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Pain and Pleasure
by Anwar Shaikh |
Human conduct is motivated by a deep-rooted
desire to avoid pain and pursue pleasure. This is what makes it an important
issue requiring detailed examination. However, as pain and pleasure happen to be
two sides of the same coin, it is not possible to discuss them in isolation:
1. Pain is the child of chaos, which is a state
of rebellion against the governing principles. It is the nature of
disorganisation to be hurtful. Again, it is accompanied by a lack of purpose,
which serves to magnify the effect of pain, eventually ending in extinction
On the contrary, organization denotes a state of
obedience to the basic laws of existence; this is the secret of becoming or
life. As a general rule, search for pleasure or happiness is a characteristic of
life. One can liken pain and pleasure with the phenomena of autumn and spring.
The former denotes collapse of law concerning conditions which keep the
environment green, gay and glorious but the latter signifies a return to the
life-giving factors.
Life ought to be a spectacle of happiness though we
find it riddled with pain. This state of affairs is brought about by our
attitudes and can be rectified by a greater morality aiming at social justice.
Neither it is possible nor desirable to eliminate pain completely but it can be
reduced to a size where it serves the same purpose to life as spice has to food
or sweetness to nectar.
2. Yet, pain is the fountain of pleasure; it is the
distress caused by pain, which seeks pleasure as a relief. Therefore, pain has
precedence over pleasure; a human baby is born crying which indicates its
natural anguish, but life is not all wailing; a baby can grow up into a happy
person through a process of proper development. Thus pain is endowed with a
potential of pleasure as the heart- rending thunderous clouds have the ability
to make rain, which brings zest to life.
3. Happiness that lies in turning pain into pleasure
through personal attempt is much greater than the delight found by chance:
inheriting a million pounds is a happy occasion but earning such a sum of money
with one's own effort is immeasurably superior owing to the pride and self-
confidence that it engenders.
4. There is no pleasure without pain because of their
reciprocal existence. They are like two poles which are naturally equal and
opposite but the sense of pain and pleasure depends on which of these poles is
ascendant; it is dominance of the ascendant pole which makes one happy or
miserable.
The condition known as analgesia (insensibility to
pain) shows that one who does not feel pain lacks he ability to appreciate
pleasure. Therefore those who seek pleasure, must not shirk pain, necessary to
find it.
5. Life is not a pain but a pleasure. This truth
emerges when we realise what life is; it mainly consists of helplessness,
sickness, disease, old age, accidents, frustration, selfishness, treachery,
death and burial. It is these painful events, which constitute life, yet we love
it. Why? Obviously, life itself is a great pleasure and we usually want to stay
alive despite our sorrows.
6. Life is made worthwhile by the fact that pain has
the potential to become pleasure. This transmutation takes place through the
process of hope and adventure. Were it not for this fact, life would have been a
mechanical affair. As evolutionary ladder rises higher, sensibility to pain
increases more intensely. For example, man is most pain- conscious. Looking at
the mechanism of free will, one comes to the conclusion that life is what man
makes it. What a wonderful plan of nature it is. It makes us realise that pain
is punishment for misunderstanding the message of nature.
Pleasure is the hilarious castle one builds from the
sharp sand of a beach; it is the delightful snowman that one creates from the
desolation of a blizzard. Is it not one's own will and skill dedicated to better
life, which emerges as pleasure?
It is a happy occasion to be born into the right family
but such occurrences are rare like the oasis in a desert. It is one's quality of
effort which is the core of pain and pleasure; laboring without reward is a pain
but rewarded toil is a pleasure. Even the hope of reward at the end of a
gruesome process makes pain an enjoyable experience.
7. Living is the only purpose of this life. Obviously,
future-life, if any, is a product of this life, but this life is not possible
without desire. Therefore, the sages who held desire as the fountain of pain and
condemned it, failed to understand the nature of life.
8. Desire to life is what rain is to a parched field,
virility to a man, sword to a soldier, vision to an eye or luster to a diamond.
