full acceptance of physical pain

[AdamR95]

Are you able to fully accept physical pain? I can accept emocional stuff easily but when it comes to severe physical pain i suffer through it. Is it possible to transcend pain trought concentration? I would like to know if someone of you can do that and could give me some tip or advise about how to develope this skill.

[X_X]

Pain × Resistance = Suffering

Pain x 0 Resistance = 0 Suffering

It's an ability you can train by decreasing your general resistance to things. A deliberate practice can be strong determination sitting meditation for long time, another is physically hurting yourself and working on letting go of resisting it eg. Cold showers, or wipping yourself. As it gets easier over time you might notice your general awareness level in your everyday life is increased. 

Edited November 13, 2020 by X_X

[X_X]

Another general rule is the higher your awareness the more you can tolerate. If it's high enough you may be able to perceive pain for what it really is. Just a sensation that's neither good nor bad.

Edited November 13, 2020 by X_X

[Origins]

Yes exactly, all this resilience, determination stuff is nonsense when we realise we're just training certain aspects of ourselves (i.e. brain regions and so on). 

Resilience/related is not complicated, mysterious, only for certain people, etc and is merely the case of doing something very simple like seeing something difficult and trying to do it. Again. And again. And again. Until you build the muscles necessary to do it, muscles which can come in the form of physical strength or they can come in the form of mental strength.

I have no idea what the difference between mental and emotional strength is really, I'm sure there is, but that distinction is very fine that neither mental or emotional strength should be ignored when considering either.

People come up with all sorts of tricks to get them to do things from punishment to reward but its all nonsense at the end of the day, just get up and do it, its just a muscle so treat it no differently, get up and do it, in a weeks time and every week thereon out you'll be stronger and stronger for it.

Mental toughness is honestly one of if not the easiest thing to make stronger overtime. Which is great of course because its not often that building something is so straightforward and yet so useful across literally every other domain we're approaching.

The only thing mysterious about mental toughness is that its not mysterious at all, people have just been so brainwashed by so much nonsense that they have no idea just how straightforward this is. It's as simple as seeing a brick wall and beginning to punch it [not too hard of course to begin with] to build resilience from increased bone strength, focus, emotional resilience and so on overtime.

Do it.

Edited November 13, 2020 by Origins

[aurum]

@AdamR95

I had a deep experience of this while doing Strong Determination Sitting.

It was during my 10 day Vispassana retreat, which meant that my body was really starting to ache. I really thought I was going quit in the middle of the SDS session, but instead what happened was my resistance just dropped to nothing.

It was the most bizarre experience. I still could feel most of the sensations we associate with pain. And yet, mentally it felt like I could have sat there for another hour no problem. Pain, but no suffering.

I concluded that pain and suffering must therefore be separate phenomena. And that much of what we think of negatively as "pain" is really extra layers of suffering we add on through resistance.

So yes, I think it is possible to fully accept physical pain. I think it's possible to fully accept anything.

Which is NOT the same thing as saying that it's easy. Or that if you start cutting me with a knife I'll just sit there.

It is to say a different state of consciousness is possible.

[kag101]

I think it depends on the kind of pain.

I tend to be somewhat hypochondriac, so oftentimes I feel some bodily discomforts that are simply BS. In reality, they're just some tiny little things that -- because I am aversed to pain -- I hyperfocus on it and therefore it grows.

If you're talking about real physical pain, then I believe it's possible to increase your tolerance to it. But fully conquering is utopic, imo. Unless you're Peter Ralston, lol.

In Kung Fu, they train to endure discomfort by, for example, breaking a brick with your own head.

[Ibgdrgnxxv]

Whether you accept it or you don't, pain is still pain. 

Might as well be calm with it. 

[aurum]

2 hours ago, Ibgdrgnxxv said:

@aurum that could be dangerous. The pain is there for you to act on it. Unless if its something that you can't do anything about. 

Mentally you think you're fine but your body is suffering. 

I didn't see it as dangerous. I could still feel pain and I agree with you that pain is good. That's why I talking about separating pain and suffering.

[Shin]

Not only you can separate oain and suffering, but you can realize that pain is ecstasy.

In one of the most lucid dream I ever had, a vampire was eating my face, but there was no pain, only ecstasy.

I guess that happens the moment you accept whatever happens so much, that you love it to death, even in the most «horrific» scenario.

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