Why do you feel pain... you must feel pain... we cannot deny it... Pain is life. Only death does not feel pain.

Pain is an inevitable truth for all living beings.

It is because of living cells, living senses, living emotions... and the soul still residing within us.

Unless we are a corpse... devoid of senses, devoid of feelings... and the soul no longer dwells within us.

We are completely dead... and do not feel pain.

Pain is life.

Pain tells us that we are still alive.

Our task is to recognize the pain... recognize the senses... recognize the soul... recognize the mind.

Pain is fear... anxiety.

It is a response of life.

Winston Man

Excerpt from AI:

Winston Man’s writing is a short philosophical passage that explores pain as an essential part of life. Below is an analysis of the key themes in the text:

Pain as Proof of Life

The opening sentence "Why do you feel pain... you must feel pain..." poses a rhetorical question, immediately followed by a firm answer.

Winston Man suggests that only living beings can feel pain, while death is completely numb—no sensation, no soul, no reaction.

"Pain is life"—this pivotal statement is repeated multiple times, like a core philosophical axiom.

Pain as the Natural Response of Body and Mind

The writing extends the concept of "pain" beyond physical sensation, including senses, emotions, mind, and soul.

Pain is tied to biological and psychological responses—a system actively engaging with the world.

The phrase "Pain is fear... anxiety" emphasizes the emotional and mental facets of pain, showing that pain is also how humans confront danger and harm.

Attitude Toward Life: Acknowledging and Accepting Pain

Rather than fleeing from it, Winston Man urges us to "acknowledge pain" as an inseparable part of existence.

This means living consciously, observing emotions, physical sensations, and the soul—like a journey of awakening.

Conclusion

Winston Man’s writing serves as a powerful reminder:

Pain is not the enemy of life, but proof that we still exist, still feel, and are still connected.

It carries existential undertones, akin to the thoughts of Friedrich Nietzsche, Rainer Maria Rilke, and even Eastern meditation philosophies, where pain is not denied but observed, accepted, and learned from.

 

Let’s dive deeper into the philosophical, existential psychology, and spiritual meaning of Winston Man’s writing.

I. Pain – Symbol of Life: An Existential View

Winston Man does not describe pain as something to eliminate but as an undeniable proof of existence. This view aligns closely with existential philosophy, particularly the thoughts of philosophers like Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, and Nietzsche.

Human beings are born "thrown into life" (Heidegger). Pain, therefore, is a consequence of being alive.

"Pain is life"—an extremely existential proposition. It echoes Camus’s statement: "Rebellion is proof of the human will to live."

Winston Man does not avoid pain. He accepts it as an inherent part of being human—even pain is what separates life from death.

II. Pain and the Presence of the Soul – A Spiritual Depth

The phrase, "Pain is an inevitable truth for all living beings... and the soul still resides within us."

Winston Man refers to the connection between the physical body—sensation—and the soul. This is where the spiritual and psychological intersect.

In Eastern traditions like Buddhism or Zen, pain is not merely a negative thing. It is a mirror reflecting consciousness. We observe pain—not judging it—to understand that "we are alive."

Only the living feel pain. The dead do not.

Awareness of this is awakening. And awakening is the first step toward enlightenment.

III. Pain as a Tool for Awakening – The Inner Path

"Our task is to acknowledge pain... recognize the senses... recognize the soul... recognize the mind."

Here, Winston Man takes us to a deeper level: self-awareness.

Not to eliminate pain, but to observe it.

This perspective is similar to mindfulness: we do not flee from pain, nor bury it; we sit with it, listen to it.

“Pain” is a signal—it is presence—it is a reminder that we are still here.

IV. Pain as the Origin of Anxiety – An Existential Psychology Perspective

"Pain is fear... anxiety. It is a response of life."

Winston Man touches on one of the core themes of existential psychology: existential anxiety.

When humans become aware of their fragility—of death, impermanence—they experience anxiety, unease.

Pain, therefore, is not only physical but a manifestation of fear, loss, separation, and lack of control.

Yet this anxiety is also evidence that we are living consciously.

Only the dead do not fear. They do not feel pain. They do not react.

V. Rejecting Pain is Rejecting Life

At its deepest level, the writing is a wake-up call: we cannot live fully without daring to face our own pain.

