Seeing is Believing-IV

What is common among: Neuro-linguistic-programming, Native American Shamans, Hypno-therapy, Transcendental Meditation, Third wave behaviorists, Sadhana of Antony Demello and Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev?

All of them effectively make use of fantasy exercise. First seeing things in mind (believing and in the virtual world), then realizing them in real world (in the material world). Fantasy exercise is nothing but day-dreaming with a mission.

All of us enjoy day dreaming. I don’t think that I would have gone through long years of education without the help of day dreaming. I could pass through schools and colleges without breaking down or without any serious mental depression, just because of day dreaming. Boring lectures and unwanted books could not damage me because I was not listening to them.

I never bunked a class mainly for two reasons; (1) I did not have the guts and (2) I made use of them for day dreaming.

In fact, day dreaming is the biggest shield against the inevitable mundane and repetitive activities in our life. The biggest gift of day dreaming is that you can do anything you want without being caught. Police can’t arrest, the judge won’t punish and parents will have no clue about what we are up to.

But for our mind, there is no difference between fantasy and reality. Whether you are looking at a dog on a street or remembering a dog in the fantasy, it is same neurons which get activated in the brain. So the unconscious mind creates opportunities to fulfill whatever we see in the mind, provided there is a burning desire and intensity connected with the fantasy we visualize.

Following steps are the effective ways to create the result we want in our life. Take time and go through the steps seriously, it takes less than 15 minutes in the first time, repeat it twice a day for three days, after that just once a day till you achieve what you want. When you repeat the exercise, it will take less than three minutes only.

Step 1: Know what is that you truly want. It can be a short term goal or a long term need. First you take a short term goal for the exercise. Once you get it successfully, you can go for a long term or bigger goal and do the exercise. About  a  hundred  years  ago  Dr  Wallace Wattles  said  “Thought  is  the  only  power  which  can  produce tangible  riches  from  the  Formless  Substance”. His idea is still valid.

Step 2: Train your mind to think in a correct way. Doubts regarding what you want will arise in the mind. The subconscious mind will put forward all types of arguments, since it retains everything that has happened to you. Do not suppress them, do not reject them, and do not accept them, all you have to do is observe them without any judgment. Then focus yourself on what you want.

Step 3: Write down on a clear piece of paper your definite mission statement:  what  do  you  want,  by  what  time  do  you  want  and how do you plan  to achieve  it. Be as precise as possible.  If you want a 10 lakh rupees,  write “I am going to accumulate 10 lakh rupees by  31^st,   December  20--,  I  am  going  to  earn  this  money  (by doing)…  I  am  going  to  use  this  money…  (for  making  my  life better  or  helping  other  people  etc)…  And  I  am  going  to  do whatever it takes, no matter what to accumulate this money.”

If you do not know the way in which you are going get the money, do not worry, just keep it aside. As days pass by, your mind will eventually come up with the right strategy.

Then create a  detailed,  solid,  foolproof  plan  on  how  you  are going  to  achieve  your mission  statement. Remember when  you make  a  definite  decision  to  bring  about  a  change  backed  by  a burning  desire,  you  are  only  tapping  into  a  strong  current  of infinite possibilities. The whole universe will conspire to help you but you will need to have a detailed and organized plan on how you wish to bring about this change. A detailed plan will give you the mental road map of where your destination is going to be. It will also give you a reality check on whether you are truly making progress or simply going about in circles.  Have  a  time  frame, have  a  clear  vision  of  your  outcome,  and  chart  a  step  by  step road map  on  how  to  get  there.

Step 4: you accept and believe that whatever you want to have already happened and thank your higher spiritual power for that (Can be God or Nature or anybody – parents, mentors). When you do this, visualize the goal as if you have received it. Make it more colorful, see yourself rejoicing.

Step 5: Write down on the diary regarding what is your emotional state today, what have you done, what were the successes, what were the failures, how does today fit into your overall mission of reaching your goal?

Seeing is Believing - III

“When  we  walk  to  the  edge  of  all  the  light  that  we  have  and  take  a  step  into  the darkness of the unknown, we must believe one of two things will happen: there will be something solid for us to stand on, or we will be taught to fly”
                    - Frank Outlaw

It is time to revisit the Spinoza’s claim ‘Seeing is Believing’ and reframe it as ‘Believing is Seeing’.

