“It was a true stroke of genius to measure suffering by degrees, to assign
different categories and limits. Some say that pain lasts forever and never
runs out; but I believe that past the 10th degree of my scale, all that’s left is
the memory of pain, hurting only in recollection. At the beginning of my
training I believed it was best to ascend the scale gradually. Very quickly I
found this to be a poor experience. The knowledge and perfection of pain
requires flexibility, a wise application of its categories and nuances, and an
arbitrary rehearsal of its degrees. To move with ease from the 3rd to the 8th
degree, from the 4th to the 1st, from the 2nd to the 7th, and then run
through them in rigorous ascending and descending order . . . I hate to
interrupt this interesting explanation, but there’s water beneath my feet.”