Suffering. Suffering

Text source:

Translated according to the publication: Plutarchs Moralia. London: William Heinemann Ltd; Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University press, 1962. V. 6. P. 377-391 (Loeb Classical library).

Introduction

This speech before the people or the diatribe (as Polenz thinks, I believe, is correct, and thus I do not accept Willamovitz's unification of this and the previous works as fragments of the same dialogue) was read by Plutarch (Xylander is practically the only one who denies its authenticity, but on what the reason he does not say) in some city of Asia Minor: Volkmann (Plutarch, Vol. I, p. 62f) thinks that in Sardis - the capital of the province, Haupt (Opuscula, III, 554 - Hermes, VI, 258) - that at Halicarnassus, Vilamovitz (Hermes, XL, 161ff) - which is at Ephesus. The reason was quite obviously the annual review of court cases by the consul from all over the province. The proof that mental anguish is worse than bodily suffering is given in the public domain and in Ch. 4 in a dramatic manner. The conclusion is lost. The same theme was developed by Maxim of Tire (Orat., VII, ed. Hobein, XIII, ed. Dubner), but in a banal and hackneyed manner and, moreover, he does not show any knowledge of Plutarch's speech or any connection with its sources. At the beginning of the third book of the Tuskulan Conversations, Cicero shows some connection with Plutarch's arguments. Siefert (Comm. Ienenses, 1896, P. 106-110) substantiates the opinion that some of this work was borrowed by Plutarch from the υπομνημα (I would prefer to say θπομνηματα), which he used in writing De Tranquillitate. The text is not in a very good condition. The work is numbered 208 in the Lampria catalog.

