from Sayings of Paramahansa Yogananda
Man has falsely identified himself with the pseudo-soul or ego. When he transfers his sense of identity to his true being, the immortal Soul, he discovers that all pain is unreal. He no longer can even imagine the state of suffering.
Paramahansa Yogananda
Because of the beliefs we learn and incorporate into our lives, this could be hard to accept - that pain is unreal. Intellectually, I can understand this quote. If we are spiritual beings, part of the intelligent original Substance as Wattles called it, here in time and space having an adventure, then the pain is just part of the adventure. It is no more real than anything else here, certainly not as real as spirit.
Looking at it from that point of view, then I can understand what is said in this inspirational quote and agree with it. But this headache feels very real, or that bumped toe, or that aching knee, or so on.
Dyer suggests we look at our lives as spectators as a way of separating ourselves from ego and pain. The way I see it the real me is a spectator but I am playing this game. The pain and suffering are things I add to this game to make it more “fun” and more of an adventure.
In that light, as part of the game, it is real. But since it’s only part of a game, an adventure, it is not really real (are we getting lost yet?). This leaves it wide open as to how I want to handle it - as part of the game and “enjoy” the pain or as a spiritual spectator knowing it’s not real.
Tags: inspirational
2 responses so far ↓
1 Cruentos Solum // Jun 5, 2009 at 2:41 pm
‘Enjoy’ the pain or as a spiritual spectator ‘knowing’ it’s not real?
Are YOU for real?
Have you ever been stuck under a demolished home after an earthquake? Have you ever had your hands sawed by an industrial machine? Have you ever had your body pierced by bullets at 16+ rounds per minute? Have you ever had your belly sliced open by a homicidal gang member? Have you ever ‘experienced’ the joy coming out of being crushed between two vehicules as they collide with each other at 100 mph, coming from opposite directions?
If you say that pain is not real, then you have obviously no idea what reality is. Or should I say, that you have no idea what pain is. Because it’s UNPLEASANT, UNWANTED and catches you rather by SURPRISE! Because if it doesn’t, then the IDEA is to STAY AWAY FROM IT!
At any rate, that’s just MY opinion, and I’d like to think it’s a healthy opinion because I’ve never had the option of leaving this body and popping out for a quick breather when pain kicks in. At least not voluntarily and NOT when I wanted to anyways.
So I hope you keep it real and, when ‘researching’ theories about what we are and how we can deal with ‘reality’, to actually approach it from a ‘possible/impossible’ perspective. At least that way, when you think you’re a spirit and find yourself accused of theft in SAudi Arabia, you can perhaps defend yourself instead of trying the more ‘relatively relaxed’ approach of just waiting for the sentence to be carried out and actually ‘enjoying’ it. I think you’ll have a hard time achieving that. Believe me.
2 Unknown // Jan 22, 2011 at 5:32 pm
Honestly looking at the response and prior response consider the idea that even though pain can be as real as it seems, from birth we are given the idea that pain is unpleasant etc. but what if its all passed through genes and maybe pain isn’t as real as we think. Some researchers state that pain is actually an exceed of pleasure but to the amount where it hurts. So is it all in the brain or can we take control of it? Masters of Martial forms for example have trained their body and minds to not feel pain as a negative sensation but the complete opposite. This can cause some problems but if they can do it does that prove the whole statement of pain all being in the mind? Not physically as torturous as it seems?
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