The king was sitting on his decorated chariot, and the annual procession of the king started. Millions of people gathered on the roadsides and were shouting slogans in the praise of the king.

A young man, with his friend, too came to participate in the procession. Witnessing the majestic appearance of the king, he wanted to get his attention, hence he shouted, “Oh, mighty king, I can teach your horses to fly”. Somehow the king managed to listen to this outrageous statement.

The next day, the king ordered his solders to find that young man and to bring him to the palace. The young man along with his friend was presented to the king. The king said, “I am happy to know that you can teach my horses to fly, here is my horse, teach it to fly”. The young man without any hesitation approached the horse and inspected it, then answered, “My Lord, you need to give me eight months for the training, after the eighth month, your horse will indeed fly like an eagle”.

The king scrutinized him for a while, then said, “Well young man, if you make my horse to fly, I will reward you with gifts. If you fail, then you will be beheaded for wasting my time”

The young man thanked the king for granting a chance to exhibit his talents. And he departed from the palace happily with king’s horse. His friend was agitated and furious, “Are you serious, how you are going to fulfill your word to the king? You are going to be beheaded after 8 months.”

The young man answered, “Friend we have 8 months in our favor. Who knows what will happen in 8 months. The king looks old, he may die. The horse too looks old, it may die. Or who knows the horse may indeed learn to fly”.

This is the story that illuminates the approach, “Believing is Seeing”. The following are the three basic cognitive tenets one cultivates within one’s believe system:

1. I am more than what I am. There is no written script which my life follows, but I am the author who is writing the script of my life.

2. I think and I create what I think.

3. The thought is the potentiality, and the burning desire (focused attention) + the willingness to pay the necessary price (willingness to face any tests) are the actualizing agents.

Seeing is Believing - II

‘Reality is the manifestation of our consciousnesses. It is the choices we make create our personal world. We either make the choices consciously or unconsciously. If we make it consciously, what we want happens. If we are lazy, then our unconscious mind makes the choices with its own version of fear and anxieties. And for ever we can blame the luck and other factors for our joy or sufferings.

Richard Bandler gives the analogy of bus for working of our consciousness. Driver is like conscious mind and the bus is the unconscious mind. If driver is asleep, then the bus will go to any place it wants and most of the time, the journey will be from one accident to the other. Of course sometimes it may prove to be pleasant accidents, and we will call it luck and invoke almighty for his blessings. But the bus where the driver is asleep is a dangerous way of living. Most of us live our life in this pathetic manner.

Another analogy is the child in a room with all kinds of paints and painting materials. The child can pour the paint all along, on himself or on the wall, scribbling everywhere. By mistake, sometimes it may look good, mostly it will be unorganized chaotic strokes. But if in the place of child, a master painter is present, he will end up creating master pieces.

Three essential things to take charge of my life are listed below:

1.   Recognition that my life is in a mess. Without any justification, and without any rationalization, when I look into my life, what I find is that I am moving through the whims of pain, sorrow, anxiety and jealousy. Constantly trying to prove and compete with everybody and nobody. Few words of appreciation or rejection change my entire mood and emotional balance. It is the sign that my life is in a mess.

2.   Just like the child, it is I who created this mess. Except me nobody is responsible for my miseries and heartache. I cannot put the blame on anyone – be it my parents, friends and communities or any kind of associations. Related with blood or filth, it is not others who managed to mess my life. It is I and only I who is responsible for the mess that is my life.

3.   Since I could create the mess, I only can clean up the mess with proper understanding and discipline. The child has the potentiality to become a master painter, provided it is willing to take steps to sharpen the skills present in him. If one can truly understand the point one and two, the third flows automatically. Though the third point looks very intimidating, in fact it is the easiest part, provided we sincerely want to create the life of our choice. Unfortunately this is the only short cut we have to move forward.

Seeing is Believing - I

“Seeing is believing”, that’s what Spinoza said long back, that is what most of us believe in our day to day life.

Harry Houdini, the master magician always believed in the maxim that what the eyes see, ears hear, mind believes. He called it the misdirection, and it is the secrete of all his magic. The mediocre mind gets distracted and feels comfortable in the reality that is visible and audible. It gets some kind of security and certainty and a sense of illusionary control over the situations. And they remain the victim of outside reality, who ever can shout louder and with attractive visual image can take control over their existence.