Just assume for a second that you have no desire at all, that is, you have no
wish for a mate, a family or friends, and you have no longing for
self-improvement by way of education, cultural refinement, power, riches and so
on. Such a person is no more than an animal for having no purpose but to keep
breathing slowly.
It is certainly desire which gives life the highest
magnitude by bestowing upon it a purpose and discipline: Thus desire is not a
sin but sin is having no desire. Without desire one has no goal, without a goal
one has no character, and without a character, one ceases to be human.
An achievable dream is a genuine desire, worthy of any
effort. A genuine desire exhorts you to weigh your courage, improve your skill
and measure your tenacity and will. It further challenges you to prepare a
strategy and accept a high discipline to enter the battle for achieving what you
want. Once you have made the best effort, you can do no more. Just the
self-respect of attempting is sufficient to unleash your hidden springs of pride
which are always accompanied by a feeling of satisfaction imbued with lasting
happiness. A struggle for a genuine desire is its own reward. Even failure
brings no real pain and success counts as icing on the cake, rouge on the face
or varnish on the nails.
Troublesome is the fantasy that is just an idle talk, a
day-dreaming, a pie in the sky. Such a desire represents a disturbed state of
the mind. It is source of pain because it takes over your conduct the same way
as a rider controls a horse. A false desire is an incitement to day-dreaming but
a genuine desire acts as a barometer of possibility and sets the goal within
one's means. A genuine desire has the same relationship with you as petrol has
with the car that you drive. Though it supplies the driving power, you steer
yourself to reach the destination of your dreaming.
9. Achievement is synonymous with desire. You cannot
achieve without a desire. Your achievement being the representative of your
skill and will, is a measure of your personality.
Never renounce a good achievable desire unless you have
a similar or a better alternative. Since achieving a desire is a source of
happiness, causing other people misery to be merry yourself is not desire but a
form of sadism, an extreme sickness of the mind. A person who bulldozes the
homes of poor people to build a palace for himself, is not expressing his desire
to look great, but advertising his inhumanity for being a schadenfreude he is a
pervert who knows nothing about the sanctity of pleasure: he is a vulture who is
pleased by the sight of dead bodies; he is a wolf who feels privileged to
detest, molest and digest any lamb he can find.
10. Genuineness of a desire depends on one's
deservedness. Thus a deserved desire is a virtue but an undeserved desire is
not.
11. A failed attempt to realise a genuine desire is far
more pleasing to the wise and manly than the cheated success is to the fool and
cowardly.
12. The greatest happiness is the one that arises from
the pain suffered for promoting the cause of the unhappy. It multiplies itself
as brightness of the glow-worm is magnified in the dark; it is a delightful echo
which keeps repeating itself from vale to vale; it is a shield of the contented
mind which the forces of misery cannot penetrate.
13. A shared pleasure is immeasurably more righteous
than a self-centered pleasure. It is like the bread-basket of Jesus which cannot
be emptied, no matter, how large the number of eaters; it resembles the drops of
water which join to form immensity of an ocean; it is a symbol of philanthropy
which raises an animal to the status man: this is the power, which elevates man
to the dignity of God.
14. The ability to endure pain with dignity is not only
a sign of maturity but it also prepares one to become a connoisseur of delight.
The more pain one has suffered, the longer one has pined for pleasure. The
greater search for a thing denotes its value generally, and to the searcher,
especially .
15. Being born lucky is far less enjoyable than forging
one's own luck, which involves a good deal of pain, thus correspondingly
enhancing the zest of pleasure. Lucky birth can be like a carcanet around the
neck of a dog, which does not know the difference between a jewel and a pebble.
Conversely, the self-made luck is like a beautiful garland whose flowers have
been picked by the wearer after a long search for their special fragrance.
However, there is a sharp difference between enduring
pain with dignity and getting used to pain. The former implies an august
personality for its great capacity and the latter displays a debilitated mind
for being indifferent to cure, and thus seeking reconciliation with misfortune.
