ekkentros free thoughts -pain

Prof. Mohanan Nair: While the perception of pain is highly variable among individuals, the increase as also the decrease in the degree of pain is determined not only by the intensity of the stimulus but also by psychological factors. For example, the pain of crucifixion should be excruciating, but Jesus could not have certainly felt it so, because, moved by love, he was sacrificing himself for the salvation of humanity. The poem ‘The night of the Scorpion’ by Ezekiel in a lesser way speaks of the pain endured by a mother. The poet’s mother was stung by a scorpion on a rainy night. The superstitious villagers sat around her with the peace of understanding on each face. They said that the pain of the sting would burn away the sins of her previous birth and would reduce the sufferings of her next birth. It may also purify her flesh of desire and her spirit of ambition. The poet’s father, a skeptic and a rationalist, tried ‘every powder, mixture, herb and hybrid’. However when after twenty hours the sting was lost the poet’s mother only said, ‘thank God, the scorpion picked on me and spared my children’. That is love for her children! True love for others is one factor that reduces the pain.
Great artistic creations invite lot of pain and heartache. God knows how much mental pain and agony Shakespeare would have endured in writing his great tragedies. Such things could be written with the artiste’s total involvement only – the detachment of the self is not possible. Once it is finished it relieves the artist of the pain and exhaustion of creation. He feels excited as the mother who had delivered the child. The audience on the other hand identify themselves with the tragic heroes and share their pain and agony. This raises them morally and spiritually to a higher level by purifying their feelings.
But there is the physical and mental pain from which the sufferer never gets relief. The other day I saw a picture of a living martyr on the front page of a leading daily. It is that of a young man who was hit by a bullet in the neck twelve years ago which paralyzed him completely. The columns speaks about his immense courage and says that his faith in the political party would console him and relieve him of his pain. I do not know. I know only one thing. He has a long life to live, but cannot do it by himself. He is condemned to suffer physical and mental pain all through his life. This is not an isolated case. There are hundreds like him – the victims of politics.
I also think sometimes of the cruelty of children and the consequent mental pain endured by the parent, who in the evening of his life is entrusted to the care of old age homes. Imagine his mental pain and agony especially when he knows that he is to be kept frozen in the mortuary for a few days, sometimes even a week.
Dr. Babu: This reminds me of the Malayalam picture ‘Thingalarscha Nalladivasam’ Monday is auspicious. On that auspicious day when the mother is dumped by her children in the old age home in order to sell the ancestral house, she collapses and dies of shock.
Prof. Sankarankutty: In a community, the pain of an individual is a common pain shared by all members. Individual pain thus get shared and lessened. It is part of the tribal culture inherited by other communities. It had certain sanctity. Now with the alienation of the individual from the community, he has to bear the burden of the whole pain himself.
Sri. Kumhikrishnan: A bereavement for example, is of course shared by the community. The sharing is possible only in respect of the psychological or mental pain. But what about the physical pain? It has to be born by the individual only.
As far as the mental part is concerned there is a remedy in meditation. Inward looking can slowly eliminate any mental pain as it arises by practice. But physical pain is unavoidable?
Dr. Babu: For every physical pain there is a mental component. If the mental component is eliminated, the physical part also should disappear to certain extent. After all, all perception of pain is through the brain/mind.
Dr. Sanjeev: Pain is meant to be a protective mechanism. But in the case of diseases like leprosy all sensation is lost. The message is not carried to the brain. The mechanism does not therefore work. The physical pain is not felt.
Dr. Babu: Even where there is pain and sensation is not lost, if the nerves carrying the pain signals are blocked before it reaches the areas of the brain, no pain can be felt. But the mental discomfort or agony may still be there. The question arises, should one get trained to get rid of pain?
Dr. Sadanandan: When one is hungry one has to move to eat something. When one is thirsty he has to drink. Similarly when he is in pain he has to do something to get rid of it. Take medicines, go to a doctor, take rest etc. When one is suffering from psychological pain, what can one do? Go hunting for some ideas or ideology? Can some idea, ideology or faith help get rid of the mental agony? One should look at the whole mechanism and try to understand. Be with the fact of pain.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: For everybody there is a certain threshold of pain. It varies from individual to individual. But it is also possible to change the threshold by certain methods and training. Experiments have shown that the threshold can be brought down and the pain reduced.