Painful Joy

The Chinese phrase "tung-kuai" consists of two words that literally mean "pain" and "joy." The phrase refers to a feeling of extreme happiness—sort of, "I'm so happy it hurts!" Master Cheng once analyzed it as follows: There are two Chinese phrases that incorporate the word tung ("pain"); one is tung-kuai ("painful joy") and the other is tung-ku ("painful bitterness"). When confronting "painful bitterness," if you can view the pain as a transitory misfortune, then eventually the pain will subside as the misfortune fades away. The pain of illness can actually bring forth a kuai ("joy") that naturally returns when the misfortune is gone.