Pain and Devotion
Pain and Devotion
There are many different kinds of devotion, not all involving pain, but in many instances it seems the greatest acts of devotion for any entity is the suffering of pain in the name of something other than yourself. As Diane Ackerman states in A Natural History of the Senses,
"Religions have always encouraged their martyrs to experience pain in order to purify the spirit. We come into this world with only the slender word 'I,' and giving it up in a sacred delirium is the painful ecstasy religions demand."(Ackerman, 130)
As seen in the painting on the right (The Crucifixion (1762) by Pompeo Batoni), Jesus is said to have been crucified, both as a sacrifice for his movement, and so he could die in the place of mankind and take on the spiritual burden of their sins. This act is one of the most famous acts of devotion in human history, and is romanticized heavily in the modern era despite being an extremely painful and common way to die. As stated in the bible, there were thieves crucified next to him because it was a common Roman punishment and execution. Crucifixion was not an uncommon or particular revered occurrence, what made the crucifixion of Jesus so holy in the eyes of many was the impact it had as an act of devotion to his followers. At least from the perspective of the religious writings of Christ's followers, he was willing to suffer torture and a slow painful death for the sake of those who trusted him with their lives. In that sense, he did die for some of mankind's sins, at least whatever they did that was sinful in the eyes of the occupying Roman Empire.
In A Natural History of the Senses, Ackerman discusses the concept of pain, and different types of pain we both involuntarily and voluntarily go through. The conclusion I find myself drawing from this reading on touch, and specifically the sections on pain, is that almost any form of voluntary pain a person chooses to go through is an act of devotion, whether it be spiritual, religious, or other. Any body modification is a devotion to the context of the modification, whether that be based on cultural rites of passage or a drunken whim, it's a devotion all the same because there is a goal behind the suffering. The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines devotion as "the act of dedicating something to a cause, enterprise, or activity: the act of devoting." Many acts can be acts of devotion by this definition, but it seems that the ones that hold the most weight within society are the acts that require effort and pain in the name of the cause because of the personal sacrifice and willpower required for those actions.
That being said, there are painful acts of devotion that don't always feel like a personal sacrifice because of the society we live in. For instance women put themselves through painful rituals for the sake of beauty every day and think nothing of the personal sacrifices they're making for beauty because they are devoted to their appearance, whether that be a good thing or a bad thing is completely up to the subject. For example, Ackerman discusses the ritual of leg waxing to remove hair society has deemed as excessive, manly, and unhygienic.
"Women have their legs waxed as a matter of fashion, and have done so throughout the ages. When mine were waxed at a Manhattan beauty salon recently, the pain, which began like 10,000 bees stinging me simultaneously, was excruciating. Change the woman from a Rumanian cosmetician to a German Gestapo agent. Change the room from a cubicle in a beauty emporium to a prison cell. Keep the level of pain exactly the same, and it easily qualifies as torture." (Ackerman, 132)
It is not a terrible or misguided view to want to shave one's legs, that is not the conclusion that you are meant to draw from this quote. But it does draw into question why the weight of some willing acts of pain are worth more than others. Again, I believe the answer to be in the intention behind the pain. Obviously the gestapo agent comment was an over exaggeration, but nonetheless going with that comparison, even if the pain of waxing one's legs was as painful as being tortured, the difference in attitudes is in the choice to go through that pain. Even if it's a societal expectation it is still your choice whether or not to wax you legs, prisoners do not get this luxury. Pain is also a very subjective and tricky sensory experience to measure because people have different pain tolerances. At the end of the day the level of devotion expressed in an action is up to the devotee of that action and since that too is entirely subjective then any act can be an act of devotion, painful or not.
This is a fascinating point: "almost any form of voluntary pain a person chooses to go through is an act of devotion, whether it be spiritual, religious, or other. Any body modification is a devotion to the context of the modification, whether that be based on cultural rites of passage or a drunken whim, it's a devotion all the same because there is a goal behind the suffering. The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines devotion as 'the act of dedicating something to a cause, enterprise, or activity: the act of devoting.' Many acts can be acts of devotion by this definition, but it seems that the ones that hold the most weight within society are the acts that require effort and pain in the name of the cause because of the personal sacrifice and willpower required for those actions." I was going to take issue with you, but your use of the dictionary definition was pretty compelling evidence for your point.
ReplyDeleteThat said, it you say "if there's a goal behind the suffering, that makes it devotion," one could argue that torturing someone else , i.e., causing pain to them, often has a a goal behind, even if that goal is morally reprehensible. You do make it clear that voluntarily cause pain to yourself is what you're talking about.
I might frame it a little differently. Devotion is a "mode of paying attention" (to borrow the scholar Jonathan Z. Smith definition of ritual). Pain certainly tends to focus our attention, so in that sense it makes doing painful things to ourselves a particularly effective mode of paying attention, i.e., devotion.
I'm intrigued why you go here to pain per se as devotion, though I definitely agree with your concluding sentence, "At the end of the day the level of devotion expressed in an action is up to the devotee of that action and since that too is entirely subjective then any act can be an act of devotion, _painful or not_." What is it about pain=devotion that especially strikes a chord with you?