It is this reality that separates mind of extraordinary from the mediocre. In other words, ‘seeing is believing’ is the vision directed from the external factors, where as ‘believing is seeing’ is the approach taken by any internally directed person.

Internally directed species live either in mental asylum or become the leaders who run this world or end up inventing and discovering new things beyond imagination.

‘Believing is seeing’ is the dictum that gives real control over our life and in the conditions that manifest in and around us. Change the believe system, you will change the outcomes. Albert Elis called it the “Rational Emotive Therapy”. And Paulo  Coelho  says  “when  you  truly  want  something,  the whole  unseen  universe  conspires  to  help  you  in  achieving  it”

Why do we want to live like animals, when we can live like god? Why do we settle down for mediocre existence, when we can be anything we want? Why do we accept the given reality and remain frustrated and bored, when we can redefine the reality?

Cold

‘Getting cold’ is certainly an irritating state of affair. It can make life miserable. The problem in having cold is that everyone thinks that it is a minor sickness and one can’t complain about it, if you do then you will be accused of making mountain out of molehill.

I have cold, at this time of uncomfortable existence, a story come to the mind.

Once a young lady was suffering from severe cold and went to the doctor for treatment. The doctor too prescribed some medicine. The lady faithfully consumed the bitter medicine, but nothing was improving, waited for a day or two, and there was no improvement, things were going from bad to worse.

Suffering turned into anger and she went to the doctor and shouted at him, “Are you a real doctor? The medicine you gave me was absolutely useless. Did you prescribe medicine for cure the cold or to increase it? You should be ashamed of calling yourself as a doctor. Better return the medical college and study properly.”

The doctor remained quiet, finally he told her, “Young lady, what you should do is: go home and take bath in cold water, and without drying yourself go to the bed room and switch on AC, keep it at maximum cool, switch on the fan too if you have one in the bed room. Remain in that condition for an hour.”

The lady was perplexed hearing the new prescription and said to the doctor, “Will it cure me of cold?”

The doctor answered, “No, but you will get pneumonia and I know how to cure pneumonia.”

As the old saying goes; if you take medicine you get cured of cold in seven days, if you don’t take medicine it takes one week. ‘Getting cold’ is a time of grace, it teaches us to be patient. And it offers a valid and convincing reason for drinking brandy.

Camel

Rajnikanth and Jeyalalitha are known for telling short stories. At one time Rajni narrated this story of camel (I think that he has picked it from Zen stories).

In a zoo, a baby camel complained about his body feature to the mother camel. My legs are so long and it is uncomfortable to sit and to walk, the lips and jaw are so thick and rough, it looks so ugly and chewing of food is so difficult, and the stomach is so big and the hump is so heavy that moving  around is a burdensome.

The mother camel answered with patient and compassion. Our features are very special and it helps us to survive in the desert. With short legs one cannot walk in the desert, long legs give us the advantage of walking fast in the desert. In the desert we find rarely food and water, our big stomach helps us to store water and the hump stores up the fat, and we can survive for many days without food and water. In the desert, whatever plants exist, they contain thorns and our lips and jaw help us to eat those leaves. You should not be complaining about our features, rather we must be grateful.

The baby camel mulled over the explanation for some times and then asked his mother, “If that is so, why are living in the zoo?” The mother camel had no answer and went into deep depression.

This story is not about camels in the zoo, but a statement made on the life style of human beings. We lost the tail, because of the under usage, time will come when we will lose brain, since it is also underused to a greater extent.

Why do birds fly in an inverted "V" formation?

Geese fly in ‘V’ shape formation. The wisdom of geese flying in this formation is often quoted to highlight the importance of working in a team and the importance of working together.

Once a crow saw these birds flying in V shape and was wondering where are they going in a group. Everyone is silent and flipping wings once in a while. Curiosity forced the crow to fly near the last bird and asked, “Where are you going?” The last bird was bit irritated and said, “How will I know ask the bird before me, I am just following the bird before me.” The crow moved towards that bird and asked the same question, to the surprise of the crow that bird too gave the same answer, “How will I know ask the bird before me, I am just following the bird before me.” So the crow moved to the third bird before the last and asked the same question and received the same answer. 

Finally it reached the bird behind the first one and asked the question where are going?. The bird said, “The one who is flying first is the leader, he should know where we are going, so go and ask him”. 

