How To Stop Creating Physical Pain?

[Nexeternity]

Does anyone know?   I heard about it from Leo and read about it from Peter Ralston.  Supposedly you can somehow realize how you are creating the pain and choose to stop doing it.   Like turning off the mechanism that creates it.

Does anyone have any insights about this?  I had this blister on my foot for a week and the most I could do is try to sink my awareness into the pain to see what would happen.  Im not sure it did anything though.  

The one thing Ive noticed as I grow older is that I actually enjoy pain somewhat.  Like the sharp feeling of getting burned, or stubbing my toe...   The strong sensations feel so alive.  Sounds kind of masochistic but its not that.

Would be nice to turn it off on command though 

[Visitor]

Pain is inevitable, suffering optional.

Depending on the definition, pain is a stimulus for body survival reasons. In itself it is neurological signal which, without a story attached to it (meaning), it becomes a curious, seemingly high frequency, sensation. Without the story, there is no pain or suffering.

It is the story we have about that particular sensation, or pain, that turns it into suffering. Stories like: "It hurts; I am in pain; I cannot stand it anymore; I need a pain-killer"; etc.

Try not to have a story about it. Accept it.

Edited May 7, 2017 by Visitor

[kieranperez]

 

[Shadowraix]

Since I was a kid I have been able to use thought to increase pain tolerance. Its hard to explain personally but I sort of just to acknowledge the pain as a sensation that is occurring and not something bad that should be prevented. The worse the pain, the harder it is for me to do this, but it was a nice trick as a kid when people loved to test each others pain threshold.

[Nahm]

@Nexeternity Look into CIPA, epigenteics, and mind body interventions. There’s some research out there and some related practices. 

[SoonHei]

Question.

And I'm going extreme here to try and fully get a black and white answer.

Is it possible for a fully deeply enlightened being to "love/fully accept" physcial pain/torture?

 

Like if some opposition to the enlightened person kidnaps him, and ties him up and then starts to cut his fingers one by one. Can that physical pain be transcended in theory?

I recall reading some story of a guy back in 900 A.D. who became enlightened and was executed for his "ridiculous" claims - misunderstood that he was saying that he is God...

But yeah, Mansur Al Hajjaj I think his name

Here's one version of his execution. Very powerful.

They cut his hands, he laughed, they asked him why are you laughing?

He replied: it’s easy to cut the hands of a prisoner, if you are a real man cut my hands of reaching higher (spiritually higher, God or something like that).

They cut his feet, he laughed and said : I walk on earth with this feet, if you can, cut my feet by which I travel beyond this earth.

Then he daub his face with his blood, they asked why are you doing this? he replied: I’m bleeding and my face is pale, I don’t want you to think that my paleness is because I’m afraid.

Then they cut out his eyes, his tongue, nose, and before cutting his head he smiled and died finally.

 

I guess depending on the level of dis-attachment from the body-mind, pain can be transcended?

The body will wear down n break as a robot might when u are hammering away at it. But no Trouble of pain...

Edited August 30, 2018 by SoonHei
grammar correction and underlining. formatting

[Enlightenment]

Monks can enter into Niroda Samapatti and be burned to ashes without even flinching, so yea you can definitely transcend all pain, be free of all suffering, but it's really hard to do.

[PsiloPutty]

@SoonHei   That story is gonna give me nightmares!   

[SoonHei]

@PsiloPutty i hope nightmares leading to deep insights  

[How to be wise]

@Nexeternity wouldn’t it be nicer if you could turn off all your negative emotions. That’s something you can do. As for the physical pain, it will feel a lot better if you didn’t have any negative emotions in your life. So now you know what to work on.

Edited August 30, 2018 by How to be wise

[archi]

I realized that pain (having lots of pain in prolonged meditation) is a great tool for meditation as an object of meditation, just note pain(s) and watch its impermanence.

Also, as Leo mentioned use it as a tool for strong determination practice. 

It also goes in line with D. Ingram's book - Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, which has at least 4 stars for me.

Edited August 30, 2018 by archi

[Leo Gura]

Strong Determination Sitting is a good way to work on consciousness of pain.