Which suffering is stronger - bodily or spiritual

I Homer, contemplating the different kinds of mortal beings and comparing them among themselves as regards their lives and customs, and exclaiming that
Of the creatures that breathe and crawl in the dust
Truly, in the whole universe there is no man more unhappy,
awarded man the unfortunate primacy in that he surpasses all in misfortune. But to us, who already know that man has won victory over everyone in bad luck and has been proclaimed publicly the most unfortunate of all animals, let me compare him with himself, separating the body from the soul with regard to their individual misfortunes - this is not at all useless, but also even absolutely necessary, because in this way we can understand because of whom: because of Fortune or because of ourselves, our life is more miserable. Indeed, while the cause of bodily ailments is Nature, vice and evil in the soul, firstly - the work of her own hands, and then - her illness. Therefore, we will greatly contribute to peace of mind if we try to heal the worst of the two, making it easier to bear and weakening the force of attacks.
II The fox at Aesop, arguing with the leopard who is more beautiful, so when he showed his body and especially the skin, surprisingly spotted, while the red fox skin was ugly, even unpleasant in appearance, the judge said:
Look inside me, judge
And you will find me much more variegated than it
And my diversity is more beautiful
, making it obvious to him the sophistication of his own soul, which took many forms if necessary. So that's it. Let's say here to ourselves: “O man! Your body undergoes many diseases and sufferings from its own nature, and in addition it receives from the outside. If you opened yourself from the inside, you would find, according to Democritus, a diverse and long-suffering repository and warehouse of misfortunes; they do not come from outside, but have, as it were, local and autochthonous sources arising from evil forces, which consist in abundant and varied passions. " Further, while bodily diseases are detected by pulse and redness of the skin, unusual heat and sudden pains, mental disorders are hidden from many of those who suffer from them and for this reason are a great evil, since they do not inform those about themselves. who suffers from them. The mind, being healthy, is aware of the illnesses of the body, but being struck by mental illnesses, it cannot make judgments about its own illnesses, because they affect the very part with which it judges. We must, therefore, recognize that the first and greatest of mental illnesses is the recklessness by which vice, having entered into indissoluble cohabitation with it, lives and dies with the majority of people. After all, the beginning of healing consists in understanding that you are sick, understanding that leads to the use of what is useful for you. ; but the one who does not recognize himself as sick ignores his own needs and although the medicine is in front of him, still rejects it. Likewise, among bodily diseases, the worst are those that are accompanied by clouding of consciousness - lethargy, severe headaches, epilepsy, apoplexy and those fevers that darken the mind and upset the senses by the force of inflammation, like a musical instrument “touching the strings of the heart. that no one has touched before. "
III Therefore, every doctor wishes, firstly, that a person is not sick, and secondly, if he is still sick, so that he does not remain in the dark about his illness, which happens with all mental illnesses. After all, when a person acts recklessly, lasciviously or unjustly, he does not think that he is doing wrong, and sometimes even thinks that he is right. After all, although no one calls fever "health", consumption - "excellent condition", does not call "swift-footed" gout, and those with an earthy complexion "possessing a fresh complexion", but many people call fervor "masculinity", unnatural love - " friendship ", envy -" competition ", and cowardice -" caution. " Further, the one who is sick in the body sends for a doctor, since he realizes who he needs to counteract his disease, but who is sick in his soul often avoids philosophers, because he thinks that he is doing well in those matters in which he is in fact mistaken. ... Following this logic, we come to the conclusion that poor vision is easier to endure than insanity, and gout is easier than inflammation of the brain. After all, a sick person is bodily aware of this and calls on a healer, and when he comes, he allows him to lubricate his eyes or open his veins; and on the contrary, you certainly heard about Agave, that the one seized with madness because of the riot of passion did not recognize the most dear offspring of her own womb and shouted:
We carry from Kiferon
Happy catch
This trophy is fresh,
Ivy brush to the palace.
The one who is physically ill, becomes complaisant, goes to bed and remains at rest until he is cured, and if it happens that when a fever comes to him, he restlessly rushes in bed and turns and turns, then one of those who sits with him , meekly says to him:
Lie unfortunate brother, you see nothing
and thus restrains and restrains him; those who suffer from mental illness become suddenly active, sometimes they are at rest. After all, the impulse is the beginning of an action, but in the soul that is in an abnormal state and the impulses are frantic. This is the reason why they do not allow the soul to remain at rest, but just when a person most of all needs peace, silence and rest, they cause irritation, draw into arguments, induce now to dirty love attraction, now to grief that breaks the heart. they are dragged away from home, forced to commit a lot of illegal acts and to talk a lot that is not appropriate to talk.
IV And like that storm that does not allow the ship to enter the port is more dangerous. than the one that does not allow him to sail, so those mental storms are more dangerous, which do not allow a person to restrain himself and calm the agitated mind, so that being without a helmsman and without an anchor chain, in confusion and wandering helplessly, he rushes headlong reckless and in a destructive way, until it suffers a terrible crash, in which it loses its own life. That is why it is also for this reason that it is worse to be sick in soul than in body; because that one. he who is sick with his body only suffers, the same one who suffers with his soul and behaves erroneously, that is why it is bad. But why list the many mental illnesses? The present case itself provides us with an opportunity. You see that huge and motley crowd that squeezes and jostles on the forum. After all, she gathered not for the sake of sacrifice to the paternal gods, not to participate in sacred ceremonies, not to bring Zeus of Askrae "the first fruit of the Lydian land harvest," not to celebrate in honor of Dionysus on sacred nights his secret feast with a common feast. But a mighty wind drove them together, and the annual circulation, stirring up Asia, drew them here to settle their lawsuits and litigations; and a great multitude of cases, like stormy streams, poured into one market square, where they boiled furiously, rushed together in a storm and "triumphant cries and mortal groans mingled together."

All suffering comes from desire

Question: I came from afar. I had some experience of inner experiences, and I would like to exchange impressions.

Maharaj: You are welcome. Do you know who you are?

V: I know that I am neither body nor mind.

M: How do you know this?

V: I feel like I am not in the body. It seems that I am everywhere, everywhere. As for the mind, I can turn it on and off. This gives me the feeling that I am not the mind.

M: When you feel like you are everywhere in the world, do you remain separate from the world? Or are you the world?

V: This and that. Sometimes I do not feel like my mind or body, but one single all-seeing eye. When I go deeper into it, I find that I have become what I see, then the world and I become one.

M: Very good. Do you still have any desires?

V: Yes, they come, short and shallow.

M: And what do you do with them?

V: What can I do? They come and go. I watch them. Sometimes I notice that my body and mind combine to perform them.

M: Whose wishes are being fulfilled?

V: They are part of the world I live in. They are like trees or clouds.

M: Aren't they a sign of imperfection?

V: Why should they be? They are who they are, and I am who I am. How can the appearance and disappearance of desires affect me? Of course, they affect the form and content of the mind.

M: Very good. What do you do?

V: I am supervising probationers.

M: What does it mean?

V: Juvenile offenders are released on probation, and there are special officers to monitor their behavior and help them get trained and find work.

