. You can let pain, turn you to gold. Or you can let pain, turn you to ashes.

Anything you want to learn, you have to persevere for it. If you want to learn how to be happy and joyous, you have to persevere for it. If you want to achieve infinite joy in life, you must begin somewhere. Where you begin? Deep reflection. Take yourself away from noise and distraction. And devote yourself to meditative activities like, music, poetry, painting, philosophy.

The moment you decide to have joy, you get joy at that very moment. It's that easy.

© Arun Maji
Painting: Daniel Gerhertz