The Nature of Pain



EGOIC MIND: I feel like I was lead astray yesterday … first there was this “awareness” that there are spots (places? perspectives?) that I could move to that would be completely absent of pain, even if for only fleeting moments at a time.  I was able to shift back and forth to and from these locations (which often moved from one area to another) seamlessly all throughout the day.  My confidence was high by the evening when I began to get a “headache” on my left side.  For the first few hours of the night, I could manipulate the pain sensation, just as I had been during the day.  There was NO PROBLEM.  When I went to bed, I noticed the pain increasing and decided to take a Tylenol.  But the pain kept getting worse and worse until finally my whole system was activated and there was nothing I could do – for two hours I tried “moving the energy”, shifting to a place outside of the pain”, EFT and prayer.  Nothing seemed to work.  The pain and general experience was identical to the facial burning episodes but in this case it was a unilateral pain along the left trigeminal nerve.  No burning, just intense unrelenting pain.  Now what am I suppose to do.

Gnani: Now?  Be present.  Is there pain or burning now that is intense and unbearable?

EGOIC MIND: No,  there is remnants of both mild burning and a low level of pain.  But I feel I have to DO something to have a better set of tools for any future episodes.  This was unbearable and I simply can not keep falling into this pain vortex unprotected.

Gnani: There is no cookbook with recipes to follow that will eliminate the pain and suffering.  Do you know where pain comes from?  Do you understand the root of pain?  Focus your attention of the root cause – forget about fixing the surface problems – go deeper and when you think you have reached the source … go deeper still.  Your answer lies in the nature of the pain not in its explanation.

Egoic Mind: I see what the thoughts do.  I can feel their negative effects on my body.  But I am not always able to stop them before they have turned my system into a chemical storm.  What can I do?

Gnani: Once you know the thoughts as unreal it will not matter what they do or how often they arise.  If you truly know them to be false, then they become background noise, much like the lawnmower you can faintly hear now down the street.  There is no need to change the thought.  Look deeply into the nature of the thought.  See it for what it is, then there will be no need to DO anything.

Egoic Mind: But they seem so real.  I do in fact believe them, at least at times I do.  I get swept up in their story and I am a million miles away before I realize what I have done.  Always believing that I am not strong enough.  That I should be doing something different.  That someone needs to rescue me from this pain and suffering.

Gnani: When you are seeking refuge turn to The Buddha, look to God, seek communion with the Universe … Brahman is present and you are Brahman.  The egoic mind cannot rescue you from the illusion that it has created.  Pray.  Pray.  Pray.

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