Part of my self-training and self-discipline towards being a superior human being includes seeking out books that would otherwise be alien to me. This exercise stretches the imagination and requires an open mind, and it is something you should do. On just such an occasion I sought out a spiritual book. What? Me spiritual? Certainly not before reading The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. After reading and re-reading, I am no longer ashamed to call myself spiritual. If you have trouble calling yourself spiritual, consider maybe there is more to learn about what it means. You can shout “hokey new age nonsense” all you want, but there’s obviously some psychology here to be learned.
“Absorb what is useful, discard what is not, and add what is uniquely your own.”
– Bruce Lee
The Power of Now taught me quite a few things about people, my environment, and even myself. One of the most intriguing concepts was that of a “pain body.” A pain body is (and here I’m giving you my best interpretation) a negative “fingerprint” of painful feelings associated with past events. It is a like a bad spirit living inside a person that explodes when it perceives pain. Yeah, I don’t like using “spirit” to describe it either.
Let me state it again. A pain body is a programmed reaction within a person, that reacts negatively to familiar events it perceives. When the pain body is activated, it takes over and lashes out defensively, almost without logical explanation.
Here is a silly but accurate example. An example might be a woman asking you for your number. In response, you say with a smile, “I dunno. You aren’t a stalker are you?” It is a playful tease and misdirection, making the person work harder for your attention. It should go over well. But every once in a while you may get a very serious “if that’s the way it’s going to be” reaction. Chances are this person been accused of stalking, has been stalked, or identifies heavily with stalking or rejection. The joke was just too close to home, or rather too close to the pain body.
Years ago I had a very visceral reaction to an innocent joke, when I politely asked a girlfriend to walk over and help with something simple on the stove top. She (acting annoyed) jokingly said, “What are you, an invalid?” as she was getting up from her chair to help. Believe me, I knew it was a joke, but I dropped what I was doing and I started crying. Tears streamed down my face like someone turned on a faucet. I could barely lift my arms because they felt so weak. I couldn’t explain it. I felt like I was possessed. There was no active sobbing; just me standing there in disbelief, experiencing an acute sensation of mind and body separation. I reached up and touched my wet face to see if I was crying, much the same way that someone after a car accident would check themselves for head injuries.
Much of what pains us is deeply woven in identity. When you identify with something on some level, you make yourself a target. Picking a political party is an example of this. Think of all the flabbergasted [old or young] [democrat or republican] relatives that fight to the death over a simple opinion about President Obama. Without trying to sound too obvious, you may think a racist joke is funny, until the next joke targets a race you’ve identified with, and it changes your interpretation. Compliment something that someone has closely identified with, and you may elate them. We are limited by our identities.
One thing to keep in mind is that many of the words and concepts taught by Eckhart Tolle (and perhaps Buddhism) are merely signposts pointing toward something which does not really have a name. You don’t have to believe in the existence of pain bodies to believe the psychological phenomenon exists, whatever name you decide to give it. I personally withhold judgement and look toward Tolle’s teachings as a way to view life through a different lens and absorb details I would have otherwise missed.
Help me think more like this:
Buy The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment on Amazon.com