M: Are you obligated to work?

V: Who works? The work just happens.

M: Do you need to work?

V: I need a job to make money. I like her because thanks to her I can communicate with people.

M: Why do you need people?

V: They may need me, it was their destinies that directed me to this job. After all, it’s just one life.

M: How did you come to this state?

V: The teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi showed me the way. Then I met a certain Douglas Harding, who helped me by showing me how to work with Who Am I?

M: Did it happen suddenly or gradually?

V: It happened quite suddenly. Like a returning memory of something long forgotten. Or as a sudden burst of understanding. Simple, I said to myself. - How simple. I am not what I thought I was! I am neither perceived nor perceiving, I am only perception. "

M: Not even perception, but what makes it all possible.

V: What is love?

M: When there is no sense of separation and difference, it can be called love.

V: Why is there so much tension in love between men and women?

M: Because happiness in such love is very important.

V: Isn't that so in all love?

M: Not necessary. Love can be painful. Then you call it compassion.

V: What is happiness?

M: Happiness is harmony between the inside and the outside. On the other hand, self-identification with external causes is suffering.

V: How does self-identification work?

M: I, by nature, know only myself. Due to the lack of experience, everything that it perceives, it takes for itself. Having received enough blows, it learns vigilance ( viveca) and loneliness ( vairagya). When the correct behavior ( uparati) becomes the norm, a strong inner urge ( mukmukshutva) makes him look for his source. The body candle is lit, and everything becomes clear and bright ( atmaprakash).

V: What is the real cause of suffering?

M: Self-identification with limited ( vyaktitva). Feelings as such, however strong they may be, are not the cause of suffering. It is a mind bewildered by misconceptions, clinging to the thought "I am this, I am that", fears loss, strives for gain and suffers when its expectations are not met.

V: A friend of mine had terrible nightmares night after night. The thought that it was time to sleep was agony. Nothing could help him.

M: Society of authentic ( satsang) could help him.

V: Life itself is a nightmare.

M: True friendship ( satsang) is the best medicine for all troubles, physical and mental.

V: Usually one cannot find such friendship.

M: Search inside. Your Self is your best friend.

V: Why is life so full of contradictions?

M: It is necessary to break the pride of the mind. We must understand how poor and powerless we are. As long as we deceive ourselves into imagining what we are, what we know, have, or do, our position is unenviable. Only in complete self-denial is there a chance to find our true being.

V: Why is self-denial so important?

M: The same as self-realization. The false self must be discarded, then the true self can be found.

V: The "I" you call false is painfully real to me. This is the only "I" that I know. What you call the true self is simply a concept, a way of speaking, a creation of a mind, an attractive ghost. I admit that my ordinary self is not beautiful, but it is my own and only self. You say that I am, or have, another “I”. Do you see him? Is it real to you, or do you want me to believe what you yourself do not see?

M: Take your time to make judgments. Concrete does not mean real, conceived does not mean false. Perception based on feelings and ordered by memory requires a perceiver whose nature you have never tried to explore. Give it all your attention, explore it with loving care, and you will discover such heights and depths of being that you, immersed in your insignificant image of yourself, never dreamed of.

V: I must be in the right frame of mind for my self-inquiry to bear fruit.

M: You have to be serious, determined, genuinely interested. You must be kind to yourself.

V: I'm selfish enough.

M: Not enough. You are constantly destroying yourself and your own, serving alien gods, harmful and false. Be selfish by all means, but in the right sense. Wish yourself what is good, work on what is good for you. Destroy everything that stands between you and happiness. Be everything - love everything - be happy - bring happiness. There is no greater happiness.

V: Why does love bring so much suffering?

M: All suffering comes from desires. True love never disappoints. How can a sense of oneness be disappointing? What can be frustrating is the desire for expression. This desire comes from the mind. As with all mental things, disappointment is inevitable here.

V: What is the place of sex in love?

M: Love is a state of being. Sex is energy. Love is wise, sex is blind. If you understand the true nature of love and sex, then there will be no conflicts or misunderstandings.

V: But there is so much sex without love around.

M: Without love, everything is evil. Life itself without love is evil.

V: What can help me love?

M: You are love itself when you are not afraid.