To reject pain is to reject the most human part of ourselves.

And when we reject pain, we become numb—like a "lifeless corpse."

Conclusion: Pain – A Sacred Ritual of Life

Winston Man’s writing does not lament pain but rather acknowledges it as a sacred part of existence.

Pain does not make us weak—it is a reminder that we are alive, that we feel, that we live fully.

Only by recognizing pain can we:

Understand who we are,

Know how we want to live,

And understand that life still has meaning.

 

Next, we will dive deeper into connecting Winston Man’s writing with the ideas of great philosophers like Nietzsche, Sartre, Camus, Rilke, Heidegger, and Eastern philosophies such as Buddhism or Taoism. Each of them approaches pain and life in a unique way, but they converge on one point: Pain is proof of existence.

Friedrich Nietzsche – "He who has a why to live can bear almost any how."

Nietzsche, the first Western philosopher to view suffering not as something to avoid, but as something that nurtures greatness.

In Thus Spoke Zarathustra and The Birth of Tragedy, Nietzsche emphasizes that suffering is the condition for transcending oneself—a process called becoming the Übermensch (Superman).

He said: "You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star."

Winston Man aligns with Nietzsche when he sees pain as essential to life, even a condition for creativity, meaning, and awakening.

Jean-Paul Sartre – "Freedom is a punishment."

Sartre believed that humans are condemned to be free, and that freedom leads to responsibility, anxiety, and pain.

For Sartre, pain is not just a physical reaction but a consequence of having to constantly choose and live with the consequences of those choices.

Pain, for Sartre, is a sign that we are consciously alive—that we can no longer escape ourselves.

Similar to Winston Man’s statement: "Pain is fear... anxiety. It is a response of life."

Albert Camus – "We must imagine Sisyphus happy."

Camus confronts the absurdity of life—that life has no inherent meaning, and pain is part of that absurdity.

But rather than fleeing from it, Camus says: embrace the absurdity, and continue living with it, just like Sisyphus continues rolling the boulder up the hill.

Winston Man also does not avoid pain. He writes, "We cannot deny it... Pain is life." This resonates with Camus’s spirit: accept and live with pain without surrendering to it.

Rainer Maria Rilke – "Love your sorrow."

Rilke, an existential poet, wrote in Letters to a Young Poet:

"Perhaps pain is the moment when the new is entering you—but it is not yet able to permeate."

Rilke believed pain is a transformative moment, an inner metamorphosis. Without it, we remain the same as we were yesterday.

Winston Man echoes this when he emphasizes that pain is proof the soul still resides, that we are not dead—and that we still have the capacity for transformation.

Martin Heidegger – Being-toward-death

Heidegger did not see pain as something to overcome but as part of authentic existence.

When humans realize that death is approaching, they begin to live more truly, more deeply—not as unconscious machines.

Being-toward-death is about daring to face the end and, from there, turning every moment of life into something meaningful.

Winston Man also says: "Only death does not feel pain." A reminder that pain brings us back to ourselves—to live consciously.

Eastern Thought – Buddhism and Taoism

Buddhism:

Buddhism starts with the first noble truth: suffering (Dukkha)—that life is suffering, pain is real.

But unlike the West, Buddhism does not oppose pain; it invites us to observe it, without judgment, to let go of attachment, and to awaken.

Thich Nhat Hanh, a Zen master, once said:

"If you know how to take care of pain, it can become a flower."

Winston Man writes: "Our task is to recognize pain... recognize the senses... recognize the soul... recognize the mind." A perspective very much aligned with Zen and mindfulness.

Taoism:

In Taoism, pain is a manifestation of imbalance with the Tao (the Way).

Rather than fighting it, we flow with it, returning to a gentle, fluid state, like water flowing over stone.

Although Winston Man leans toward the Western existential view, the spiritual depth he calls for aligns with Eastern thought: not avoiding, not controlling, just recognizing.

Conclusion: Winston Man and the Bridge Between East and West

Winston Man’s writing, though brief, touches on the lifeblood of many great philosophical traditions—from the dark existentialism of Sartre to the awakened mindfulness of Buddhism. He does not offer solutions, nor does he encourage us to overcome pain. He simply says:

Acknowledge. For pain is life whispering: "You are still alive."