Thus the crow went to the first bird in the formation and asked, “You are the leader of this pack of birds, can you tell me where are you going?” the first bird in total frustration answered, “I am not the leader, and I am not leading this pack, they are the ones who are pushing me forward, so go and ask them where are we going”

Quite few of the organizations are efficient and working in co-ordination. The only problem is that no one knows where they are headed and for what purpose. 

Dualism

Dualism was proposed by philosophers and spiritual masters. Plato talked about Ideal world vs. real world, Sri Ramajunar advocated Paramathma vs. Jeevathma. Similarly other masters have highlighted the illusion of dualism and proposed that the reality is one. And Einstein himself tried to prove that matter and energy are one and same, it means that he was giving scientific justification to the fact that the reality is one.

But poor mortals like me experience the reality only in dualism. Jeromy Benthem said that pain and pleasure are our sovereign masters, when I look into my life and life style it seems very obvious. I like some and dislike some other; I enjoy certain things and get depressed with the presence of some other things.

May be in the realm of quantum physics and in an enlightened state of mind everything one and all other realities are manifestations of one and same energy. Aham Brmasmi is an interesting notion in the line of the same thought. It does give a heady feeling when I declare that I am God.

I see the world in polarity and experience it in polarity. Of course after two becks of alcohol reality becomes one and I do experience the reality as one; everyone either becomes angel or devils’ incarnation, it purely depends on the brand. Otherwise, I believe that reality is encountered in polarities.

Clinging to one extreme will make life miserable and pathological. As Robert Frost puts it poetically, "The secret sits in the middle and knows, while others dance round in circles and suppose". Yet constantly occupying the middle ground is not easy, Buddha’s teaching of middle path is great, but walking on the tight rope is not an easy act.

But my version of dualism is bit complicated, for me polarities exist, and we constantly move from one to the other, not because we like moving up and down, but because there is no choice. If we choose one pole, it gives solace for some time then it itself throws us to the other pole. For example if teaching is a pleasure then correcting papers becomes a pain.

The other popular polarities are given below; if you master the art of balancing then you can sit in the middle, till then let’s swing from one to the other. Getting stuck in extreme is a dangerous business.

MASCULINE	FEMININE
Shiva/Cosmic Father	Shakti/Cosmic Mother
Lingam/External Genitals	Yoni/Internal Genitals
Projecting	Receptive
Cosmic Consciousness	Cosmic Energy
Universal Soul	Individual Soul
Spirit	Nature
Positive	Negative
Active	Passive
Solar/ Warming	Lunar/Cooling
Right Nostril/Pingala	Left Nostril/Ida
Left Brain Hemisphere	Right Brain Hemisphere
Sympathetic Nervous System	Parasympathetic NS
Electrical	Magnetic
Acidic	Alkaline
Discharges Energy	Retains Energy
Prefers Raw Sex	Prefers cuddly sensuality
Rational/Logical	Intuitive/Emotional
Liner/Detailed	Holistic/Diffuse
Abstract/Lost in thought	Practical/Down to Earth
Needs Adventure	Geared for Survival
Gives love to get sex	Gives sex to get love
Objectifies partner	Personalizes Partner

Exercise

Unusually to-day I woke up at 5.00 am for no rhyme or reason. Eyes just opened and neither due to a nightmare nor natural call. Since eyes can’t be trusted and they are the source of all temptation, I refused to get up. It is then that I realized that I am over-weight and I need to do something about it. My mind told me that doing exercise is not a bad idea; another part of my mind said that start from tomorrow. Somewhere I have read that tomorrow is an illusion, so I decided to start the exercise immediately. Got up, brushed the teeth and put on the shoe and started moving towards the Bhiju Pattnaik Park.

The park is reasonably well maintained and it has a track on which everyone was walking or jogging. I was tempted to start jogging but my mind told me ‘slow and steady wins the race’ hence decided to start with walking. The track is one kilometer long, mentally I had determined to make three rounds. Three is a lucky and auspicious number.

With much enthusiasm and excitement, I walked like a whirl-wind, overtaking many on the way and completed the first round rather quickly. By then my energy level was reduced to fifty percent and the speed started dwindling down. To my surprised I noticed that the people whom I had overtaken were now overtaking me. I wanted to increase the speed, but I remembered the famous dialogue of sharuk khan, “har ke jitne walo ko baazigar kehte hai”.  Losing small battles indeed helps us to win the war, so I allowed them to overtake me and maintained my rhythm with a brave face.  When I completed the second round, I was down to the last one percent of my energy.