SUFFERING

SUFFERING

Disease, bitterness, sorrow, fear, anxiety. S. in philosophy is most often viewed in two aspects: as a necessary lot of a person, since he is susceptible to disease, aging, death; as the only possible way to transformation, to personal improvement.
In Judeo-Christian religious S. there is divine punishment for sins. The life of most people, according to A. Schopenhauer, beats between two poles: S. and boredom. S. arises from unsatisfied desires, but when desires are satisfied, boredom sets in. Whatever it gives, whatever it gives, whoever we are and whatever we own, we cannot spare the S. inherent in life. It is no coincidence that S. fall on the lot of a person, it only depends on the case, only which one they accept. All fiction testifies, according to Schopenhauer, that S. has negative, not positive, it never depicts final or permanent happiness, but only S. on the way to it.
M. Eckhart wrote about the positive character of S., believing that S. is the fastest animal that will take you to perfection. S. is the love of God for man. A person must suffer in order to be a person. Man, F.M. Dostoevsky must be deeply unhappy, then he will be happy. Only S. reveals human nature; after going through the test of freedom, through S. through, a person is revealed in the bottomless complexity of his being, the antinomic and character of his nature is revealed. The same ideas were received in the philosophy of F. Nietzsche, who believed that a creature and a creator live in each person, each has clay, dirt, nonsense, a person suffers by necessity and must suffer in order to become a creator from a creature, temper, shape and “ burn yourself, achieve the hardness of the hammer. Compassion is closely connected with S., which is the basis of Christian morality - through a person it is purified, overcomes its own animal. Compassion is also a direct mystical penetration into someone else's I. However, with t.zr. Nietzsche, compassion belittles the human, belittles the person. A person who tries to forge a person out of himself is not worthy of compassion, but love. Compassion, according to Nietzsche, is a trait of slave morality.

Philosophy: Encyclopedic Dictionary. - M .: Gardariki. Edited by A.A. Ivina. 2004 .

SUFFERING

enduring, activities; states of pain, illness, grief, sadness, fear, longing, anxiety. The question of meaning (purpose, justification) S. not possible with t. sp. antique worldview. C. falls to the lot of a person according to a law indifferent to dep. face (rock), therefore, compassion was not included in the list of traditions. antique virtues, the Stoics called it a vicious passion to be overcome. Within the framework of Judeo-Christ. religion tradition that considered human events. life as a result of personal relationships between man and the supreme principle, S. was interpreted as deities. punishment for sins (redemption) as a property of the imperfect world of creations. Old Testament S. negative (S. - evidence of the abandonment of the person from whom he turned away); according to the New Testament, the atoning sacrifice of Christ gives S. the pledge of salvation; Wed-century. christ. mysticism evaluates S. as a sign of God's love for man. In Christianity, compassion acts as a universal. relationship to the world, from which flows to the neighbor. Rationalism of modern times declares S. to be a consequence of inadequate knowledge (Sinoza, Leibniz)... Compassion is rated differently depending on whether it is seen as selfish. basis (Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza) or considered as genuine (F. Hutcheson, Hume, A. Smith, Russo)... From Kant's point of view, compassion has a limit. moral value: how humanity it should be cultivated, but in itself it is not free, passive, irrational, "legal", i.e. does not contradict the requirements of morality, but blindly, unreasonably, and therefore immoral. Being "unhappy consciousness", according to Hegel, turns out to be pain also due to own. lack of clarity: striving for self-affirmation, it vainly and mistakenly seeks it in its empirical (transitory) rather than true (general) singularity. Bourges. he considers the harmony between the individual and the universal to be an unscrupulous illusion; unity is replaced by the postulate of incompatibility of universal and individual, temporary and bodily being. Creatures. unenlightened, S., poverty and misery arising from the incompleteness of the essence of man are recognized as characteristics of individual life. Adhering to such t. sp., Schopenhauer declares compassion as the basis of morality, believing that “morals. spring "must be" empirical ", i.e. strongly and directly acting and overcoming powerful selfish. motivation. He sees in compassion a mystical experience. penetration into someone else's "I", merging with him, leading to the knowledge of the identity of all things. For Spengler, S. acts as the content of true spirituality: in this sense, he speaks of longing and fear living in the soul of a child and an artist. S.'s value is emphasized by Kierkegaard. Nietzsche values ​​S. as the greatness of the soul and rejects compassion as a depressive state that belittles life. In existentialism, "true being", "existence" is revealed through S. ("" Heidegger, "" Jaspers).

