Pain
 

Pain is good for a very simple reason.

The nature of people is to constantly seek pleasure and to avoid pain. But pain can actually help you grow more effectively. The self (you) are always looking for pleasure and avoiding pain, so when you start accepting pain, it means you can stop the egoic self concern from growing, that means you can access your power of perception without it being biased towards the reaction of pain.

This isn't self harm pain, this is all the pain you derive from apparent lack in your life. This pain which your self (ego) will do almost anything to avoid is actually a very good way to access your true state of manifestation and to see pain for what it is, a reactive ego bent on growth.

Existance is suffering, not because being alive hurts, but always trying to seek pleasure and avoiding pain means you are constantly out of balance with what is. The moment is perfect, there is no pleasure or pain there, it's the totality of the universe expressing itself.

When there is pain in your life, it's an opportunity for you to access the moment and bring it's power to the situation. Resisting pain is futile and expands ego and it aids in it's growth. Most people want manifestation to end pain (lack) but it's always a challenge, because we're not accepting pain, we're trying to avoid it with fear, anger and saddness, then we want thought, emotion and ego to fix the pain while all those things are actually aiding in it's growth.

Acceptance of what is right now, is true power. When you say yes to what is (pain) you bring an attention to it that allows the universe to operate. When you react to pain, you cut yourself off from your true power and expand your ego. Next thing you know that is how you define yourself, by the very pain you are trying to get away from.

Judge

True. I really like Eckhart Tolle's statement that "The ultimate purpose of psychological pain is to realign you with the present moment. You have to suffer until you realize that you don't need to suffer anymore.

What is Tolle saying?

Your entire life is trying to wake you up.

The universe (you) is saying....WAKE UP.

Suffering is a way to say....

Be ego, like it, love it, enjoy it.............

Never get lost in it.

You are now, be now.......what else is there.

Judge

I love that, Ralph.

Accepting pain. And not trying to avoid it. Very interesting :)

Now playing: Release the pain by Hatesphere from Something old...

My headache yesterday was really bad. But I think I know why I got it. I just have to make some really big lifestyle changes to avoid getting headaches...

I've read this post before...But right now was when I needed to hear this.

Thank you Judge :)

You are most welcome.

Pain is much better than pleasure as a way for you to take you attention to your present moment.

Pleasure is easy, it's a simple flow.

Pain is still flow, but much better at helping you access the now.

Use whatever conditions arise, there is your power.

Enjoy!
Judge

Wow... think of the unlimited potential & joyfulness when you welcome pain. :) :eek:

Warning Egoic statement: Makes you pity those who still continue to think pain is a bad thing that needs to be avoided.

What's the difference in accepting pain as a way to increase pleasure versus seeking pleasure? Would that be the same?

We seek pleasure (which supposedly is a bad thing to do too, accordingly) and then we are saying accept pain because we want less of it (same as we seek more pleasurable states, yes?).

I assume this pain is the psychological pain - not physical pain.

What's the practical way to not resist pain or to be able to accept it? If you feel pain, it's because you are resisting. What does it mean to accept it? Do you feel it more or less than when resisting? Practical examples needed.

It all sounds very nice and neat but really how is anybody doing this accepting of pain?

The funny thing about this is, that when you go into accept about the situation which brings you pain, it is not really painful anymore, just a situation which must be addressed in a responsible way.

RD

Do you have an example? What does one do to accept?

This is at least a part of it: YouTube - What you resist persist - Carl Yung

RD

Thank you for that link.

But if we focus on what we do want... isn't that just telling the universe to align with the 'lack'? Wanting something is display 'lack'... correct?

Really? In some ways, I find keeping my ego out of the pleasure quite difficult.

For me the the goal of accepting pain is to reach inner peace. Is inner peace pleasurable? Sure, it is a nice place to be, but when I think of seeking pleasure then it is a jumping up and down kind of pleasure.

What you resist persist.... Resistance is the opposite of accept. When you are in pain, the normal thing to do would be to resist the course of the pain... By doing that you feed the thought based pattern behind the pain and are virtually putting out fire with gasoline...

You don't "want" the pain to go away, but to accept or feel good with what is...

