Feeling the Pain of the Others
December 26th, 2004 - January 1st, 2005
One of the most important of all spiritual lessons is the need to truly feel the pain of others as our own. This might sound simple and familiar but it is neither. It is paramount for us to realize how distant we are from this spiritual level, so that we know how far we need to develop ourselves.
We all innately have a natural feeling of compassion when we hear of other people’s problems. But there is a great distance between that feeling of compassion and truly feeling the pain of another person as our own.
Our lack of ability to feel the pain of another person is astounding. Even when it comes to small ailments such as a flu, cold or stomachache - all of which we have experienced - we cannot awaken our feelings for another person’s pain and discomfort as we do for ourselves. If this is the case with minor things, so much more so is it true that we do not feel others’ pain as our own with greater problems, which we might have never experienced.
You may well ask: why do we need to develop an ever-stronger feeling for the pain of others.
One reason is to fuel the engine driving our spiritual growth and our desire to help the world. If our desire for spiritual growth is limited to our own need for fulfillment, then at times when we feel content or in a relatively good spiritual place, then our motivation for spiritual work and assisting others will decrease. But if we develop, and continue to grow our feeling of others’ pain as our own, then we have an endless source of determination for always increasing our spiritual work.
Sure, we might be sitting pretty in the moment, but what about the millions suffering all around us. Turn on your TV, look at the disease statistics, the rates of suicide, the rising unemployment numbers. Our work can and will assist countless others, and we need to appreciate our power, no matter where we are in the chain of life. When we transform, we influence the quantum to transform.
Another reason to develop your ability to feel another’s pain is purely self-motivated. Feeling the pain of others is the nature of the Creator. And, it is a spiritual law that when we act like the Light, we experience the Light. In other words, we receive more of the abundance and prosperity we are seeking every day of our lives.
I cannot exaggerate the importance of this lesson, and many people might feel that they know this spiritual truth. But this week we all have to ask ourselves, ‘do I really feel the other person’s pain?’ Get in the habit of asking this question in every situation you are confronted with - with your friends, family, and the everyday people you interact with.
Work hard to develop this awareness and you will open yourself to receiving amazing miracles and enlightenment this week - and every week.
All the Best,
Yehuda Berg