Such a person is like a bat, which prefers darkness to light; he is a mental
leper, who finds leprosy a better means of attracting people's pity.
16. Ignorance though pain, is still a form of pleasure
when it acts as an antidote to the harshness of reality. By treating the foul as
fair, the foe as friend the frightful as felicitous, it raises hope and provides
the will to continue journey of life. Yet its message of hope, happiness and
hilarity is devoid of the truth that mankind urgently needs. It is like the
scorching sand of a desert which appears as sea to the thirsty wayfarer, who
keeps marching towards water with a greater zest but never finds it.
Poverty, hunger and disease are forms of pain but the
pain arising out of injustice is even worse. Whatever perpetuates injustice is
painful. This is why that wrong law is a form of pain and so is its willful
application. The same is true about evil customs and their dominance. The
society governed by such laws and customs is a reflection of hell on earth. The
preacher who tells you to bear legal and social pains with a smile because this
is the will of God or this is what law requires, is the Devil Incarnate. No
obedience is owed to such a God, the law or the preacher. This type of obedience
is a mark of insanity. Does your survival depend on kissing the lips of a cobra
or beating its head off? Does your safety require jumping into fire or
extinguishing it with all the means at your disposal? If you favor the foe then
what can you offer your friend? If you hold night as bright how will you
describe the day?
Obedience is bliss only when it is based on genuine
assessment, the product of conscience.
In a society where masses suffer the pain of hunger,
disease and injustice, the pleasures of those who are above the level of misery,
is a form of perversion unless they make a determined effort to make their
fellow-beings happy.
17. Happiness is the basic human right. Of course,
individual choice plays a great part in one's happiness but the social
conditions equally affect people's mind. Society owes a duty of happiness to the
members who constitute it, and its own health depends on the soundness of its
individuals. It is no different from a tree whose vigor is directly related to
the verdure of its branches; it is like the night-sky whose illumination is
dependent on the glitter of stars.
l8. Pleasure of losing can be as great, or even greater
than the pleasure of winning. When one loses one's life or property to defend
one's ideal - secular religious or national, one does it with a great sense of
joy. Loss of limb or wealth in the service of one's sweetheart brings far more
happiness than the pain that the sacrifice involves. It is like losing a seed in
the ground and finding that it has multiplied a hundred times.
19. What is pain to me, may be a pleasure to you, and
vice versa. How? It is because understanding is usually a matter of
interpretation. A happy play of words is preferable to a miserable
interpretation if the event or words may suggest such a construction. Maximizing
happiness is a virtue and not vice provided the interpretation does not seek to
mislead. Happiness is wanted so badly that people use devices of self-deception
to see and hear what is not there. Look at the day-dreamer who amuses himself
with vagaries or the believer, who is certain that his guru, prophet or messiah
has the power to get him into paradise ebullient with fabulous luxuries.
20. Pain begets pain but pleasure does not necessarily
beget pleasure. Why?
Pain begets pain because most people are vengeful;
their pride dictates them to retaliate and they think of forgiveness as a fool's
hobby.
Pleasure does not necessarily beget pleasure because
people find expressing gratitude as an exercise in self-degradation.
Do not cause pain to others because it is likely to
rebound on you but when you make someone happy do so without any idea of return.
21. What is pleasure?
It cannot he defined. Concept of pleasure changes from
person to person and therefore resembles wine which adopts the shape of its
container. Again, what may please one in childhood may cease to please during
adolescence, and is likely to change again during one's middle and last years.
As old age creeps in, the desire for corporal pleasure
decreases with a corresponding increase in one's yearning for avoiding the pain.
It happens owing to physical deterioration.
Our fitness plays a central role in the appreciation of
pain and pleasure yet not many of us pay attention to bodily soundness.
22. One man's pleasure may be another man's pain. You
may not have done wrong to someone. So great are the pangs of inferiority
complex, jealousy and malevolence, that the mere fact of your being happy, may
make someone painful to plan your destruction.
The situation is even worse when one has deliberately
created conditions to enjoy the misery of others. The merriment of such social
predators visit their own children and grandchildren as the evil effects of
their misdeeds.
