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 the state of witness and pain
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Ananda

3115 Posts

Posted - Aug 18 2008 :  03:02:45 AM  Show Profile  Visit Ananda's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Message
hello everyone,

i've been out of a serious tragedy that occured in my family this last week.

and i must admit if it wasn't for the state of witness i would've felt down on my knees like the rest of my family but instead i was very supportive and up to the task at hand.

and i was the witness of pain and all my other emotions and my ego was under control with everything that came along with it.

now the reason i'm posting this is to see others opinion on the nature of pain.

is it a burner of karma, cz we see that jesus and a gezillion number of other saints went through the process of pain.

plus in yoganis book the secrets of wilder, there was a time where john wilder was taking the beating of his life time and he was witnessing it from his presence in the state of witness.

now i've been through that kind of beating twice through this life time now and was in the state of witness automaticaly.

but the thing that happened last week was beyond anything i imagined i would ever go through even though signs of death were coming to my head these last two weeks.

me and my father were taking the body of my younger brother whom we thought was alive at 1st out of a burning car that was making little explosions and we both got burned and it was all messy stuff but thk god my father was able to get the body of my brother out by some miracle bcz i was there b4 him and couldn't get the body out and was concidering cutting his leg to get him out but got blown away from the car.

but still it happened this is our fate and we must accept it.

and the state of witness occured automaticaly when i was told about the accident it just snapped boom there was the witness stronger than it ever been and when i got to the place of the accident after 3 minutes.

it was as if i acted like a puppet master with my body, i wasn't in it but was making it work like som1 driving a car.

it still hurts and akes inside but i know for sure that my brother is in peace he even told us he would die 3 days b4 the accident happened and that he was visited in a dream by his ishta saint Charbel a very known christian monk in my counrty and who is proclaimed a saint by the vatican.

yoga is a blessing really, there is control plus understanding of it all and yogani i know now what my brother's gift is (it's realization in stillness...) and thk you my friend for the sweet msg you are a very supportive person and a good soul.

and i would like to hear your opinions and the rest of the forum members on pain and the state of witness and why does if it's something natural for it to come when very vibrant activities do occur in our lifes.

namaste,

Ananda

Edited by - Ananda on Aug 18 2008 06:43:15 AM

Anthem

1608 Posts

Posted - Aug 18 2008 :  11:55:25 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Hi Ananda,

My heartfelt condolences to you and your family through this very difficult time. Your poise and courage with the way you are handling this is an inspiration and the people around you are fortunate to have your strong presence with them.

What is the nature of (emotional) pain is a great question, I have been contemplating it a lot recently as well. I don't know much about pain other than it is a measure of how far away or how "unaligned" we are with reality. The more the pain, the greater the distance between our thoughts about what is happening and what is actually happening.

I have also observed that after the experience of pain, ego is some how diminished, the "pureness" of what we are, our true nature, is more revealed. Pain purges, people are softer, vulnerable and more exposed after it burns our faulty ideas of reality away. The purging may not be beautiful, but what is left over reveals more beauty.

This is all I can offer at the moment, but I just got the idea to go over and pick up the book “The Prophet” by Khalil Gibran and this is what he writes about pain:

“Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain. And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy; And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields. And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.

Much of your pain is self-chosen. It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self. Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquility: For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen,
And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears.”


Wishing you peace and love,

Anthem11
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yogani

USA
5195 Posts

Posted - Aug 18 2008 :  1:09:39 PM  Show Profile  Visit yogani's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
quote:
Originally posted by Ananda

...and i would like to hear your opinions and the rest of the forum members on pain and the state of witness and why does if it's something natural for it to come when very vibrant activities do occur in our lifes.


Hi Ananda:

My deepest prayers are with you and your family during this difficult time.

Yes, it is natural for inner silence (the witness) to be noticed during times of extreme activity. It is common for nearly everyone to experience "time seeming to stand still" during accidents and other sudden life-changing events. But true witnessing goes far beyond that.

For those who are engaged in daily deep meditation, the ability to witness is close to the surface and more prevalent at all times. In fact, the witness condition does not change at all during a traumatic event. It is only more revealed by the greater contrast of events. It is not our inner silence that is coming up more at these times -- it is the extremes of the event that reveal how well-established our witness truly is. It is during chaotic events that we find out what our spiritual practices have been cultivating. During the ongoing pain of loss or injury we will see our spiritual condition more clearly also.

