Mind over Pain

During my days of parivrajaka, wandering as a sanyasi, I was traveling in Amarkand in Madhya Pradesh, doing a parikrama, circumambulation of the sacred river Narmada.

For a while I lived with the tribal people in that area. They were very simple, honest and sweet people, extremely hospitable. One day in front of the hut I was staying in, across their temple, they erected a new hut. When I enquired they said that this was for a festival.

Later that day, a pregnant woman walked into that hut. Ten minutes later, she walked out smiling, a baby in her arms. No one went in with her. There was not a squeal when she was in that hut. Soon after, they dismantled the hut.

I asked a village elder about the festival that was to take place. He simply said that the birth of that child was the festival. Next week the same exercise was repeated. Another hut, another pregnant lady, another child and another festival!

This time I could not contain my curiosity. I asked the elder, ‘I am amazed at the simplicity with which the ladies deliver their babies; no doctors, no midwife even and no pain. How is this possible?’ In my experience I had never seen something like this. Mothers have so many examinations, check in to hospitals, and scream in pain at delivery; but here it is so different.

The old man said,’ pain, what pain? Why should there be pain while delivering a child? Yes, there is pain if an animal attacks and hurts you or you break an arm or leg; but, at child birth, why?’

In their language there was no word for pain. They had no concept of pain during child birth. They asked, ‘animals deliver their off springs naturally and do not cry, why should humans?’ I had no answer. I could not comprehend what I was seeing.

It was only after meditating upon these incidents I understood that pain is a result of our verbalization. These words such as pain, hurt, and suffering create the feeling of pain in us.

Our mind drives our body. Our mind creates thoughts and concepts and embeds them as verbalized and visualized realities within us. Pain has no reality outside of our mind. The neuro sensors that evoke the pain response cannot create the pain unless our mind accepts the fact that there can be pain. Pain is a matter of conditioning; and you can decondition your mind away from pain.


Nithyananda
www.nithyananda.org