Wherever we look in this world, we see two states of being. The restless earth changes perpetually; on one side breaking down, on the other building up. Suddenly mountains rise from the midst of the sea, and again, in the blink of an eye, lands rich with fruit and flower vanish into the ocean's depths. When I stand at twilight by the seashore and cast my gaze toward the sky, I witness one beautiful scene after another painted in myriad colors. Even poets are defeated when they try to capture those sublime pictures. And when that same sky becomes overcast with dark, dense clouds, when turbulent waves play recklessly in the sea and fierce winds sweep across the ocean's breast, painting nature's terrible and awesome form, then those transformations seem wondrous indeed!
Because we have an intimate relationship with this nature, we feel sometimes joy, sometimes sorrow at these changes. This joy and sorrow fundamentally depends on differences in human education and mental formation. Generally people derive happiness from light and beautiful scenes, but thoughtful individuals find a certain pleasure by letting their streams of contemplation flow through darkness and the world's terrible transformations. By happiness I do not mean unmixed happiness, for that does not fall to human lot in this world. Under certain circumstances one person's joy becomes another's sorrow, and one person's sorrow becomes another's joy. When the portion of suffering, affliction, and pain is small, we call that a state of happiness. Happiness does not mean the absence of sorrow, but rather the scarcity of sorrow or human habituation to sorrow.
Everyone wants to accumulate the materials of happiness and remove the materials of sorrow. We have two faculties in our minds called the sense of pleasure and the sense of pain. We are always busy trying to gratify one of these—the sense of pleasure—to an infinite degree, and we are always striving to completely destroy the sense of pain and cast away everything that brings sorrow.
Joy and sorrow can be divided into two categories: physical and mental. Some of these are inevitable, some avoidable. Some we create ourselves, some are simply the attendant rules of our life-sustenance, for without them our survival would never be possible. The joy and sorrow that come from mental progress and decline are of our own making; the happiness from reading good books and the sorrow from their absence also belong to this class. The joy from satisfying hunger and thirst and the sorrow from their non-fulfillment are attendant rules of our life-sustenance. Caught in civilization's current, we have created many kinds of artificial joys and sorrows.
Generally we find happiness in such states as: going on excursions, rest after labor, the healthy condition of various senses, moderate enjoyment of sensual pleasures, satisfaction of hunger and thirst, tasting sweet things, inhaling fragrances, touching soft and slightly warm objects, hearing melodious sounds of good quality, scenes painted in various colors, the dance of light, freedom from bondage, seeing something wonderfully new, the exercise of various gentle emotions, conjugal love, parental affection, children's love, friendship, reverence and devotion, self-satisfaction, praise, power, dominion, authority, the capacity for revenge, knowledge, various movements of mental strength, music, painting, poetry, natural beauty, sympathy, the flourishing of ethics and knowledge, prosperity, religion, society, livelihood, and so forth. Again, we experience distress, sorrow, or pain in such states as: muscular fatigue, disorders of any bodily organ and disease, coldness, foul smells, darkness, excessive light, dissatisfaction with one's lot, sudden bondage after freedom, all kinds of fear, grief, separation from anything we love and cherish, experiencing shame, remaining in the same unchanging condition or monotony, self-degradation and the inability to insult or endure insults, accepting servitude, being unable to take revenge, ignorance, ugliness, illness, excessive labor, foolishness, baseness, death, failure, and so forth.
No one can be completely free from these states of joy and sorrow, even if they wish to be. Even with influence, authority, and status, humans cannot escape suffering. Again, even if one wanted to spend their entire life in suffering, they could not do so; they would have to partake of some portion of happiness. Just as sorrow is also an inevitable occurrence in human life. Incomplete humans cannot achieve completeness in any matter. There is grave doubt about whether the world's present condition is sorrowful or not. Many may laugh hearing this, or religious merchants may dismiss it as delirious raving.
A certain class of philosophers doubt God's three attributes because of the existence of this sorrow in the world. They say God cannot simultaneously be all-knowing, all-powerful, and merciful. If He is merciful and all-powerful, why doesn't He remove beings' suffering when He sees it? And if He is all-knowing, why didn't He create the world in such a way that all beings would be beyond sorrow? This clearly shows that either He is merciless, or He is indifferent to beings' suffering. We are unable to answer why God did not make the world's structure different from what we observe. But we can say this: the way the world has been created and continues to be created moment by moment (we believe the world's creative process continues every moment), the present state of joy and sorrow is absolutely necessary for life's preservation.
John Stuart Mill is among those who hold such views. Let us suppose we cannot presently reconcile the existence of the world's joy and sorrow with an all-powerful, merciful God. But can we therefore say there is no truth in the world by which God's all-powerful and merciful nature could ever be reconciled with the existence of joy and sorrow? To transcend suffering is humanity's most natural prayer. What does all-powerful mean? The power by which all things can be produced, or all tasks can be accomplished—that can be called all-powerful strength. And whatever is possible in thought can be called a thing or task. But a teetotaler drunkard, a saintly thief, a pentagon with four sides, a valley without mountains on either side—these are not possible in our thinking.
