new fortune.

diff --git a/database/fortunes.dat b/database/fortunes.dat
index cd2a230c93ccf7800cb13ad29c583e27a4ee62db..4b240fb40c58c94cbcc198e8b4a5bdd5b9b9d4cc 100644 (file)
--- a/database/fortunes.dat
+++ b/database/fortunes.dat
@@ -38491,5 +38491,21 @@ Nothing will improve, he says, unless we become more intelligent about cause
 and effect.  This is a message worth considering seriously.
   -- Pema Chödrön, from "No Time to Lose: A Timely Guide to the Way of the
      Bodhisattva".
-
-
+~
+  Shantideva cites three benefits of pain.  First, it is valuable because
+through sorrow, pride is driven out.  No matter how arrogant and condescending
+we’ve been, great suffering can humble us.  The pain of a serious illness or
+loss of a loved one can be transformative, softening us and making us less
+self-centered.
+  The second benefit of pain is empathy: the compassion felt for those who
+wander in samsara.  Our personal suffering brings compassion for others in the
+same situation.  A young woman was telling me that when her baby died, she
+felt a deep connection to all the other parents who had lost children.  This
+was, as she put it, the unexpected blessing of her sorrow.
+  The third value of suffering is that evil is avoided and goodness seems
+delightful.  When we practice according to Shantideva’s instructions, we can
+get smarter about cause and result.  Based on this understanding, we’ll have
+less inclination to cause harm, and more desire to gather virtue and benefit
+others.
+  -- Pema Chödrön, from "No Time to Lose: A Timely Guide to the Way of the
+     Bodhisattva"