Marxism, revealing the source of social disasters in class antagonistic. formations, exposes apo-logetic. the orientation of the concepts that mystify S. and attribute to him an irresistible character. At the same time rejects the irresponsible optimistic. utopia of universal happiness and opens up the prospect of a real struggle for just societies. a device in which a person finds himself as the creator of his own destiny. The Marxist-Leninist, highly appreciating the moral requirement of compassion, opposes its absolutization, its transformation into a principle divorced from the conditions of the class struggle and real social relations.

Map k with K. and Engels F., Holy Family, Op., T. 2; Essay on the history of ethics, M., 1969; Averintsev S.S., Humiliation and, in his book: Poetics of the Early Byzantine. literature, M., 1977; Jaspers K., Psychologie des Weltanschauungen, B. 19222; Menshing G., Die Bedeutung des Leidens im Buddhismus und Christentum, B., 19302.

Philosophical Encyclopedic Dictionary. - M .: Soviet encyclopedia. Ch. edition: L. F. Ilyichev, P. N. Fedoseev, S. M. Kovalev, V. G. Panov. 1983 .

SUFFERING

physical or moral, torment: states of grief, fear, anxiety, melancholy. Within Christ. religious tradition, which considered the events of individual life as a result of the relationship between man and God, suffering acted as divine punishment for sins (atonement). At the same time, suffering is a means of deliverance from sin, moral improvement and salvation, i.e. ; According to the Gospel, Christ's atoning sacrifice gives suffering the meaning of a guarantee of salvation, and compassion acts as a universal relationship to the world, from which the commandment of love for one's neighbor flows. For Schopenhauer, morality is based on compassion, in which the strong overcomes powerful selfish impulses. He sees in compassion a direct penetration into someone else's I, merging with him, leading to the knowledge of the identity of all that exists. According to Spengler, suffering is the criterion and content of true spirituality; according to Nietzsche, it is a means to the greatness of the soul. In existentialism existence(existence) is revealed through suffering ("fear" in Heidegger,"Borderline situations" at Jaspers).

Philosophical Encyclopedic Dictionary. 2010 .

SUFFERING

SUFFERING is the opposite of activity; a state of pain, illness, grief, sadness, fear, longing and anxiety. The idea of ​​the suffering of living beings included in an endless chain of rebirth (samsara) underlies the tradition of ancient Indian speculation, primarily Buddhism (the so-called “four noble truths” of Buddha), which considers the main psychological cause of suffering to be the emotional attachment of a person to transient things and the path to overcoming suffering and liberation from samsara in achieving detachment and dispassion. For the ancient perception of the world about the meaning (goal, justification), suffering is almost impossible (compare, however, Aeschylus that through suffering Zeus teaches a person wisdom). Suffering falls to the lot of a person according to the law, indifferent to the individual (fate). Classical antique philosophical follows the ideal of “equanimity of spirit”. So, Socrates seeks, even in the face of mortal danger, not to humiliate himself by doing something “slavish” (Plato. Apology of Socrates 38 d). The same is expressed in Aristotle's definition of the cathartic essence of tragedy, which presupposes the purification of such affects “through compassion and fear” (Aristotle. On the art of poetry 1449 b).

Within the framework of the Judeo-Christian religious tradition, suffering was interpreted as divine punishment for sins, as an indispensable part of the imperfect created world. The Old Testament experience of suffering is negative (suffering is evidence of a person's being forsaken by God). In Christianity, Christ's atoning sacrifice makes suffering a guarantee of salvation. The most terrible thing is the martyrdom of Christ - the core of Christian hope. The Apostle Paul states: “... we preach Christ crucified, a temptation for the Jews, for the Greeks ...” (1 Cor. 1:23). All human suffering, from betrayal to being forsaken by God, is concentrated in the Passion of Christ. The redemptive is that suffering that is given to Christ, that is, compassion, since he united the torments of all people. Those who are tormented by suffering, through faith, enter through compassion into the saving sacrament of the Passion of Christ. The paradox of faith, becoming in Augustine the basis of the historiosophical doctrine, leads to the synthesis of the dogmas of free will and the providential presence of God in the life of people filled with eyaa and suffering, in the history of the "city of the earth." As a result, the direction of a single historical process is affirmed, in which the providential spiritual and social crisis and the death of Rome and the ancient world as a whole, as well as the associated human suffering, are revealed. From the point of view of Augustine, it is opened by the sacrifice of Christ, which gave the starting point of reference for the New time. In the light of the New Testament, history appears as directed towards the salvation of man; it contains the direction of following-ascent, in which God is, man is the way (Augustine. About the City of God, XI, 2). Medieval Christian mysticism regards suffering as a sign of God's love for man: “Suffering is the horse that will most quickly bring us to perfection,” says Meister Eckhart. Later, Luther, opposing Erasmus of Rotterdam (who believed that the freedom of man himself “can remain correct”, since “reason is obscured [by sin], but not extinguished”), insists on the incommensurability of divine providential reason and human rational choice and will, and thus - on the mystery-redemptive meaning of suffering: “If I could somehow comprehend how this merciful and just God reveals so much anger and injustice to us, then there would be no need for faith. Now, when this cannot be understood, it is precisely teaching the faith that must be preached and proclaimed. Namely, when God kills, He teaches faith in life. "

