As our last lesson explained, anger arises when expectations do not match reality. Saying "I am angry," is one of the most disempowering phrases you can ever utter. Not only does saying it deny the reality of the situation, more dangerously, using the word "AM" equates an emotion with who you are. This is a surefire path to suffering.

The ego is responsible for misleading you into identifying yourself with your body, emotions and thoughts. You may have a body, feel emotions and think thoughts, but none of these are who you are. You are a magnificent spiritual being. Identifying with anything other than your true spiritual nature will eventually lead to suffering.

In his latest book, A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle defines the "pain-body" as "the energy field of old, but very-much-alive emotion that lives in almost every human being." It contains both individual and collective elements. In other words, this is your emotional body, which contains all of the accumulated emotions and feelings that you have become attached to. For all of us who are not yet self-realized, this emotional body becomes a pain-body that is activated by various stimuli.

Identification with your pain-body can totally blind you to your true self. In some cases, when your pain-body is activated, your personality can change overnight, as you forget who you are and "become" your pain. The Law of Attraction tells us that this is a self-reinforcing cycle. Pain attracts more pain, and when the conscious mind is contributing, your pain-body grows even faster.

If you suffered from a bad experience in the past, whenever a similar experience arises, your pain-body automatically recalls the memory. Instantly, it reminds you of this by secreting the same chemicals that produced the initial feeling, just like a tuning fork that begins to vibrate when a nearby turning fork plays the same note.

Worse, you get addicted to these chemicals (even when they're not good for you) which reinvigorates your pain- body.

Your goal is to break your identification with your pain- body, and identify with your true self. There are two practices that can help you to accomplish this.

Presence

The first is to bring "present awareness" to the situation. This is in keeping with the mystic directive, "know thyself." When you are aware that you are being triggered, rather than simply reacting, you can remain detached, and separate your emotions from your true self.

Tolle believes you will eventually become so sick and tired of being stimulated by your own and other's pain-bodies that you will, in desperation, seek to dis-identify with them. This can happen in an instant, since all that's needed is to shine present awareness on the situation.

This is what happened to him, and explains the revelations that others undergo, when they "snap" from overwhelming suffering and spontaneously gain Presence. The downside of relying on overwhelming suffering is that it can take a while to get "fed up," and "snapping" does not always produce a positive result.

Purification

The second approach is the path of purification, that is, eliminating the negative energies that are lodged in your emotional body. This also requires present awareness, but can be dramatically facilitated by an external source of high-vibrational energy.

Physics tells us that higher frequency energy is more powerful than lower-frequency energy. When you infuse higher dimensional energy into a lower dimensional form, the lower energies must leave or be transformed.

By eliminating the lower density, negative energies, you will not be stimulated by another's pain-body. Your tolerance will grow exponentially, as you will no longer unconsciously resonate with others' emotional pains. You will remain compassionate, but detached.

Of course, without changing your thoughts or, at least, becoming aware of the thoughts that precipitated the painful emotions, clearing out your pain-body will be only a temporary solution. But when your emotional body is cleared, you will be less likely to identify with it. Unhealthy feelings will become the exception, rather than the rule. You will come to identify with your true self, and not your emotions.

When your emotional body is clear, the Law of Attraction will work in your favor. People who were previously attracted to the emotional pains in your energy body will no longer be attracted. Purification eliminates the toxins that attract "toxic people." When this pain is replaced by love and higher vibrational energies, you will attract higher minded, spiritual people and will actually repel angry or fearful people.

As Jesus said, "For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath." This is the Law of Attraction in biblical terms. You must decide what you want to attract. Presence and purification lead to identification with your true self; unconscious thoughts lead to pain and suffering.

To eliminate lower-vibrational, negative energies that lead to stress, anger, pain and suffering, and infuse yourself with higher-vibrational energies that help you connect to your true self, visit:

Best wishes, Ed

Energy Center

Copyright © 2002
Spiritual Awakening Network is a registered trademark
Spiritual Awakening Network/All rights reserved