If someone says God cannot construct a triangle with the help of two straight lines, therefore He is powerless, we would consider them nothing but ignorant or mad. Just as constructing a triangle with two straight lines is impossible, can any thinking person swear that sorrow cannot be an element in producing happiness? We do not believe it is absolutely impossible for such a relationship to exist between joy and sorrow. Who can say that God's all-powerfulness is not constrained by His other attributes, like His mercy? This is an absolute truth: God or nature is just in all places and fields.
Scholars like Schopenhauer, Hartmann, and Leopardi have tried to prove that the world is merely a storehouse of sorrow. Seeing the prevalence of suffering and despair, the abundance of disease, and the pervasiveness of pain, almost everyone is dissatisfied with the world's present condition, so the view has been propagated that sorrow is the beginning and end of the world. At least one view of the pessimists seems mistaken. The sufferings, torments, and inauspicious events on which they base their conclusions often purify the human heart. This is not merely words, nor the feelings of God-loving devotees' hearts. The more we discuss and think about this matter, the more we see that pure evil exists nowhere. Even in the gravest dangers we see some good. And if we wish, we can sometimes transform sorrow into joy. Spencer has also expressed this view in his work "First Principles of Religion and Science."
A fierce storm is destruction's avatar. Everyone knows about its harmful power. But among this storm's attendant events we also see connections to some good works. Through it the air is purified, disease is banished, and rain falls that produces fruits and grains. Though suffering and hardship are pervasive, still we see some beneficial results within them.
God has placed pain or suffering at every point on the circumference of His circle, primarily doing certain special work for our life's preservation. If we did not feel burning pain from fire's heat, if we felt no suffering when weapons pierced our flesh, and if foul odors caused us no distress, then living with our present physical structure would be impossible. In such conditions we would always choose death ourselves and would not understand approaching danger, or our consciousness would come only when there was no way to escape from danger.
It is true that countless worthless and foolish people suffer by burning their hands in fire, getting wounded by weapons, and eating harmful food, but through this they receive education in self-protection. Our education happens in three ways: by seeing, hearing, and experiencing; but the education that comes through the last method is the most lasting. When we break nature's rules, we often do not get immediate peace, but gradually nature creates consciousness in us. When we do not heed its hints and do not refrain from rule-breaking actions, it chastises us with a harsh voice. If even then we do not accept its commands, we soon receive appropriate punishment. Though its warnings and punishments are painful for us, it is through these that our individual and racial lives are preserved.
Pain, agony, grief, and sorrow do not merely function to preserve bodily or physical laws, but through them mental transformation and character development occur. Let me offer an illustration.
In the fourteenth century, Italy's condition had become utterly deplorable. Nearly all city dwellers belonged to some bandit gang or another, chaos reigned everywhere without end, and murderers freely pursued their wicked deeds. Wounded and wronged persons could find no justice even when they sought it. At this time, two young brothers in Italy were walking down the road one evening, talking of hopes, dreams, progress, and such things. Suddenly the elder brother left his younger brother and went somewhere nearby on some errand. When he returned, he found his brother's bloodied corpse lying in the dust of the road. This incident completely transformed his life. From this event was born Italy's savior. That elder brother's name was Rienzo. He had said, "Will we truly receive no justice? Time will tell all." He sat down on the ground, went to his brother's corpse and perhaps whispered prayers, then slowly stood up. His face was as pallid as his dead brother's, but instead of grief, there was a fierce oath to transform society. His courage was later celebrated in the writings of poets and authors through the ages. Thus does a person change one day, and society change.
Hundreds of such examples can be cited from history. Whether virtues like self-sacrifice, self-knowledge, courage, valor, patience, and tolerance can ever fully develop without suffering and pain is doubtful. Those who have endured hardship are the ones who become strong. Those who have experienced pain in their own bodies are capable of alleviating others' suffering and being compassionate toward them. Thus we see that personal sorrow and pain become the wellspring of mutual sympathy. In attempting to relieve others' suffering, one's own suffering is transformed to a great degree. Other kinds of benefits also arise from hardship and pain. Through this, not only does the sufferer gain strength by purifying their heart, but it also awakens sympathy and benevolence in the heart of the one who provides refuge. Oliver Wendell Holmes spoke beautifully about this matter. Just as caring for a long-ailing friend keeps one so busy that there's no time to cut hair or beard, causing both to grow white and long, so too does one's heart become white or pure.