Rationalism of modern times declares suffering to be a consequence of inadequate knowledge (Spinoza, Leibniz). Compassion is assessed differently depending on whether it is seen as an egoistic basis (Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza) or viewed as a genuine feeling (F. Hutcheson, D. Hume, A. Smith, utilitarianism, Rousseau). For Kant, compassion has limited moral value: as a duty to

his dexterity should be cultivated, but in itself it is not free, passive, irrational, “legal”, that is, it does not contradict the requirements of morality, but blindly, unreasonably, and therefore immoral.

However, even in the 2nd floor. 18th century reassessment of suffering is outlined. This is due, in particular, to overcoming the ban on mimetic reproduction in poetry of the ugly, disgusting and terrible, for example, predatory animals and corpses, as something in which “our soul does not see ... any admixture of pleasure” (Lessing. Laocoon, XXIV-XXV). But already in “Werther” by Goethe, in the description of the hero's suicide, this binding-normative scheme of mimesis occurs: “When the doctor came to the unfortunate man, he found him hopeless; the pulse was still beating, all limbs were paralyzed. He shot himself in the head above his right eye; the brain leaked out. He had copious bloodletting from his hand. The blood was flowing, he was still breathing. "

Schopenhauer emphasizes the redemptive meaning of suffering, declaring compassion as the basis of morality. At the same time, he believes that the “moral spring” must be “empirical”, that is, strongly and directly acting and overcoming powerful egoistic impulses. He sees in compassion the experience of mystical direct penetration into someone else's “I”, merging with him, leading to the knowledge of the identity of all that exists. Beggars regard suffering as a condition of spiritual greatness, although they deprive it of any redemptive meaning and reject compassion as a depressive state that diminishes the value of life. In existentialism, the structure of “true being”, “existence,” is revealed through suffering (Heidegger's “fear”, Jaspers’s “borderline situations”). Experience of the 20th century. makes unpopular the naive early bourgeois and hedonism, which saw a kind of misunderstanding in suffering. The unclear suffering of an “absurd” person who has lost himself (an absurdity, according to Camus, is “a state of mind when emptiness becomes eloquent, when the chain of everyday actions is broken, and the heart seeks in vain for the lost link”) becomes the initial intuition of philosophy and art. In modern culture, finite human existence “is given as the experience of death ... an unthinkable thought” (M. Foucault). One of the essential characteristics of postmodern culture is fear of the future and of making a decision, since the cultural scientific and technical civilization is being lost.

Lit .: Essay on the history of ethics. M., 1969; Schweitzer A. Culture and. M., 1973; Averintsev S. S. Humiliation and dignity of man. - In the book: He. Poetics of early Byzantine literature. M., 1977; Lewis KS Suffering. M "1991; Suffering, - In the book: Dictionary of Biblical Theology. Brussels, 1990; Kozlowski P. Postmodern culture: social and cultural consequences of technical development. M., 1997; Guard "iniR. Das Ende der Neuzeit. Basel (Hess), 1950; Jaspers K. Psychologie der Weltanschauungen. B., 1922; Mensching G. Die Bedeutung des Leidens im Buddhismus und Christentum. B., 1930.

A.A. Chanyshev

New Encyclopedia of Philosophy: In 4 vols. M .: Thought. Edited by V.S.Stepin. 2001 .

