'Life is pain. If anyone claims otherwise, he is selling something'.
This was a remark made in a fantasy movie titled Princess Bride that my daughter showed me recently.
The Buddha would have approved. And I prefer to heed the Buddha than Madison Avenue and its clones around the world, whether they are selling anti-ageing creams, insurance, cars or smartphones.
The point is how best to cope with pain. And the longer you live in denial, the harder it becomes.
6 comments:
Sir,
I have always tried to believe that the world around me is beautiful and the people inspite of how they behave are basically good at heart but these days, I have started to agree to what this post of yours say and the last few words are just too true "...the longer you live in denial, the harder it becomes." Howerver, it is very difficult to accept the truth and move on.
Dear Sir
Sir your post really touched me. I have always want to live life with this attitude.
But then some poems and quotes and preaching of some people seemed contradictory to this idea (or maybe I had interpreted them wrongly). So I always used to think that it was I who thinks the other way and convinced myself that to live happily I must treat this life as a beautiful gift and to enjoy it. But I wasn’t able to live up to that, how hard I tried. Although I haven’t experienced much suffering (till this age at least) but still seeing the sufferings of others and being able to realize how hard it is to be truly happy from heart I have always failed to treat this life as a gift.
But today after reading “THE FIRST NOBLE TRUTH” I felt peace at heart.
Especially being in the hospital for 6 days I have glimpsed the sufferings of people specially at old age (Our maid servant said that she had to wait for one month with a fractured leg just to get admission in S.S.K.M).
Sir I am able to realize that leading a happy life is much more difficult than acquiring wealth or power. The state of tranquility of a saint is truly eternal and only very few in this world gets to experience it.
Thank you once again sir. I cannot describe in words the contentment I perceived after reading your post.
I know I am sounding silly. But sir believe me you have rendered a great help to me.
Kaustav Sanyal
I am glad that this post could make even some very young people ponder. Perhaps there is still hope beyond the beauty parlours and shopping malls...
Dear 'Phaeton', thanks for commenting, but a cardinal principle of this blog writer is not to publish comments from people who would not identify themselves. Just call me old-fashioned.
Dear Sir,
We recently watched this movie as well, and I recounted to my wife about this blog post. It is a line of dialogue that encompasses a lot of wisdom in it. I would just edit the line a bit to say 'Life is a lot of pain punctuated by moments of happiness. If anyone claims otherwise, he is selling something'.
Warm regards,
Subhasis Chakraborty
Thanks for the edit, Subhasis. It was both pertinent and necessary. I was quoting from memory, and it did not come out quite right.
Notice that your comment comes four years after the last one. Odd, don't you think?
Sir
Dear Sir,
I meant that it was my edit. So it should have been framed in this way 'Life is a lot of pain (punctuated by moments of happiness-SC). If anyone claims otherwise, he is selling something'. Your memory was perfect! I should have paid more attention to sentence construction.
As to why nobody has seen the movie (or commented)for the last four years is beyond my reasoning abilities. Perhaps because a copy of this movie is hard to find. I found it at the local DVD store in a corner with children's movies.
Warm Regards,
Subhasis Chakraboty
Post a Comment