A Sufi story
There was a man who was asleep and he happened to swallow a venomous creature, a snake. It got stuck in his throat.
He got up in a sort of delirium and started to cough and shake himself. He tried to get rid of the affliction, which he did not fully understand.
At that moment a man on a horse was passing by and saw at a glance what had happened.
He immediately raised his whip and started to beat the man black and blue, raining down upon him blows without mercy.
The half-crazed patient tried to cry out to him to stop, but could not get the words out. He ran, writhed on the ground, rolled over. But the blows did not cease and his strength to bear those blows only increased.
The horseman said not a word.
Eventually, with a mighty heave, the poisonous animal was thrown up by the protesting stomach of the afflicted man. It fell to the ground and slithered away.
The horseman, without a word, spurred his horse and rode away.
Only then did the other man realize that what seemed to him an unjustified assault in his misery had, in fact, been the only way in which he could be rid of the creature before the venom was injected into his system.
This story tells us the real significance of pain and suffering. They could be blessings in disguise.
Sleeping man is a man steeped in ignorance. He is not aware. Such a man becomes an easy victim of impure dark energy. Although he does not fully understand the play of subtle energy and forces, he starts making small attempts to improve his condition. But suddenly a Force much more powerful comes as if to torture him further. Ultimately, the torture is found to be a necessary procedure to purge out the darkness within. .
Sometimes when we ourselves are incapable of getting rid of darkness within us, the Universe comes with a thunderbolt. When the lighting strikes, our reality shakes. But it ends up igniting a fire within us. In its light the darkness slowly disappears. We, like the afflicted man, realize the meaning of suffering once we emerge from it purer, and possibly with a deep sense of gratitude for such an opportunity given to us to evolve.