See what "SUFFERING" is in other dictionaries:

See illness to drain the bowl of suffering ... Dictionary of Russian synonyms and expressions similar in meaning. under. ed. N. Abramova, M .: Russian dictionaries, 1999. suffering disease; pain, hard labor, torture, ditty, ordeal, gnashing of teeth, torment, torment, cross ... Synonym dictionary

Mystery of feelings * Remembrance * Desire * Dream * Pleasure * Loneliness * Waiting * Fall * Memory * Victory * Defeat * Glory * Conscience * Passion * Superstition * Respect * ... Consolidated encyclopedia of aphorisms

SUFFERING, suffering, cf. Torment, physical or mental pain. Physical suffering. Moral suffering. "Three days of terrible suffering and death." L. Tolstoy. "Your beauty, your suffering disappeared in the coffin urn." Pushkin. "An excess of tears and ... ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

The wisest person is the one who does not forget

suffering and anguish even during the greatest fun.

Chinese proverb

Suffering as a quality of personality - a tendency to manifestation, expression of painful sensations, experiences, physical or moral torment, pain, anguish.

Once the disciples asked a question to their wise Teacher: - Why are most people so unhappy?- They are unhappy mainly because they take pleasure in their suffering.... - answered the Teacher. And he told them the story of how he once spent a whole night awake on the train. Its place was on the top shelf, and a woman lay below and moaned endlessly: - I am so thirsty ... How thirsty I am ... God, I am so thirsty! .. Oh, how I thirsty ... After several hours of such lamentations, the Teacher could not stand it. He went downstairs and went to the guide for water. A few minutes later, he was already handing the sufferer a large bottle of water. - Madam, I brought you water.—Oh thank you sir. I'm very grateful to you. God bless you. The teacher scrambled onto his shelf, made himself comfortable, and had just begun to plunge into slumber, when the lamentations rang out again: - Oh, how I was thirsty ... How I was thirsty ... Oh God, I was so thirsty ...

We live on a planet where happiness and suffering are almost equal. The naive one who hopes to live a life without suffering. For this it was necessary to incarnate on the higher planets, where there is more happiness than suffering. Suffering purifies a person. It breaks and maims some, while it hardens and elevates others. But the sum total of suffering is the purification of consciousness. There is a Latin saying: “Quae nocent docent. What torments, teaches. " Leo Tolstoy generally asserted that "The world is moving forward thanks to those who suffer."

Man is doomed to suffer. How else? In the material world of desires, pleasures and pleasures, it is difficult to cope with insatiable feelings, a lustful mind and a false ego, preoccupied with their prestige, striving to be the coolest, envious of those who have more money, wealth, happiness. Arthur Schopenhauer wrote: "A man possessed by desires and aspirations is doomed to suffering." The same Schopenhauer became the author of the thought: “Suffering is a condition for the activity of a genius. Do you think that Shakespeare and Goethe would create or Plato would philosophize, and Kant would criticize reason if they found satisfaction and contentment in the real world around them and if they felt good in it and their desires were fulfilled? Only after we have, to a certain extent, a disagreement with the real world and discontent with it, we turn for satisfaction to the world of thought. "

The source of suffering is the mind and body, and the former sometimes cause much greater suffering than the physical pain of the body. When a person realizes the regularity and necessity of suffering, he becomes happy, even in the moment of suffering. He understands that in times of suffering new discoveries await him, some new outlook on the world.

Having received a new experience as a result of suffering, a person becomes happier. A person who understands that at the moment of suffering there is no need to be disappointed, despair, fall into depression and come out of it, at best broken, and often completely broken by fate, comes out of the black strip illuminated and enlightened with new knowledge and understanding of life. If this happens, it means that the exam of life has been passed perfectly. It is a great sin to mock and scoff at other people's suffering.

Suffering is always alongside happiness. Happiness is also an exam. Good luck. For example, he received an inheritance, won in a casino, got a promotion, defended his dissertation. A person has the illusion that this will continue throughout his life. He begins to rejoice uncontrollably. The trouble is that a person gets used to joy. The more he gets used to joy, the more severe the subsequent suffering will be. And it will definitely be. When a person is at the peak of happiness, he thinks: - This is happiness. It is finished! Now I will be happy forever. Illusion. He must understand that it will not be better, most likely, there is suffering ahead. Happiness, like a wave, rolls in and rolls back. Nectar is poison, nectar is poison.

