The Power of Now Part 2 of 5: Escape Your Pain
January 27, 2009 by dr. lam
After understanding that our egoic minds that rule our every moment is the source of our problems, we must then understand the effect that manifests through what Tolle calls the “pain-body”. He conceives of emotions as being a bodily response to our egoic mind (sounds a bit like Ruiz, huh?). When our mind thinks a certain thought, our emotion is a bodily response to that thought. For example, anger is a consequence of our egoic mind thinking that we have been hurt or how we can then return the favor. Our bodily literally shakes when we allow the mind to transform into the body. If we are not associated with our mind but leave our mind and our related ego, then we enter a deep consciousness that we discussed yesterday that permits us to then separate us from emotions that may ruin us. In short, our egoic mind drives our pain-body.
The reason that Tolle talks specifically about one emotion, pain, is that he would like us to escape the deepest negativity which is intimately tied with mind and body. He says that in Buddhist thought, enlightenment is simply defined as “the end of suffering”. Understanding that the further that we enter a deep state of consciousness, i.e., by entering deeply into the now and by not engaging in fruitless mind activity, we begin to relinquish the pain-body.
Our egoic minds drive us by fear. Ultimately, the fear is of our own self-destruction, the most unstated fear is our own death. For example, we insist on winning an argument and to defeat the other person. We fear failure. We do not allow us to be vanquished. Our egoic mind drives all of this emotion and compels us into a state of constant fear. By living fully in the moment and experiencing the now, we can begin to let go of the fears of the past and the future that drive us. Jesus said, “Love your enemies.” What he was essentially saying is when you let go of hate and your own ego, you have no enemies. You no longer see enemies all around you because you cannot be hurt in that you have freed yourself from the ego and thereby extinguished the pain-body.
Tomorrow we will talk more specifically of how to understand “now” in terms of a universal concept, time. That is my favorite idea that Tolle has presented.
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4 Responses to “The Power of Now Part 2 of 5: Escape Your Pain”
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I read the blog this morning and have been thinking about it throughout the day. I am going to buy this book; your blog and the Amazon excerpt are very seductive. I have to say: It’s a lot to take in. It’s a challenge to integrate these ideas, when one’s been taught to grow from pain and suffering. (Not to be confused with wallowing in same.)
Yes, this book probably should be read to take it all in. It needs to be absorbed. It is profound, and it has fundamentally shaped my outlook in a deep and unshakeable way. It will yours. I hope you continue to enjoy this week’s blogs.
Sam….My elder sister passed away last year ( 49 yrs old) with a glioblastoma on the brain stem, stage 4…..I tell you this because lifes pain teaches…I learned first that I had to stop the thinking process and the pattern I had developed in remembering our childhood and my sister.. I taught myself to watch and change the thought pattern when it came….to avoid the pain and meloncholy…I also learned from her to live in the moment and value each person in my life for what joy & friendship I shared with them…………..THEN someone gave me The Power of Now…..What an affirming book…
Thanks Ginger for sharing. I think your posting of your personal story will help others through their own very difficult situations in life and see the power of Tolle’s message to help them through that time. The book has certainly helped me calm the sea within me and to enter a deep sense of inner peace no matter what the travails are that surround me. I appreciate your time and honesty in writing your story.