Life's history tells us that we become more devoted to those for whom we suffer. The hardship and worry a mother experiences in pregnancy, childbirth, and raising her child—this is the root of genuine affection for the child. Having said all this, let no one think I have brought up all these points merely to make light of the horror of suffering. However, it can be said that through proper reflection we are able to illuminate, even if slightly, its dark path. In this light, we can reach certain conclusions:
1. The world is neither a repository of happiness alone nor of sorrow alone; both happiness and sorrow are inevitable events in every human life.
2. Just as we create many elements of happiness beyond what can be seen and felt in the world through the pursuit of knowledge, learning, and religion, so too do we unknowingly or knowingly create new forms of suffering in this process.
3. Though we generally express displeasure at sorrow as something unpleasant, in reality it is not so harmful. Given the world's present structure and our relationship with external objects, suffering and pain seem necessary for preserving our lives. However, for this we must learn to perceive the beauty in sorrow.
4. From suffering and hardship are born virtues like patience, tolerance, self-sacrifice, courage, valor, sympathy, affection, and compassion.
Now let us see what we must do to increase happiness and reduce sorrow. When we see that sorrow is inevitable, then wherever we go, however much we search for happiness, however well we perform our duties, still there is no escape from suffering for imperfect humans—some physical or mental or both kinds of pain must be endured. Often we become irritated with ourselves. When we fail to keep promises, when we cannot progress as hoped, self-reproach comes and overwhelms us. Sorrow, hardship, and pain wait for us everywhere. If we carry them willingly, they too will carry us and bring us to our desired destination. If we carry them unwillingly, they will dominate us and we will be burdened by their weight, yet we will not be able to gain freedom from them.
When we are forced to abandon some unpleasant, inauspicious thing, we see that another more serious misfortune arrives. How shall we gain freedom from that which no one has been able to completely abandon thus far? Rather, hope for such freedom is mere wishful thinking. Even religious people have no little suffering. The more they advance and become devoted to divine love, the more they suffer unbearable anguish in separation from God.
During times of sorrow, God's loving bliss feels as sweet as it never does at any other time. When the whole world turns away from us, when we are helpless and without shelter and look upward shedding tears, how much happiness the repentant heart receives! Then we say: sorrow itself is the fundamental principle of salvation! When sorrow comes and possesses us, enemies no longer attack us. Sorrow increases the strength of the human heart.
Alexander Bain, in his world-famous work 'Mental and Moral Science,' has written about certain principles for attaining happiness:
(1) To attain the height of any happiness, the cause of happiness must be completely new. Such as the happiness of parents' first child, the happiness of new love, the happiness of traveling to a new place, the happiness of gaining any new experience, etc.
(2) Every happiness must have some period of cessation, otherwise it will not be felt as happiness at all. We can enjoy any pleasure or happiness only for some time, no more than that. For happiness to arise, there must be some pause in the subject of happiness. Daily experience generally does not seem pleasant to anyone.
(3) To remain continuously happy, each person must have various kinds of objects or elements of happiness. The more variety there is in these objects and the more gradually they come within human reach, the more happiness will increase. No matter how sweet and melodious a tune may be, hearing it repeatedly without break will never bring happiness. Freedom from pain is another way to happiness, such as recovery after illness, the end of some mental anxiety or remorse, deliverance from some long-running danger, or obtaining some long-desired but unfulfilled happiness. All these create feelings of happiness. To attain happiness, it is not absolutely necessary to first suffer hardship or sorrow; some pause in happiness is sufficient for enjoying happiness. We need occasional breaks from the happiness we get from food, sports, socializing, music, creative pursuits, etc. The happiness after such breaks is truly pure and pristine happiness. But it is also an absolute truth that the happiness we receive after sorrow and hardship ranks highest in terms of intensity.
(5) Change is also beneficial for alleviating the hardship of labor. Unless completely exhausted, when we are tired from one kind of work, we enjoy doing another kind of work. When tired from mental labor, we can easily do physical work. We can stop thinking and engage in reading or other activities. We can cease scientific pursuits and joyfully discuss literature or art. When tired from doing some work ourselves, we can have that work done with others' help.
(6) Apart from natural happiness, we can increase sources of happiness. The pursuit and advancement of knowledge and religion is the path to this kind of happiness. From learning about and discussing the various profound truths of nature and human life, we can also find happiness. Through prayer, infinite happiness can be discovered.
We have seen that sorrow does not harm our body and mind as much as we commonly believe. Rather, we often discover within sorrow itself the instruments of our own welfare. Therefore, it is essential that we accept all our conditions with a contented heart. In times of sorrow, gathering strength in the mind and engaging in work with renewed enthusiasm and vigor is beneficial for us, and we should also keep in mind that during times of happiness, we ought to proceed with great caution. The reason for this is that both happiness and sorrow test us with their cunning; both can easily lead us astray, and experience bears witness that happiness possesses this power far more than sorrow. This is why people are corrupted more by happiness than they suffer in sorrow.