Pain : Real and Imaginary

You have met an over assertive person. He refuses to listen to your reasoning. His attitude towards you and the world in general is supercilious. You had a tiff with him. You are well brought up, you don't normally react vehemently. But your mind starts a torrent of profane abuses. You are so angry that your mind becomes violent. Now it starts hurting you physically. Your Blood Pressure has shot up, your pulse rate has risen, you start trembling. You realise that this man has in fact punished you physically using your own anger.

On such occasions your spiritual learning and practices should come in to play and help you. If you realise that without the help of your own mind, such a punishment cannot be metted out to you.

I witnessed a medical procedure called FNAC wherein very fine sharp needle was inserted deep inside the throat of a patient and the doctor rotated the needle inside the throat probing tissues. No anaesthesia and the patient felt the probing needle inside his throat. He was punched thrice in the area of examination. First think of the courage one has to summon when told that a fine needle will be inserted inside the throat. It will only be a small pricking, assures the doctor. But the pain is patient's. It is real. He has to endure the pain. Here also his mind has played a vital role. It has assured him that the doctor means no harm. It has helped him by distancing itself from his body. The doctor, the technician nurse, the ultra sound equipment, the bed he was lying in, the room, the pastel coloured curtains, air vent above blowing cool air pumped from a distant air conditioning plant; all looked surreal. So did the pain. It pained as though in a dream.


Here I recollect the advice of a jain monk. He advised not to have fear while facing problems for fear confounds the problem further. To have courage and faith to accept things that happen as it is which helps in overcoming the problem.