OshoZen 9 of Clouds (swords)

[Briar Rose]

OshoZen 9 of Clouds (swords)
Sorrow

A bald man sits, one arm over lap, other up, robe surrounding body, look of, "What have I done?" on his face.

The image actually is, Ananda, the cousin of and disciple of Gautum Buddha.
-said to have cried so much over his loss it brought him to enlightenment.

Hmm, I am not so sure that I have to get burned to learn.

What does everyone think?

The pain is to make you aware, and when you are aware, the misery disappears.

Alan, help on this one?
I mean I get it, the pain makes us wise, like not going down the wrong street again. However, do we really need to know pain to know pleasure?

 

[Grizabella]

I'm not Alan, but I think we do need to know pain to know pleasure. If there weren't pain, we wouldn't recognize pleasure. It's the contrasts that make up life.

I'd venture to say that most things we learn are learned because we don't want to face the "pain", however minimal, of the alternative. We learn what we learn in school because we don't want to suffer the pain of poor grades and the disapproval of our parents, for instance. We learn to perform capably and responsibly in our jobs because we don't want to suffer the pain of unemployment. We learn to carry our end of a relationship to avoid the pain of the loss of the one we love. We even learn to wear shoes because of the alternative---injury to our feet if we don't. Or if not injury to our feet, then the ostracism of our peers.

As the book says, "Times of great sorrow have the potential to become times of great transformation."

 

[Judith D]

Solitaire - I'm with you there. You can't have white without black, because how would you recognise it if everything was grey? You wouldn't know it was light if you hadn't experienced darkness, and we need the bad to see the good.
Pain does not equal suffering. For me the message in this card is not that he had pain and sorrow - but that he FELT pain and sorrow, really and deeply, and by learning the experience of it, could move through it and out to the other side. He was so successful at this he reached enlightenment!
Physical pain is a real nasty thing, but it is there for the purpose of showing your body it has a problem, and that a certain part of your body needs to be looked after. Sorrow is a pain of the mind, and equally deserves recognition and attention. Grief and mourning are necessary parts of life, and it is only when we are stuck there, or use them as crutches to manipulate others, that we go wrong. Getting through the process and moving into the sunlight on the other side is hugely healing. And it is not necessary to grieve your whole life long to prove the depth of your feeling.
The card actually shows the chink in the background, with the stars shining away in the distance, as they always do. He is in shadow, but light is radiating towards him from the outside. Life goes on although when we suffer such depth of sorrow we feel the whole world ought to stop. Eventually we have to catch up.
The traditional 9 of swords is our girl sitting up in her bed as if waking from a nightmare, the nine swords hanging over her. It represents despair that leads to healing - perfect for our card of Sorrow.

 

[squeakmo9]

OshoZen 9 of Clouds (swords)
Sorrow

The image actually is, Ananda, the cousin of and disciple of Gautum Buddha.
-said to have cried so much over his loss it brought him to enlightenment.

Hmm, I am not so sure that I have to get burned to learn.

I think that's the only way I have ever learned is by getting burned. It use to be that I would give credit to the person who burned me...like I couldn't have become a better person without having met them, uuum, yes and no.
I made the decision to learn from whatever I experienced, including the not so pleasant revelations. So, I'm going to begin to give myself some credit for moving on in a positive direction

In the card I always thought that what made him enlightened was the fact that he realized that he was crying more for himself than the person that died. I mean the one who has passed on isn't hurting anymore, so who are you really crying about? I guess that could also go for experiences where we get burned, the choice is ours, to feel sorry for ourselves and live the life of victim for the remainder of our lives or transcend. Go beyond what we can perceive with just the senses, and hopefully grow.

 

[Alan Ross]

Hey, Aurora. I think you've received some wonderful responses from the others. but I'm willing to put my own two cents in. Personally, I'm deeply suspicious of the whole chasing after pleasure and avoiding pain thing. This is a common way for people to live their lives, but I don't think it's the best way to be. Habitually chasing after pleasure can lead us down ultimately self-destructive paths. Habitually avoiding pain can lead to greater pain and suffering for self or others further down the road. I also believe that painful experiences have a greater capacity for making us stronger and wiser than pleasurable experiences do (although certain Tantra practitioners might disagree ).

I believe the important thing is to be deeply with whatever we are experiencing in the present moment, regardless of what that experience is. Ananda did not run from his pain or judge it. He opened himself to the experience and stayed with it. That brought him beyond to enlightenment.

 

[firecatpickles]

I can understand the pain as enlightenment, as a person who is heavily tatooed & has 2 piercings (& counting). I am not sure if the "sorrow" in this card is in and of itself "pain." There are different types of pain: spiritual, mental, physical. How does despair & sorrow tie in with pain? Isn't sorrow brought on by ourselves? To allow others to make us happy or sad is giving them too much power.

This is a pain of sorrow brought on by oneself. The figure has the shades drawn and is looking inward alone. The beautiful, clear night sky beckons, but he chooses to remain secluded in doors, mired in his own suffering.

And where does sorrow come from, that is, the sorrow from loss? Compassion?

 

[Master_Margarita]

This is a beautifully-rendered card.

I am choosing to think that the walls of thought and sorrow are parting for Ananda and that the beauty of the night is about to reach him. By morning, we read, he was enlightened. This card shows the passage of that night.

It's also interesting that this card seems so much more peaceful than the traditional "nightmare" on RWS clones. Ananda seems very much aware that his source of sorrow lies within. He is not frightened at all, but deeply sorrowful.