How do I let the timeless, eternal ‘I’ encounter the time and space-bound I? When the latter is in physical pain, for instance, how do I replace it with the pain-free I? The ‘I’ that does not know pain?
There is no ‘replacing’ as such. There is only the giving up of the illusion that the other I exists.
But the other I does exist.
Who or what is feeling the pain?
The physical I.
And who or what has identified the physical I?
The physical I. It has identified itself.
And where is this physical I that has identified itself?
In the mind.
Is it physical?
No. It is that part or form of mind that identifies with the physical body.
Is there a part of the mind that does not identify with the physical body? That is merely aware of the physical body and of the part of the mind that identifies with the physical body?
Yes.
Now, when you rest in that part of the mind, in that Awareness, do you feel pain?
It is not easy to get into that part of the mind, into that Awareness or stay there for any length of time.
Here is one way of doing it. Go into the pain and go deeply into it. Become aware of it in all its vectors, all its elements. Do that.
I noticed that in order to go deeply into the pain, I had to leave something behind. When I was able to name it, I realized it was my attitude towards the pain that I had to leave behind and when I did, I could feel sensations in that part of my body but I didn’t feel any pain any longer.
As you left behind your attitude towards pain, you entered into that part of your mind that does not identify with your body. You entered the state of Awareness which does not know pain and has no memory at all of anything including pain. This is the timeless I. So, you realize that you can feel sensations without feeling pain and you realize that pain is made up of attitude which arises from memory. This arousal of negative attitude within memory is Resistance. And the interesting thing is that you’re not resisting pain since pain is the resistance itself but you are resisting Awareness. Let me explain.
Awareness is like the ocean in which all sorts of things can be found, both visible to the naked eye such as detritus and invisible to the naked eye such as microorganisms. If, as a wave in the ocean, you resist the flow of these objects in the ocean, you are in fact resisting the flow of the ocean. Now, resisting the flow of the ocean comes at a cost. It is painful. Whereas, if you simply let Awareness (the ocean) and all that rises and falls within in to continue to do so, while you may feel sensations, there is no resistance and therefore, no more pain.
The body-identified I has a history of experiences including thoughts, feelings and sensations as well as attitudes and responses towards these experiences. That history is its memory. In what occurs as a new event such as a fall, the sensations that result from the fall arouse the memory in which the entire bundle of thoughts and feelings which make up attitudes is also activated. This sets off the usual resistance, which has become an automatic and unconscious response. That resistance prevents you from being in a state of Awareness.
You can lower that resistance by taking deep breaths and/or by going deeply into the pain and looking at it as if for the first time. What you will actually be looking at is not the pain itself since pain is the resistance, but the sensations that are happening in that part of the body. You will see them as if for the first time, noticing their form, their duration, their intensity, their quality and so on. You may, at the same time, also notice thoughts and feelings associated with your current experience.
Effectively, you are entering into a state of purer and purer Awareness having left behind your attitude and memory of pain and the automatic reaction of Resistance. In this way, you have given up the illusion of the body-identified I and have come to rest in the timeless I or Awareness.
Now, see if you can apply this to emotional pain.
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