Retribution of evil never goes amiss; if the direct
target escapes it, somehow, it will find a substitute.
23. Happiness is a reflection of the consortial
devotion: this situation arises when two people fall in love and choose each
other as life-partners; their association is based on mutual respect and a
passion of deep longing; convenience is alien to it; conviviality forms its
integral part. Couples in love are more angelic and less human; they are eager
to give rather than take; they respond their partner's omission with love and
not hate.
The concept of consortial devotion is beyond the
comprehension of those who lack the ability to befriend. Such people are born to
be miserable; they are like the woman who has everything except the ability to
conceive and therefore unable to enjoy the pleasure motherhood; they are akin to
the person who has a tongue but cannot speak, possesses ears but cannot hear.
Loving is the gift of God, not available to
devil-worshippers.
Life is for living; it is painful only as long it is
not lived. It is bubbling with the potential of happiness which can be realised
by full living only. How can you find a pearl without diving into the sea? How
can you get butter without churning the milk? How can you express your
patriotism without staking your best for your country? How can you realise the
pleasures of championship without grappling with the most formidable antagonist
?
24. This planet is not the abode of misery; those who
believe it to be the fountain of anguish, are themselves the cause of
desolation. They are a burden on it, and the sooner they depart, the better the
chances of happiness for the rest. This is the place to be happy and cultivate
one's potential for eternal happiness.
If you have not lived happily and made this earth a
happier place for others to live, you have not lived, and thus failed to
discharge the obligation that you have to life.
Life is a challenge whose fulfillment depends upon
attaining the goal of happiness. Thus we have a duty to make this planet the
abode of bliss. The combatant who refuses to accept the challenge of his
adversary, has only himself to blame for the ensuing misery. The patient who
surrenders to pain by committing suicide instead of trying the bitter remedies
for lack of guts, cannot accuse the doctor of incompetence .
25. There is a remedy for every misery. The determined
search for happiness is itself a cause of satisfaction. Your frame of mind and
the way of thinking and interpreting can act as a barrier against unhappiness.
If you have failed to get exactly what you want, a substitute may be equally
pleasing.
26. If you are unhappy, find a friend. He is the person
who values your happiness as much as his own. f Friends are not non- existent
but they are rare. Is it not the nature of all good things? It entails a lot of
toil to locate them. If you have been unlucky, try again.
All that glitters is not gold. It is foolish to take a
pebble for a diamond, a bead for a pearl, a clown for a clergy or a kangaroo for
a camel.
27. A noble enemy shall not be pleased by your
misfortune, but a fair-weather friend will feel glad when you are sad; he will
be relieved when you are grieved. Yet he does it with a skill, which makes you
believe that the Devil is more humane than God and lamb is more merciful than
wolf. It is his hypocrisy equipped with verbosity which makes him what he is,
and thus detection of his intentions becomes difficult, if not impossible.
28. If you cannot find a friend, examine yourself to
see if you are a worthy friend yourself. If your introspection is honest and
exonerates you, it may as well be that you learn to be miserable on your own,
though it is a negative course of action, which I shall be reluctant to adopt
myself.
29. The pleasure offered is superior to the pleasure
begged for. Once you have made repeated attempts to please someone but failed,
do not waste your courtesies any more. l he person is not worth pleasing. As
there is no blood in a stone, a sewer lacks the ability to emit fragrance, a
blind man cannot see, a deaf person cannot hear, a cripple cannot run, a butcher
cannot be kind to animals and a cobra is incapable of showing loyalty to its
keeper, a person who cannot be pleased, is a devil in human form.
30. Life has a purpose. Those who think of life as an
accident, or something which just comes into being and then fades away, cannot
be taken seriously.
What is the purpose of life? As nobody likes dying, and
wants to live for ever, eternity is the real purpose of life. This life is its
own end. Therefore, the true pain is the ignorance about the purpose of life,
which leads to its wastage.