RD

Ok so heres a question then... I have acknowledged lately a seriously huge chunk of pain energy... But while I have that energy surging all around me,and I am present to the emotions etc I find it necessary to release that energy using that emotions energy to release it from my being... I kind of feel that acknowleging it does not give me the same sense of release as doing a full on purge. I was so present the other day during a cathartic moment that I had the foresight to want to see what that emotion looked like on my face.. I took several pictures during this purge. Very powerful stuff.I get the impression though that from other conversations I have been having and reading on here recently that the use of emotions only perpetuates it further. I am completely missing something here... It has certainly worked for me to use the emotions to release myself from pain. Perhaps this is just how I work...Clarity Please?

we seldom see eye to eye, most of the time, but i agree with your post this time. :3 :) relative to pain alone

pain is the mother of wisdom.

There is nothing wrong with expressing your emotions, it can be a good way to get them out of your system. Repressing or resisting them will build up inner pressure.

Especially women are good at repressing emotions until a point where the volcano erupts. At this point the trigger could have been a small unimportant thing, and nobody really understands the reason for a massive reaction :)

Tolle has a good one on emotions as well: YouTube - Emotions - www.eckharttolle.com

RD

This is so...so... true.

all these little things build up and then BAM.

Yes, pain can catalyze growth in ways that nothing else can.

I wrote about this in a recent blog post, called "The Acupuncture Perspective Of Pain."

I would translate though to: Resisting pain is futile and perpetuates the ego's defense mechanisms to avoid pain (which are based on dysfunctional beliefs).

That makes sense to me. I would stick to what works for you.

That emotions perpetuate themselves is somewhat of a myth to make people afraid of their emotions. If you fear the emotions, then you never allow yourself to get to root of your emotional responses, which are likely belief systems and assumptions, since emotion = thought + meaning (expressed as feeling).

Emotions can become perpetual when you don't fully express them or trace their beliefs/assumptions and then find constructive ways to learn from them.

I was listening to Christiane Northrup yesterday, and she talked about this in relation to menopause. :rolleyes: She said that it was because the progesterone was too low to "calm" the elder, and so they learn to speak their mind.

But, on the larger topic, Bill Harris has said that pain comes from resistance.... Try observing and accepting the pain, and it quickly diminishes. -- Think the egoic pain body is shy?:confused:

Tolle explains how to do this very well actually. Pain, all pain, localizes somewhere in the body. So when you are feeling sad, or worried, or whatever form of psychological pain, just observe how your body feels. He calls it observing your "pain body". When you are fully observing pain, fully aware of it, fully feeling it, you are in a non-resistance mode. Meditation is one way to do it.

I know. Sounds pretty esoteric to those of us who've been taught to pop pills at the first sign of pain.

Excellent example! Now I recall a couple sources of that very idea. However these ideas seem like how to process pain, rather than how to be in acceptance.

In rebirthing the technique is to "breath" into a pain spot in your body. This is usually done with a practitioner doing some guiding or just listening, encouraging. I guess to breath into a pain is to imagine the inhale to fill that area and then the exhale to deflate it(?) Frequently Asked Questions | Rebirthing-Breathwork with Leonard Orr: Official Website


Another one I can't source. But the technique was to qualify the pain spot. Like if your lower back hurt, you'd first answer "how big is it?" with specifics of dimension. Then "where is it?" with specific location. "What color is it?" "How hot or cold is it?" I wish I could remember where I heard this one. I think then you'd start at "how big is it" and run through the questions a total of 3 times.

My take on this would be to approach your feelings in a responsible way. It's one thing to let your body purge feelings in a natural safe way - but another to egg it on and inflate the drama of it.

It's amzing how pain is perfect to bring you to the present moment. All I do when I feel anxious is stop thinking and be aware the feeling inside my body. If I cant stop thinking, I try to be concious of my breathing which gradually stops my thought patterns. Afterwards all I do is be aware.

Works wonders!

The more I read about 'the Now', the better I understand and the better im able to apply it practically. (Doesnt need to be spiritual :rolleyes:)

But of course dont look at this as personal development because I thought that once... and almost gave up. :D