This isn't easy to do, but try to sit for so long that you get to the point where the excruciating pain of your sit turns into pleasure. It's a very distinct inflection point that happens during long, serious sits.

As you sit there in pain for an hour or more, you have ample time to contemplate: What is pain? What is suffering?

With pain and suffering it's very important to try to contemplate it WHILE IT IS HAPPENING, not after the fact. This cuts through speculation and theorizing.

My guess is, you'd have to be pretty deeply enlightened to be able to deconstruct pain in the way Ralston talks about. Because so long as the ego is intact it will bitch and whine and moan and resist too much. A deep surrender is required.

Ralston is talking about super-human levels of consciousness. So don't be discouraged if you can't get it fast.

[kieranperez]

4 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

This isn't easy to do, but try to sit for so long that you get to the point where the excruciating pain of your sit turns into pleasure. It's a very distinct inflection point that happens during long, serious sits.

As you sit there in pain for an hour or more, you have ample time to contemplate: What is pain? What is suffering?

With pain and suffering it's very important to try to contemplate it WHILE IT IS HAPPENING, not after the fact. This cuts through speculation and theorizing.

My guess is, you'd have to be pretty deeply enlightened to be able to deconstruct pain in the way Ralston talks about. Because so long as the ego is intact it will bitch and whine and moan and resist too much. A deep surrender is required.

Ralston is talking about super-human levels of consciousness. So don't be discouraged if you can't get it fast.

I feel like this has almost a direct explanation on why there are so many crazy stories in human history of people flagellating and pretty much full on torturing themselves. - Which is to say, they're torturing and flagellating themselves to get to the point that their consciousness and degree of mindfulness is so attuned to what's going on that they no longer are being tortured and are no longer suffering. 

[Robert]

@Nexeternity Don't put your hand on the hot stove.

[Crazy_Monkey_Brain]

@Leo Gura Leo in one of your older videos, I remember you talking about a man having very painful dental work, without any pain killers, how he sort of turned the pain into a joy, can you remember who this was? 

Hope you had a good day as a side note  

[Leo Gura]

@kieranperez Christian monks famously wore hairshirts -- shirts made out of coarse, itchy, irritating animal hair -- as a means of self-inflicted suffering for purpose of spiritual purification.

The reason spiritual traditions all over the world use suffering as spiritual practice is because it awakens the mind, while pleasure and comfort usually dulls the mind into unconsciousness.

Same idea as cold showers.

Of course this is often done is a dysfunction, pathological, moralistic manner, which is the opposite of consciousness.

[kieranperez]

2 hours ago, Crazy_Monkey_Brain said:

@Leo Gura Leo in one of your older videos, I remember you talking about a man having very painful dental work, without any pain killers, how he sort of turned the pain into a joy, can you remember who this was? 

Hope you had a good day as a side note  

He was talking about Peter Ralston

[Nahm]

On 8/30/2018 at 2:04 PM, SoonHei said:

Is it possible for a fully deeply enlightened being to "love/fully accept" physcial pain/torture?

 

Some more to consider...there are people born unable to feel any pain, and people born dispositioned to deriving pleasure from giving or receiving pain, and people born predispositioned to achieving sexual satisfaction through giving or receiving pain. 

Someone could certainly be born with a more typical pain sesitivity level who awakens to such a degree as to entirely transcend it, but you can’t know if they did this, or were born that way, or if it developed at a certain age on it’s own accord, or if they even actually understand with clarity how they themselves arrived there, or if they are being honest in their communication to you about it, albeit convincing as maya can be, or are not. In a sense, the depth of maya itself has the potential to cross over into being one’s own catalyst of long term pain and or suffering, without suspect.  I believe it’s transcendable with practices, but then there’s also a nonacceptance of what is  to contend with, which prior to, there was nothing to contend with. 

[Nahm]

@Artaemis Thought, duality, an “I”, now “is the experiencer” of the pain - the “I” who imposes a desired scenario, simultaneously screening what is now. Pain is a sensation in awareness, the “I” story added is suffering (denying what is / “out of the now, or actuality of the ‘situation’” lol. 

[DrewNows]

@Nahm I lub you Nahm! we both IS