Saturday, December 3, 2011

In Pursuit of Pain


I believe nothing in this world is bad, I believe in no devils. That is probably one reason why I find no need for god. Good and bad are biased perception of human intelligence, like god and devil. It exists only in human mind. That is also the place where pain resides. Pain is something unpleasant, yet, it is through endurance of pain that greatness is achieved. Ever heard of the Okipa ceremony of the Mandan Indians? If you haven’t check this out>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandan#Religion! It is a ceremony about creation of earth where warriors prove their courage by going through pain. The warriors are starved, skin slit, hanged and then rewarded by cutting off their left pinkie finger. Finally they run their last run. Those who get out alive get respect and fame. It sounds horrible and painful, but many of these warriors have done it twice (I don’t know which finger they cut off the second time)! Pain is not something that cannot be controlled if the reward is great. Sometimes getting rid of pain is in itself a great reward.

Pain is essential for survival. It is the fear of pain that keeps us alive. It is your body’s way of telling you that it requires attention, just like the cries of a baby. But sometimes pain can continue long after the wound has healed. It is called pain memory. It proves that pain exists in the brain. Just like pain can continue even after healing, you can train your mind to erase it as well. In fact, evolution has created a substance called opioids in the body that attach itself to the receptors of the brain which blocks pain. This calming and anti-depressing effect is called the “opioid effect”. Our body uses it in times of emergency [http://www.naabt.org/faq_answers.cfm?ID=6].

Pain is subjective with every person having a different tolerance level depending on genes, emotions, environments, etc. While there are drugs like the opium poppy that can heal pain like natural opioids, they all have side effects. Pain is psychological and hence a psychological treatment is probably better than medicine. You can heal yourself.

There are also many magic healing that has been practices since time immemorial. Most of the ancient cultures considered pain as evil and to hence to heal pain one had to get rid of that evil. Many ancient customs have various rituals to heal pain with includes dancing, singing, yoga, tantra, standing or sitting in various postures and even magic spells [http://www.khakani.com/freemagicspells/freemagichealingspells2.htm]. In the month of October over forty thousand people visit El Sorte Mountain in Venezuela, the spiritual center of the cult of Maria Lionza. They perform healing rituals that drives the bad spirits away. It is the bad spirits that they consider as the cause of pain, once they are gone you are happy once again [http://www.reportagebygettyimages.com/features/the-cult-of-maria-lionza/].


Now we also have magical wands sold online for pain relief [http://reikiranch.blogspot.com/2010/03/zero-point-magical-wand-from-singapore.html]. Harry Porter lovers might like it. All you have to do is wave it round and round the areas where you are having pain and the pain will vanish. It is called the zero point which apparently re-connects your cells with the universal energy. Then there are lasers that can heal your pain [http://www.formulaformiracles.net/magic-laser.html]. Pass the laser through the point where you are having pain and your pain is erased. There are also magic ancient oils which can cure pain [http://www.ancientmagic.net/]. The good news is that they all are effective in fooling your mind and creating the placebo effect. It is all in the mind, choose the one those suites you the best.

If the pain is in your heart then I wonder if any of these techniques are going to work. You better go and listen to ‘Why this Kolaveri Di’! Else you can try to find the place in that same heart where the happiest moment of your life is hidden. Use that, as that probably is your best medicine.  

Cheers!
SUB

P.S. Post inspired by an article in March 2011 edition of GEO.


P.P.S. Since i am using discuss for comments i cannot visit your blog from your comment if you are not registered with discuss. It would be great if you drop your blog address after your comments.

22 comments:

  1. and sometimes ur earlier pain acts as anesthesia for a future pain...and it makes it easier to be dealt with...and ya i so much believe that pain in the heart can be cured by looking for happiness in some other part of your heart...and the more and more u reach to that happiness the pain seems to loose its gravity...

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  2.  Pain is the universal word of that which hurts.. but one persons pain doesn't always be the pain of the other.. and strangely people find it happy to inflict pain on themselves.. mainly the body.. as u have said.. but lot of those rituals that are mentioned here are new to me..!!
    Does pain to the body create pleasure at heart? also the pain in mind is mostly resolved by the paining the body too.. two different entities just co-relate and co-exist..!

    Dont ask me what I meant.. !! :)

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  3. everyone goes thru pain many times in their life.. and its when they overcom that pain they learn how to live.. so each tim they r in pain they learn a new lesson.. in dat sense pain is part of life.. a necessity... afterall to know pleasure, v need to know and feel pain.. gr8 post SUB.. u rock.. cheers :)

    http://saheerkumble.blogspot.com/

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  4. em here after a very long time and em glad I visited now..loved the post..and i have so many points about it..its just em sleepy now..so will see you some other time to discuss these points or will write a post about the similar topic.

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  5. As a person I feel pain is very important for you to grow. There are many facets of life you won't understand without it. Very soul searching post. BTW where are you these days?

    http://sarusinghal.blogspot.com/

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  6. Awesome post as ever! Justifies the name of your blog yet again.....
    "I
    believe nothing in this world is bad, I believe in no devils. That is probably
    one reason why I find no need for god" ...true that good and bad are biased perceptions of mind, but when we encounter something too unpleasant we call it 'bad' and when we over come it and heave a  sigh of relief , we call it 'good'; to be precise 'better'...So though the perceptions of mind, things in the world are 'bad'  and there are 'devils'...though these abstracts are caused by the absence of 'god' and 'God'...just like darkness is caused by the absence of light :)...despite that these abstracts are not independent entities by themselves,they  come into play when their conjugate goes missing :D..Keep writing more, I love reading your posts ..they are very profound and intriguing... Regards,www.readmeatblogpage.blogspot.com

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  7. Well Said Sub..

    As they say, there is no gain without Pain. Some amount of Pain is necessary. And Pain has to come...whether we like it or not. Whether we wish it or not. It will come. Like every other feeling. It is better to respect it, take it as our development process and revel in it and learn from it. It serves a purpose. To let us know..that we Feel. :)

    http://fromdevilsworkshop.blogspot.com/

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  8. hmmm well i think that it always the negative which shows us how much we want the positive .. its the loser who knows what a win is .. 

    if we go through the myths .. gold comes after going through fire .. so pain is a must i think it makes us a better pesrson we start ot see the other side and view things properly 

    loved reading the article 

    Bikram's

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  9. True that! I wonder how can one compare, physical pain with emotional pain....and if both have the same intensity for an individual....

    Chintan

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  10. 'You can heal yourself' perfectly said. Pain is essential for living.

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  11. ahh that was some piece of info there ..btb how can physical torture go in comparison with emotional cries...pain does serve inspiration at times. haha that reminds me of Rockstar movie..

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  12. thanks so much...i would love to know...do tell me when you write about it :)

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  13. //earlier pain acts as anesthesia for a future pain//  liked that....

    thanks so much :)

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  14. the pain in the body is also in the mind...and sometimes it do give pleasure :)...it can be addictive as well 

    thanks a lot

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  15. true .....thanks so much Sahi :)

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  16. thanks so much Saru...busy with my kid :)...not much time to write :(

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  17. two sides of the same coin, when the coin itself is just an illusion of the mind :)

    thanks so much :))

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  18. righty said...thanks a lot Bikram :)

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  19. physical or emotional, it's all a play of the mind....so i guess it varies from person to person :)
    thanks Chintu :)

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  20. oh it does...depends on how one fights it :)

    thanks a lot

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