Is Pain a Catalyst?

I was in the chat in my early morning on my phone and read an interesting conversation between e Edan and Hyrum Trigerpice. I do admit I was lost from time to time but I gained a little insight here and there. I left just after Hyrum posted about his pain giving him compassion, at least that is how I read it. Then I thought about all the pain physically and mentally I have been put through. I began to wonder if it takes great pain and suffering to give great empathy and compassion. What do you think?

I really think it depends on the person. For some, pain seems to become a reason to put up a wall and shut people out. They blame everyone else and expect others to have compassion for them without reciprocating.
For others, going through an experience can open their eyes and help them understand the pain of others.
I don't think one necessarily needs pain to become compassionate though; experience is not the only thing that influences what we are like as people.

As another example to explain edan's point, for an empathic person, the pain of others can also be a catalyst for passion to act as well.

Everything we feel can be turned to a positive outlet...depends on how a person uses it. One can fling poo at people or fertilize their garden.

How else does a child know what "hot" is without actually experiencing it? Sure...we as parents could try and explain it...instill fear of it "Don't touch!!! The stove is hot!! Owie! Bad!" But it is no different then trying to explain to a blind person from birth what the color of the sky is....it's just one of those things you got to experience on your own.

As adults....we learn to appreciate things more through the experiences we endure. They just become more refined and bigger in spirit as we grow. Sometimes it can be overwhelming.... Too much....sometimes....it is the lesson we need to make a bigger difference. Just depends on you and what you choose.

I have to agree with Edan. It really depends on the person. I know there's a lot of people out there who are very compassionate and didn't have to earn that with pain. On the other hand, I thought I was a compassionate person, but once I experienced a lot of pain from my car accident and various surgeries afterwards, I'm much more so.

Sometimes you have to know suffering in order to appreciate how much others are suffering.

I have more than an average amount of experience with pain and can say pain is like a whetstone. It can sharpen you or grind you down. It depends on the pressure.

I began to wonder if it takes great pain and suffering to give great empathy and compassion. What do you think?

I don't think so but maybe. Some people are more empathic & compasionate naturally, some people (like me) have to work on it and some people are dense insentive. Any life event large or small can change us. I hope for most, pain isn't one of them but it could be.

Now having said that I don't like to see anyone or thing suffer. I don't know if it's a result of my physical pain or just my natural response. I think for most it is our natural response as it supports the survival of our species.

I think that Buddha guy got it right. There appears to be lots of types of suffering:
Inherited suffering:

Birth (jāti): the discomfort of birth and experiencing the world for the first time; and the discomfort of relating to new demands or experiences.
Old age (jarā): the discomfort involved in the process of aging and growing old; this can apply to psychological as well as physical discomfort of aging.
Sickness (byādhi): the discomfort of physical or psychological illness.
Death (maraṇa): includes the pain of separation and not being able to continue on in your endeavors, as well as the physical discomfort of dying.

Suffering between the periods of birth and death:

Getting what you don't want: being unable to avoid difficult or painful situations.
Not being able to hold onto what is desirable: the pain of trying to hold onto what is desirable, lovely, splendid, terrific.
Not getting what you do want: this underlies the previous two categories; the anxiety of not getting what you want.

General misery:

All-pervasive suffering: a very subtle dissatisfaction that exists all the time; it arises as a reaction to the qualities of conditioned things (e.g. the impermanence of things).

Anyway, the Buddha goes on to tell you how to deal with it:
The truths are as follows:

The Truth of Dukkha is that all conditional phenomena and experiences are not ultimately satisfying;
The Truth of the Origin of Dukkha is that craving for and clinging to what is pleasurable and aversion to what is not pleasurable result in becoming, rebirth, dissatisfaction, and redeath;
The Truth of the Cessation of Dukkha is that putting an end to this craving and clinging also means that rebirth, dissatisfaction, and redeath can no longer arise;
The Truth of the Path Of Liberation from Dukkha is that by following the Noble Eightfold Path—namely, behaving decently, cultivating discipline, and practicing mindfulness and meditation—an end can be put to craving, to clinging, to becoming, to rebirth, to dissatisfaction, and to redeath.