Is it possible to live for ever? Yes, of course it is.
The ability to appreciate pain and pleasure sets the
standard of human values; one cannot do justice without assessing the size of
pain or pleasure. How will you punish someone without knowing the degree of pain
he has caused others and how will you rewarded a person without determining the
value of pleasure he has imparted someone else?
A person's ability to appreciate pain and pleasure also
determines hit level of humanity. When someone else's pain and pleasure makes
you sad or glad, you have developed a conscience, the natural symbol of cultural
attainment. The difference between a brute and human is that the former has no
conscience but the latter has plenty of it. Conscience is to man what light is
to the glow-worm, which leads it in the dark; it is the staff of the blind which
guides and protects him. It is the automatic brake which applies suddenly when
one is about to march off to a wrong cause.
31. Finally, the demands of realism prompt me to
inquire into the relationship of sex with pain and pleasure
Bluntly speaking, I dare say that pain and pleasure
have no meaning without sexual relationship. Why? Just look at the following:
a. When a boy is about 15 and the girl is thirteen,
they experience a sudden awakening of sex consciousness. The boy adopts an
aggressive approach towards the girl, who finds herself dragged towards him, yet
restrained by a sentiment of modesty, and a sense of self-evaluation, which
requires the lover to make the first move, because what becomes easily available
devalue itself.
It is sexual urge which creates the flagrant flogging
and fantastic. emotion of love; once active, it cannot be made passive unless it
has achieved its goal. Such a goal is usually a girl for a boy, and vice versa.
Sexual urge is a love-bond between man and woman the same way as gravitational
pull is between atoms, molecules or heavenly bodies. Union of sweethearts is the
greatest pleasure and the failure to unite is the greatest pain.
Love leads to coitus which is the most intense pleasure
known to both man and beast.
Copulation though usually considered an act of
vulgarity in fact, is the source of the greatest wonder called "man".
It is human conscience which makes the presence of this cosmos felt; without man
(i.e. man + woman) existence or non-existence of the world does not matter jot.
But man, as we know him, cannot come into being without the carnal urge. Thus
sexual intercourse, is the process of making man which ought to be the happiest
exercise for the universe itself.
Coitus has got to be the most intense source of
pleasure. If it were not so, animals would not indulge in procreation, which is
the first priority of nature, and this is why it bribes the living, beings in a
hundred and one ways to indulge in this activity. Dichotomy of animals into
males and females is simply:
1. to create sexual pleasure which persuades, prompts
and provokes them to seek each other, and
2. improve the lot of species through love-making.
Even plants are not immune from this division of
gender. Nature prefers cross-fertilization to self- fertilization. Thus the
plants which practice cross-fertilization, or in lay language, indulge in sexual
intercourse, develop beautiful colours, but the ones which are pollinated by
winds, remain drab and unattractive.
Beauty is obviously the reward of sexual urge which
incites further beautification.
The improvement of species is at its best in humans.
Their intelligence leading to arts, sciences and innovative excellence, results
from their sexual behavior. Asexually produced humans, assuming it was possible,
would simply be another form of vegetable. Human conscience is yet another
product of coitus.
Sexuality is not a game but an act of love and honour.
It is naturally subject to a code of morality; when it is defied, not only
venereal diseases visit the offenders but social sanctions also display their
wrath by way of broken marriages, unwanted children and family vendettas.
Again, morality is the foundation of happiness.
Satisfaction gained through deception, disloyalty and deviation, is nothing but
a mirage which make the deserts and appear as water because the sanctions of
conscience eventually become operative to enforce their psychological punishment
which can be terrible.
Having no sexual urge or abusing it is a form of pain,
but its proper use is a pleasure.
Such is the dignity of sexual pleasure that even the
excruciating pain of child-bearing ranks as the greatest pleasure of motherhood.
Like all other pleasures, sexual delight also has a
painful side: an easily-pleased woman is a blessing but a quickly-displeased
woman is the scourge of God. Similarly, a woman would exceed the virtues of a
thousand angels if she did not nag.
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