Pain is Life

Whatever is here is Life.
-Eckhart Tolle

I like to hear that when I go into my 16th day with this pain that ebbs and flows in intensity as so many so called 'problems' do. I like to think that the challenge is helping me to evolve to get deeper into my understanding of what is really important.  I do like to see how much I have actually grown in this area.

The Old Way of Dealing With Pain

There was a time when I would have been pretty freaked out by the pain (and the other symptoms that are taking place with it).  I would spend my time resisting it...shouting out, "Why are you doing this to me now? On top of everything else you have to lay this on me!  Haven't I got enough to deal with?"

I would have tensed up when it increased in intensity resisting it physically as well as mentally.  I would have curled up in a ball.  I would have paced (okay I do pace a bit when the intensity increases lol).  I would have moaned and groaned.

I would have denied what my rational mind and knowledge base  was saying about it.  I would over dramatize it when I could deny no longer.  I would have created a lot of story around it, a lot of "Oh no...this could be really, really bad! But I am stuck with it...look what I have been  through before when I tried to get help for pain...I can't go through that again. I won't get help for this so why bother."

I would have made an enemy of this pain, struggling and fighting against it.  I would therefore have been pushing against  each  moment I experienced the pain in or I would have  been waiting impatiently for that moment to be over. By so doing I would have made an enemy, not only out of it, but out of Life. Because whatever is here...is Life.  Pain is here in this moment.  Pain is Life.

It just is

The pain is.  It is a part of my moment and a part of my life.  I know that it, in itself, is not a problem.  I make it a problem when I resist it. So I am not resisting it.

When we allow pain into our experience, be it physical or emotional, we deal with it a lot differently than we would if we resist it. We open up to it and we can learn from it.

Become friendly with the 'isness' of whatever it is that is arising in the present moment instead of internally arguing with it, complaining about it, denying it, mentally projecting yourself elsewhere or getting very unhappy about it. (Tolle, Aging Consciously, 2019)

Pain can bring us closer to that place of true understanding the exists beyond the physicality of things.  Physical pain, when it gets intense,  can do this because it is so physical.  It is often hard to deny its presence or to think beyond it when it hits the 8 or 9 on the pain scale. The body can become loud. It is then we must do two things if we want to deal with it consciously: overcome it or transcend it.

Overcoming Pain

We can overcome it to some degree (or at least diminish its intensity) by relaxing into it as much as possible.  Once we stop resisting it ( resistance  is where most of the tension comes from) and just accept it into our moment, we relax a bit.  Once we exchange the thought:"This shouldn't be happening" for ... "It should be happening because it is."...the struggle ceases to overwhelm us and we are just left with the pain.  Pain without struggle and without thought is a lot easier to deal with than pain wrapped in tension and resistance.  Pain may actually go away. We can over come.

Transcending Pain

We can also transcend pain.  When we transcend physical pain, we may not necessarily stop pain from making its noise within our bodies but we find a way to detach from  the  noise of the body and the chatter the mind makes about it.  Very advanced yogis do this all the time: They are able to meditate for hours in the freezing cold, able to lay on a bed of nails, walk through burning coals, go days without eating or drinking.  It can be done...Even in the secular sense people can be anesthetized without a drop of anesthetic through something called "White Glove Anesthesia". 

Though I am certainly not there...I intend to hit the Tylenol big time when it gets bad or go running for help if it gets any worse...it is hopeful to note that it can be done.  We can actually transcend pain by using that higher part of ourselves.

Still  May Need Help

I am not suggesting by any means that we ignore our pain and suck it all up.  Pain is often an urgent communication from the body that something needs to be looked at.  On the esoteric level...sure it may have deeper significance...but on the physical level, where  most of us still are, it is a cry that needs to heard.

 My new understanding of things is not making me stupid lol...I know that pain is my body's way of being heard. Something is going on in there. I know I am far from Yogi status.  I am listening and will do something about it. I will seek help .  I won't run in a panic but I will gradually make my way there.

In the mean time, I will learn and I will teach.  That is why I share this experience with you.  Pain offers an amazing teaching and learning tool for all of us, regardless of where we are in this process of waking up.

Need to See Things Differently

We need to look at the world differently.  Pain is a part of that world.  We cannot stop pain from entering our lives but we can change the way we look at it and the world at large.

What the world [pain] is, is but a fact.  You cannot choose what this should be. But you can choose how you would see it.  Indeed, you must choose this. ACIM:TM:11:1:9-11

All is well.