Sentient beings don't want pain on any level - physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. However, that is the one sure-fire experience of incarnates and is intricately laced within pleasure and other states of sensation.
Looking on the bright side, pain does present a viable alternative to the thinking, worrying mind. While most of us waste endless hours contemplating trivial matters or events of grave importance, the moment pain erupts due to injury, illness, or loss, all mundane concerns vanish. Pain puts us in the here and now; everything else recedes into the distance.
This is the gift of pain, and allowing oneself to experience the immediacy of the sensation is a built in meditation, courtesy of mother nature. As the mind surrenders to the call of immense discomfort, it ceases to be that which we must escape, and becomes on some profound level a friend that reminds us of the need for balance and mindfulness in all things.
Thus I contemplate as I rest with legs elevated, nursing a frayed tendon in my leg and grateful that the pain has brought me back from a labrynth of disembodied thoughts.
Looking on the bright side, pain does present a viable alternative to the thinking, worrying mind. While most of us waste endless hours contemplating trivial matters or events of grave importance, the moment pain erupts due to injury, illness, or loss, all mundane concerns vanish. Pain puts us in the here and now; everything else recedes into the distance.
This is the gift of pain, and allowing oneself to experience the immediacy of the sensation is a built in meditation, courtesy of mother nature. As the mind surrenders to the call of immense discomfort, it ceases to be that which we must escape, and becomes on some profound level a friend that reminds us of the need for balance and mindfulness in all things.
Thus I contemplate as I rest with legs elevated, nursing a frayed tendon in my leg and grateful that the pain has brought me back from a labrynth of disembodied thoughts.
What I refer to as the gift wrapped in shit!
ReplyDeletePain, as long as it is not unbearable, IS a gift. It enables us to detach our mind from thoughts that distract our focus on the source of the pain. In order to marshal the body's capacities for self-healing, we must be able to concentrate fully on what is aching and encourage our body to heal what is causing the pain. Relax into the pain and it will hurt less, and that also improves our concentration. Try it; it works.
ReplyDeleteGreat thoughts.
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