I did not want to break the resolution of making three rounds and I continued with the third round. Now even the people who were far behind me also started overtaking me; surprisingly I did not feel bad (even to feel bad you need to have energy). I was totally indifferent and fully concentrated on reaching the entrance of the park. If I reach the entrance my third round would be completed. I kept on walking but the entrance was nowhere to be seen, I thought that someone has moved the entrance to a faraway place. It was like I was walking for eternity. After a very long time, finally I reached the entrance and I was thrilled.

Then I calculated how many calories I might have burned. If one walks for a kilometer it is possible that around 50 calories might have been used. That means I have burned 150 calories. I thought of going for one more round in order to make it 200 calories, but my mind advised me not to be greedy.

I was wearing XIMB T-shirt; one lady asked me whether I am studying at XIMB. I did not know what to say. Either she thought that I look young enough to be a student or she assumed that XIMB is an old-age home where adult education is being conducted. If the former is correct then she is suffering from ‘optical illusion’ and if the latter is true then it is an ‘information disaster’ and we need to go for the brand building exercise and not for morning walk.

Also mentally I noted not to wear XIMB T-shirt for morning walk (in any case, getting up at 5.00 am is  not going to take place in near future, because accidents take place only once a year or once in two year)

Driving Car in USA- III

Two months of driving gave me the necessary confidence on the road. One day one of my friends came to my residence. Since I had a class, I took him in the car to show him Loyola Columbia Campus.

This time I was overconfident. There was a tendency to show off – see how well I drive. Things were going fine, and we were chatting (may be chattering) continuously. After about 20 minutes, in the rear view I noticed the police jeep following our car. I was confused whether the police is following me or he is on a joy ride. Then the police man shouted on the speaker ‘park the car on the side’. It became clear that he is after me, but now the confusion was which side do I need to park – right or left. Sensing my confusion the police man shouted ‘park the car on the right side’.

Being a law abiding citizen of India (in USA Social Security Number, I am referred as the alien; since I liked the film ‘alien’, I was excited being called alien), I obeyed the instruction immediately (as if I had a choice). The one happy thought during that time was if police takes me to the station, then I have a valid reason to miss the class. And it was a small consolation.

I parked the car and the police man parked his vehicle 200 meters behind me. I opened the door to get out, the police man shouted ‘do not come out, and stay inside the car’. I shut the door (once again not much choice). The police man asked me to lower the window glass, and I did, then he asked me to show the license. To take out the license I had to stand up since it was at the back pocket of my pants. The car was small and I am big, yet he insisted me to stay inside. After some struggle I managed to pull out the license and gave it to him. He was surprised that I was using international driving license not the USA driving license. Then asked for the vehicle license, I said that the car belongs to the college and I just don’t know where it is. He was losing his temper. He said, “Do they (college administration) know that you are using international license?” They only provided me the license (it was a lie; I got it through the internet, at desperate situation one is forgiven for saying few lies).

The police man was a good person, so he believed me. Then went to his vehicle and spoke to someone (might have been his superior). And I was looking for the vehicle license, and finally located it. I wanted to show it to him, and opened the door; again he shouted “stay inside”. I sat down, he came to me after five minutes and said, “This is a verbal warning, a sticker is missing on your license plate, inform the authorities to do the necessary thing, now you can proceed”. There was a great relief also some disappointment. I missed the chance of seeing the inside of American police station also now I have to take the class.

The police in USA seem to be obsessed with following procedures. For me it looked like OCD (obsessive-compulsive- disorder). I was wondering why do they need to follow elaborate procedure, then I realized that they are meticulous about procedures because they are afraid. Whereas our police in India is cool about procedures, because they are not afraid and are courageous. I think at home we are in safe hands guys.

My driving license is not a proper international license. What I have is the Indian driving license printed in the international license format. I became aware of this crucial fact only after the event. Internet guys have just bluffed me and in turn unknowingly I had bluffed the police man. Since, the police man was good, he overlooked the detail (even though he followed the procedure religiously). From the outlook of the license, he assumed that it is an international license.

