According to Tolle, the painbody is made of negative energy stored in the body as a result of past traumas and become entities in their own rights. Until either ego transcendence or integration, these fragmented part of our personalities take possession of someone's thoughts and emotions through a trigger. Here is quote by Eckhart Tolle which just caught my attention: To me, it comes extremely close from this quote here by Carl Jung, who's known for popularizing shadow work: Does anyone have an idea how shadow work and the concept of painbody are connected together? Shadow work seems to me basically focused on a technic on how to get the stored energy out through removing the veil between the conscious and the unconscious, while the painbody theory describes the possession of an individual through that energy. Any other thoughts?