FROM PAIN TO POSSIBILITY
Can you imagine a world with no suffering? What would that look like? Would everyone be joyous all of the time? No tears or pain. No one feeling alone. It sounds like “heaven.” Doesn’t it?
The eternal question is: “If God exists, then why is there so much suffering in the world?” We’ve all asked this question at some point in our lives.
Setting aside the question of God’s existence, let’s examine this idea of a world with no suffering. In his book, Tantra Illuminated, Christopher D. Wallis shares a parable called The Dream Machine. I’m paraphrasing but it goes something like this…
Imagine that you have complete control over your life. There are no nasty surprises. No health problems. Your spouse is perfect. Your children are angels. Nothing happens without your permission. Therefore, nothing bad ever happens. You never experience pain or suffering. You have a life of leisure doing anything you want to do.
You accomplish everything you can dream of. After a while, you run out of real-life challenges; which, let’s face it, aren’t really challenges because you have complete control at all times. You become disillusioned. You get bored and lose your enthusiasm for living.
Now, imagine that, one day, a machine appears out of nowhere. You’re surprised because you didn’t put it there. It’s the first surprise you’ve ever had in your life. The machine has a big button on it. Beside the machine is a sign that says: “If you push this button, anything can happen. You may experience beautiful, incredible joys and passion. You may experience intense, agonizing pain and suffering. Probably, you will experience both. After pushing the button, you will not remember your life before. As Christopher D. Wallis says: “You will be plunged into a world of infinite possibilities.”
Now, you’re faced with a choice. What will you do? Or more correctly, how long will you wait … before you push the button?
When I read this parable, I knew that I’d pause only for a second before pushing the button. Others might take a little long but it is just a matter of time before we’d all push the magic button.
“We will always ultimately choose freedom and the full range of possibilities it includes, even if it means suffering.” – Christopher D. Wallis
Now, let’s go even further with this parable. Let’s imagine that before you or I were born, we were faced with the same choice. Every single one of us pushed the magic button. We chose adventure! But we also chose suffering. We chose the lives that we now have; lives of joy, passion, pain, and hardships. Imagine that each of us was given the opportunity to forget about the life we had and experience an incredible new life of wonderful and horrible “infinite” possibilities.
Would we then see suffering as a gift, like joy? What if every difficult and every amazing experience we’ve ever had was a gift so that we could experience the infinite possibilities of our lives?
In Tantra Illuminated, Christopher tells us that the most painful moments of our lives are gifts because they give us opportunities to wake up from our suffering. Instead of judging each aspect of our lives as good or bad, we can see our most difficult challenges they same way we see our most glorious triumphs. They are all part of the wonder of life; this magical place where anything can happen. And when it comes down to it, our hardest moments are the ones that shape us into who we ultimately become. They show us how strong we are and they teach us important lessons. Is it possible under such circumstances to be grateful for our suffering? And in so doing, doesn’t suffering then cease to exist? For if I’m grateful for it, then it cannot really be called suffering anymore.
Now that I’ve gotten all philosophical on you, I hope that the parable of The Dream Machine opens your mind the way it did mine. I’d love to hear your comments and feedback.
Love Annie
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