My teaching assignment has come to an end. The fall semester is over. And it is time to come home. Thank god there is no more driving at USA.

Driving Car in USA- II

After taking necessary practice at driving, for the first time without anyone I drove the car to Loyola Columbia campus, 25 miles away from my residence. I was nervous and my mind put forward 100 things that can go wrong. Since there wasn’t any choice, I started the car. First few minutes passed without any untoward event.

Then came the first and terrible decision making process. I had to turn towards “83 South” but before that there is a turn “83 North”, I kept on telling ‘avoid 83 North’, when you are nervous you end up doing exactly what you want to avoid. That’s what exactly happened. Both the turns are on the right hand side, both are within the distance of 200 meters, and I was driving at 68 miles per hour. Mistakes take place, and mine was rather costly. I had taken not only a wrong turn but also was diametrically in the opposite direction.

Luckily I had GPS, who ever had invented this machine must have been a genius with human concern (might have studied rural management). I started following the directions that were given by GPS. It is not a dialogue, it was one way interaction, GPS kept on speaking – turn left, turn right and go straight for 2 miles. Of all the instructions, the words ‘go straight for 2 miles’ was the best, it sounded melodious since all I have to do was just pressing the accelerator. And I was moving in circles and it took 2 and half hours for me to reach my destination in the place of 45 minutes.

On that day I too understood one of mystery that always bothered me. Moses, the great leader of Israel, travelled 40 years to reach Israel from Egypt. If you look at the world map, it is so clear that the distance is not much, he should have reached within 6 to 9 months, even if you give the benefit of doubt in large quantity, he should not have taken more than a year. Then why did he take so long?

I think that he too might have taken the wrong turn that too diametrically opposite  turn just like me. And the GPS guide he had might have taken him in circles. If you keep on travelling in circles, then it will take not only 40 years, it can become endless.

Lesson number one I learned was that in nervousness and anxious moments think about what you have to do and not what you have to avoid.

Three idiots

First time I heard this story in one of the talk given by sadhguru (jaggi vasudev). Then heard and read the different versions of the same story in different sources.

There were three friends – Shankar, Ravi and Raju - working in a government office as clerks. Their office was on the third floor of the building. Since they were working in the same department, proximity bred companionship and companionship translated into friendship not out of choice, manily due to the lack of option (more like an arranged marriage). They had mastered the art of tolerating one another, and they could do things together. Years have passed without much ups and downs.

One day as usual, all three assembled during their lunch break with the tiffin boxes. Ravi opened his tiffin box and found three chappatis and potatoe curry. He stared at the chappati and said, “ Last 15 years, every day without fail, my wife gives me the same food for lunch. I am so angry, can’t she prepare some variety. If tomorrow also she gives me chappati and potatoe curry for lunch, then I will jump out through the window and kill myself”. Raju felt sorry for him and opened his tiffin box and found curd rice and lemon pickle. And he realized that he too has the same menu for last 15 years for lunch and he said, “Me too in the same boat, if tomorrow I get the same lunch, I too will jump through the window”. Shankar opened the box and he found lemon rice and mango pickle and said, “ my case is not different, 15 years same lemon rice for lunch, if it is repeated I will follow your way”.

The next day three friends sat down for the lunch. Ravi opened the box and found chappati and potatoe curry. He looked at his friends, got up and jumped through the window. Raju saw curd rice, got up and jumped through the window. In was now Shanker’s turn. As the fate would have it, he too had the same lemon rice, and he too jumped through the window.

Destiny is indeed cruel; when you want to die, you don’t and when you want to live, you get heart attack. The three friends were injured and broken few limps but did not die. They were admitted in the hospital. Their wives and relatives gathered in the hospital, and everyone was crying. Ravi’s wife was mumbling, “Had I known that my husband hated chappati so much, I would have prepared some other item for the lunch. All he had to do was informing me what he wants. Why did he do this to himself?” Raju’s wife muttered, “ I thought he likes curd rice, if he wanted different food he could have told me so”. But Shankar’s wife was totally perplexed and in a tone of disbelief said, “I do not cook anything in my house, it is my husband who prepares food, if he did not like lemon rice he should have prepared something else”.

Pain is totally different from suffering. The former is caused usually from outside and the latter is internal. Pain can be cured by medical treatment but suffering gets complicated with drugs. Pain is real whereas suffering is mind created illusion.