There is a difference between pain and suffering. Pain is pain, a sensation we can all feel, and it will be with us to greater or lesser degrees as long as we are here on this earth. Suffering is the identification of consciousness (our sense of self) with pain through limited perceptual interpretations of the mind. By cultivating inner silence, we are able to break the grip of suffering, because we no longer see ourself as the one who is in pain. Then it is just pain uncolored by self-identification. In this condition as witness we also are in a much better position to perceive and understand what is happening within and around us, and act in ways that are most beneficial for the present situation. The natural rise of relational self-inquiry (in stillness) plays a part in this. It is the mind operating within stillness, as stillness in action, rather than separating us from what is happening.

It is a paradox, because as we move from within the witness state we become the thing that is happening and there is no more fear or suffering, while when the mind is identified as the thing that is happening there is great fear and suffering. The event may be the same, but we are not the same in our relationship to it. This also explains how the same karma can produce entirely different outcomes, depending on the spiritual condition of those who are involved. So there is a lot we can do to reduce suffering and the perceived effects of karma within and around us.

Like we always say, the results of our practices are best measured outside practices during our life activities. During a crisis, we will see the truth of our spiritual condition more clearly than at any other time.

But none of this removes the profound loss you are feeling during this time and the suffering around you, dear Ananda, and for that we continue to send our love and prayers.

The guru is in you.


PS: Such a beautiful post and Gibran quote from Anthem...

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k123

118 Posts

Posted - Aug 19 2008 :  2:55:14 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Hello Ananda

I just wanted to say that reading your post my heart went out to you.

I am so sorry to hear what happened

Kathy
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Ananda

3115 Posts

Posted - Aug 19 2008 :  5:27:01 PM  Show Profile  Visit Ananda's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
i asked my suffi friend just 10 minutes ago about the nature of pain and how it purges the person and he answered me:
if you knew, you would ask for it but i'm thinking to myself if you knew you would hunger for it like the stiry of one suffi who asked that if pain and suffering in hells fire is a way to get closer to god than he would be glad and euphoric that his flesh would be burning in hell's fire.

hello Anthem you are simply beautiful, god bless you my friend for the kind words.

yogani as usual a prince, thank you for dropping by we can never get enough from u.

kathy you're a good soul and there's no need to be sorry, it's god's will and my brother is definitely better than he used to be.

everything is about evolution not the other way arround especialy in the case of my brother he had no attachment to material stuff and was pretty much very spiritual but not in a yogic way more of the christian one.

plus i had the chance while in the ambulance to put my right hand on his heart and grabbed his right hand with my left one and automaticaly started sending energy towards his heart and even that i knew he was dead cz i gave him cpr and checked his pulse in all the locations.

still he squeezed my hand one last time, now some people call that postmortem reaction and spiritual people like me call it the moment of the ascension of the soul and i think that this was it and i'm just grateful of being part of it.

and i know it for a fact that my brother is at peace and he is being taken good care of by his ishta saint Charbel.

namaste,

Ananda
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zinon

Morocco
17 Posts

Posted - Aug 19 2008 :  7:22:20 PM  Show Profile  Visit zinon's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Hi my dear freind Ananda

i am very sad to hear what hapened to you and your family .
may god be with you .
i pray every day to your brother .
i hope to see you soon .

god bless you .
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Ananda

3115 Posts

Posted - Aug 21 2008 :  4:54:58 PM  Show Profile  Visit Ananda's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
thk u my friend, may god have mercy on your dead and keep your loved ones safe for you.

namaste and god bless,

Ananda
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sushman

India
86 Posts

Posted - Sep 09 2008 :  05:11:36 AM  Show Profile  Visit sushman's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
Ananda, my heart goes out to you and your family. Wishing you and your family PEACE !

I am reading a book called "FINDING FORGIVENESS" By EILEEN R.BORRIS-DUNCHUNSTANG,ED.D.

It may of some help to your family. You may want to check it out.

The whole thread is inspiring and it brought tears in my eyes.

I had a huge material loss recently because of which I suffered for a while in pain and anger (identifying with them). But afterwards I accepted and transcended them. I feel lot lighter and much more spiritual now ... ready to face more pains :)

I think suffering is a huge opporunity to make progress in the spiritual realm.

Edited by - sushman on Sep 09 2008 05:18:58 AM
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Ananda

3115 Posts

Posted - Sep 10 2008 :  12:56:53 PM  Show Profile  Visit Ananda's Homepage  Reply with Quote  Get a Link to this Reply
hi sushman :), and thx for the nice reply i appreciate the advice a lot.

namaste my friend,

Ananda
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