Pain? Ritual

Perhaps it is Impossible to Abstarct oneself Entirely From the Human Side of this Equation, But to Many of "Our" Terran Cultures there are at Least Two Distinct "Types" of Pain.

One would Be Pain that is Unasked For. Losing a Loved One in an Arbitrary Way such as a Fatal Accident, or to Sickness, Would be Extreme Examples of Emotional Pain, As Would the Loss of Ones Own Limb. The Less Extreme End of this Spectrum would be The Stubbing of Ones Toe, perhaps or Having to Address Minor Legal Issues. These are Painful in Different Ways, But what they Generally have in Common is that We Do not Conciously Seek them out unless we are ourselves Unstable. They Do Not Directly Serve a Purpose in and of themselves. Now as "Higher" Beings we may Choose to Persue the Lessons in Such things and Ultimately Learn and Grow From Adversity, but that is another Subject.

The Second is Pain which is Part of a Process that we Would Actively Subject ourselves to in Order to Achieve a Desired Result. These are Often Ritualistic In Nature. Being Tattooed, Being Pierced, Branded or Other Forms of Scarification are All Common to Most Cultures. And Perhaps the Most Significant of these Is Child Birth and Even Rearing, And When Taken in Context These are Often Defined as being Rights of Passage of Some Sort. (Even if it is Only Recognized by ones own Sub-culture).

Other Examples of this are to Be Found in Such Activities as Training to be a Marathon Runner, Strength Training and Most any Other Persuit of a Sport or Physical Activity that Stresses the Body Physically and Taxes the Psyche Emotionally...

This same Idea Can also be Applied to Any Effort Which Requires Some Level of Sacrifice on a Personal Level in Order to Gain the Benefit of the End Results. Complete Immersion in Academic Study to the Eclusion of Social Interaction Etc... Might be Further Interpretations of this...

Anyway, the Difference to me is that We Seek Certain Processes in Our lives which although Potentially Painful, Help us to Define Who we are... (Not that these things are Always Persued Responsibly, simply that they Exist)... As Opposed to Being "Assaulted" by Lifes Painfull Events...

So... Human-centric as it is, I see a Logical Example of this Way Of Thinking Within Klingon Culture as well... A Warrior Who Dies Well is Thought to be Not Exceptional, but Living as a Klingon "Should" Inspite of Whatever Pain may have Been Involved, While a Klingon Who Is Dishonorable Inflicts unasked For Pain Upon those Around them... In any Event The Examples (Posted By Others Above), are Pretty Good Indicaters that Klingons Would Not Respect Inflicting Pain "Just" to Inflict it, But Rather See Pain as Part of the Process of Life Much Like Other Species... I Would Suggest Further that Mortality, and Being Self Aware of the Limited Physical Existence of Being a Living Creature with a Finite Life Span Goes Along way towards Recognizing the Significance of Personal Sacrifice...

Does that Make any Sense at all?...<Chuckle>...