It is about the same with suffering: a lot of suffering, peak, peak. Then life becomes easier. It must always be remembered that the darkest hours are before dawn. Angel de Kuatier writes in The Golden Section: “Many years ago I came to my Master. I was young and stupid then, as you are now. I was only seventeen years old, and I was already a sufferer - exhausted and embittered with life. My Master was then seventy, and he laughed just like that, for no reason. I asked him: "How do you do it?" And he replied: “I am free in my choice. And this is my choice. Every morning, when I open my eyes, I ask myself: "Which will you choose today - bliss or suffering?" And so it turns out that since then, every morning I choose bliss. But this is so natural! "

In a word, intense suffering, like intense happiness, is an examination for the maturity of a person. Moreover, unlike happiness, suffering is a gentle exam. Happiness does not spare, it is a terrible test of life. Why? In moments of happiness, a person stops thinking about the meaning of his life. He doesn't give a damn about everything, he feels good anyway, he is well fed here too, he has no problems. Why think about further development, personal growth, self-improvement? Better to watch TV series Love Love, Deadly Murder, or The Dead Don't Sweat.

Anecdotes in the topic.

Two friends met: - How did you lose weight - one exclaims. - My husband is cheating on me, I suffer so much, I suffer so much. - Well, divorce him! - I can't, I need to lose three more kilograms.

The fortune-teller lays out the cards and says to the client: - Oh! Until the age of fifty you will suffer from a lack of money. '' `` And then? '' And then you will get used to it.

There are people who cannot live without suffering. In the novel A View from Eternity, Alexandra Marinina writes: “Our Lelya does not want to do anything, she only wants to be extraordinary and suffer, this is what she really likes. Look how much free time she has! She could help her mother with the housework, she could take care of her grandfather, could, in the end, help Larisa with the baby, she would only be grateful to her. Lelya could do all this and feel her need, usefulness, but she? He enjoys his uselessness and lack of demand, because this is another reason to suffer. So at least take Vadim: after all, she still dreams of this man and devotes poetry to him! Well this is incomprehensible to the mind! Although, wait a minute, - Stone frowned, - something doesn't add up here.

- Like what? - She doesn't know Vadim at all, if you believe Voron and you. It is not known how he relates to art, whether he loves poetry, whether he is subtle. How can you suffer for it? What if he is as stupid and primitive as everyone else in her eyes?

- So this is the meaning of suffering, how can you not understand! - exclaimed the Serpent with annoyance. - Lelya has been in love with him since childhood. At the same time, he does not know anything about him and, most importantly, does not want to know. She is afraid of this knowledge. What if it turns out not to be what she dreamed of it for herself? While she does not know anything about him, he can remain for her a beautiful prince, whom you can dream of day and night, but how does he not live up to expectations? What should she do then? Who to dream of? For whom to suffer?

- Do you think? - the Stone asked doubtfully. - Sure. If I was wrong, she would have met him long ago. After all, how many times they collided at the entrance, on the stairs, in the courtyard of the house - you can't count! And Vadim, since he is a well-mannered guy, always smiled at her. - And she? - She lowers her eyes and passes by. But what does it pass - slips by like a stung, instead of saying hello and talking! Hence the conclusion: she is not looking for acquaintances, but suffering at a distance. "

At any time: both when happy and when you suffer, you need to remember your duty, fulfillment of your duties, selfless service to people.

A man died and went to God's judgment. For a long time God looked at him in bewilderment and thoughtfully was silent. The man could not resist and asked: - Lord, what about my share? Why are you silent? I deserve the kingdom of heaven. I suffered! The man declared with dignity. - And since when, - God was surprised, - suffering began to be considered merit? “I wore a hair shirt and a cord,” the man frowned stubbornly. - I ate bran and dry peas, did not drink anything but water, did not touch women. I exhausted my body with fasting and prayers ... - So what? - said God. - I understand that you suffered - but for what exactly did you suffer? “For your glory,” the man replied without hesitation. - I get a pretty glory! - the Lord grinned sadly. - So I am starving the sea of ​​people, forcing them to wear all kinds of rags and depriving them of the joys of love? Silence hung around ... God still gazed at the man thoughtfully. - So what about my share? - the man reminded of himself. “I suffered, you say,” God said quietly. - How can I explain to you so that you understand ... Here, for example, the carpenter that was in front of you. All his life he built houses for people, in the heat and cold, and sometimes starved, and often fell on his fingers, through this he suffered. But he still built houses. And then he received his honestly earned wages. And you, it turns out, all your life did nothing but hammer on your fingers with a hammer. God was silent for a moment ... - And where is the house? Where is the house, I ask?

Petr Kovalev 2015