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Buddhist advice on how to live with physical discomfort and pain
Disclaimer
This is a summary I wrote for myself on how to deal with physical sensations that accompany dry eye. I know that following this advice might not be easy and takes time to internalise. While it is inspired by Buddhist philosophy (see reference below), it is not inteded as religious propaganda and might be helpful to somebody independent of his or her beliefs (in fact, it is astonishing how many similarities exist between Christianity and Buddhism). Don't simply accept anything you read but think critically about it, do your research and form your own opinion.
Buddhist advice on how to live with physical discomfort and pain
1) Out of compassion for yourself and others who want you to be well, you should get the best possible treatment for the underlying disease and employ all reasonable ways to alleviate your pain.
Enduring pain that could be alleviated does not help anybody.
2) Focus your attention on other, more helpful aspects of your experience to fade out pain. If pain enters the center of your consciousness, recognise it as “just a physical sensation”, let go of it and re-focus your attention.
For example, if you are working on a computer and you start to experience eye pain, acknowledge the pain and shift your focus again to the content of your work. Using your attention, you can change the volume of specific sensations. For instance, you can spend a whole day without once noticing that you are breathing. Or you can pay full attention to your breathing and intensely experience it. You can use this mechanism to turn down the volume of your pain.
3) Mindfully observe the negative thoughts and emotions the pain creates and let go of them.
Pain can generate negative emotions such as self-pity, anger, frustration and fear. These increase the suffering the pain causes and are often just as or even more disturbing than the physical sensations themselves. By letting go of these emotions, you don't let the pain affect your mind and feel better as a result.
4) Contemplate the ways in which pain can strengthen your character by helping you to develop positive qualities such as compassion, humility and equanimity.
For example, feeling pain can teach you humility as it makes you aware that there are things you cannot change and that you are mortal. This can be positive because it helps you to overcome arrogance and consequently become more connected to other people (see my thread on the benefits of dry eye).
Inspired by Bhikkhu Bodhi: “Pain but not suffering” in “The Best Buddhist Writing 2008”.
This is a summary I wrote for myself on how to deal with physical sensations that accompany dry eye. I know that following this advice might not be easy and takes time to internalise. While it is inspired by Buddhist philosophy (see reference below), it is not inteded as religious propaganda and might be helpful to somebody independent of his or her beliefs (in fact, it is astonishing how many similarities exist between Christianity and Buddhism). Don't simply accept anything you read but think critically about it, do your research and form your own opinion.
Buddhist advice on how to live with physical discomfort and pain
1) Out of compassion for yourself and others who want you to be well, you should get the best possible treatment for the underlying disease and employ all reasonable ways to alleviate your pain.
Enduring pain that could be alleviated does not help anybody.
2) Focus your attention on other, more helpful aspects of your experience to fade out pain. If pain enters the center of your consciousness, recognise it as “just a physical sensation”, let go of it and re-focus your attention.
For example, if you are working on a computer and you start to experience eye pain, acknowledge the pain and shift your focus again to the content of your work. Using your attention, you can change the volume of specific sensations. For instance, you can spend a whole day without once noticing that you are breathing. Or you can pay full attention to your breathing and intensely experience it. You can use this mechanism to turn down the volume of your pain.
3) Mindfully observe the negative thoughts and emotions the pain creates and let go of them.
Pain can generate negative emotions such as self-pity, anger, frustration and fear. These increase the suffering the pain causes and are often just as or even more disturbing than the physical sensations themselves. By letting go of these emotions, you don't let the pain affect your mind and feel better as a result.
4) Contemplate the ways in which pain can strengthen your character by helping you to develop positive qualities such as compassion, humility and equanimity.
For example, feeling pain can teach you humility as it makes you aware that there are things you cannot change and that you are mortal. This can be positive because it helps you to overcome arrogance and consequently become more connected to other people (see my thread on the benefits of dry eye).
Inspired by Bhikkhu Bodhi: “Pain but not suffering” in “The Best Buddhist Writing 2008”.
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