Which knowledge can alleviate pain?
Many teachings, both philosophical and religious, teach us that suffering ends with knowledge. This claim, which we at least want to partially understand, leads us to ask some questions: which knowledge can alleviate pain? What are the limits of this knowledge? It is obvious that not every knowledge serves to bring happiness to people. It is also obvious that if knowledge has limits, pain should be limited as well…
Nevertheless, life constantly shows us that pain has no end and when some knowledge brings us relief, a new pain immediately arises that surpasses the previous one and requires a different type of knowledge to calm it.
So, to our question of which knowledge truly helps in overcoming human anxiety, the only answer is: only those that remove internal ignorance and bring in everlasting light fulfill their true role.
It is not enough to fill our minds with data that we call “knowledge”, but these data need to be an answer to our questions and unrest. Knowledge can also be measured by its longevity. or, in other words, knowledge that is more durable, philosophers of all epochs say, is closest to Truth. In that case, durability is equivalent to permanence, immutability, perfect stability. From this stems the belief that we should seek those eternal ideas that have always recurred throughout history, in this or that language, because they are truth in themselves, dressed in different attire.
And what are the limits of this knowledge? The limits are determined by human evolution itself. The horizon has the height of the eyes that observe it: as a person grows taller, the horizon widens, and as a person approaches it, the horizon moves further away, taking on infinite and unknown vastness.
In contrast, for a person who crawls and surrenders to difficulties, the horizon is just a line without hope and without light. What is a mystery today can be knowledge tomorrow; what is darkness today can be light tomorrow; what is a line on the horizon today can be a spacious path full of perspective tomorrow.
But courageous people are needed, Those who can fight on their feet, without giving up on the path no matter how many thorns hurt their legs. Only in front of such people does mystery open its doors and knowledge is born. Only for such people is knowledge wide enough to cancel out all suffering, all ignorance, all lack of understanding, and finally turn what was initially thorns into roses.