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ChrisCorrigan<\/a> was blogging a bit ago on Jonathan Schell and Vaclav Havel, about “Living in Truth<\/a>.” <\/p>\n Havel, who wrote passionately about a politics he called “living in truth” (which is perhaps the best way to translate Gandhi’s satyagraha<\/em>, by the way) crafted a politics along with other thinkers in Eastern Europe that made democracy emerge, but not before it issued a challenge to every single person.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Now this comes today from PureLandMountain<\/a>, about firewalking<\/a>, seems related…<\/p>\n …Echo began to speak meditatively on the nature of pain: how, although this pain she was feeling in her feet right now was just like conventional pain– it had all the earmarks, so to speak, and was irritating in the extreme, like all the everyday pains– she could not relate to it as she did to the usual pain, couldn’t be negative toward it, because it was kami<\/em> related.<\/p>\n The objective in standard self\/pain relations is to make the pain go away; this pain, in contrast, was self-chosen, indeed inflicted for sacred purposes, and was therefore itself sacred; so she had to respect it, sort of even savor it as being positive in nature, and accruing benefit with its extension, so in a way she had to enjoy the suffering, nurture the pain. This went against every instinctive principle, affording an illuminating gestalt on the reality and illusion of pain. I had to agree with her; it was indeed an interesting perspective on pain…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Whatever pain comes from standing up, standing out, speaking out, and living in our own truth is not a normal sort of pain. It’s this other sort, sacred sort, self-chosen sort. It brings us closer and closer to something important, and still un-name-able. As I think through this just now, it seems that some suffering — indeed, any suffering we choose<\/em> — has the capacity to take us through and beyond all suffering. I think Living in Truth must be like that. Any moment.<\/p>\n It seems that this may be where our popular, mainstream media culture really gets in our way: when it keeps — we keep<\/em> — pushing our pain away, keeping ourselves from these moments to find it, feel it and pass through it. Transcend and include it. Nurture and enjoy. Resting in Life. Living as Truth. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ChrisCorrigan was blogging a bit ago on Jonathan Schell and Vaclav Havel, about “Living in Truth.” Havel, who wrote passionately about a politics he called “living in truth” (which is perhaps the best way to translate Gandhi’s satyagraha, by the way) crafted a politics along with other thinkers in Eastern Europe that made democracy emerge, … <\/p>\n