[...]... easily and quickly an intimate relationship can turn from a source of pleasure to a source of pain Seen from a higher perspective, both the negative and the positive polarities are faces of the same coin, are both part of the underlying pain that is inseparable from the mind-identified egoic state of consciousness There are two levels to your pain: the pain that you create now, and the pain from the. .. point, they started to perceive themselves as meaningless fragments in an alien universe, unconnected to the Source and to each other Pain is inevitable as long as you are identified with your mind, which is to say as long as you are unconscious, spiritually speaking I am talking here primarily of emotional pain, which is also the main cause of physical pain and physical disease Resentment, hatred, self-pity,... past that still lives on in your mind and body Ceasing to create pain in the present and dissolving past pain this is what I want to talk about now The Power of Now Chapter Two The Power of Now CONSCIOUSNESS: THE WAY OUT OF PAIN The Power of Now CREATE NO MORE PAIN IN THE PRESENT Nobody's life is entirely free of pain and sorrow Isn't it a question of learning to live with them rather than trying to. .. observes,” the silent watcher This is the power of the Now, the power of your own conscious presence Then see what happens ¤ For many women, the pain-body awakens particularly at the time preceding the menstrual flow I will talk about this and the reason for it in more detail later Right now, let me just say this: If you are able to stay alert and present at that time and watch whatever you feel within, rather... fiercely, and after a while they are separated again, the first log will be burning with much greater intensity After all, it is the same fire To be such a fire is one of the functions of a spiritual teacher Some therapists may also be able to fulfill that function, provided that they have gone beyond the level of mind and can create and sustain a state of intense conscious presence while they are working... thought that creates the illusion of separateness, the illusion that there is you and a totally separate “other.” You then forget the essential fact that, underneath the level of physical appearances and separate forms, you are one with all that is By “forget,” I mean that you can no longer feel this oneness as self-evident reality You may believe it to be true, but you no longer know it to be true A belief... The Power of Now PAST PAIN: DISSOLVING THE PAIN-BODY As long as you are unable to access the power of the Now, every emotional pain that you experience leaves behind a residue of pain that lives on in you It merges with the pain from the past, which was already there, and becomes lodged in your mind and body This, of course, includes the pain you suffered as a child, caused by the unconsciousness of. .. continuously attacks and punishes them and drains them of vital energy It is the cause of untold misery and unhappiness, as well as of disease The good news is that you can free yourself from your mind This is the only true liberation You can take the first step right now Start listening to the voice in your head as often as you can Pay particular attention to any repetitive thought patterns, those old gramophone... most of your life and the whole or a large part of your sense of self is invested in it What this means is that you have made an unhappy self out of your pain-body and believe that this mind-made fiction is who you are In that case, unconscious fear of losing your identity will create strong resistance to any disidentification In other words, you would rather be in pain be the pain-body than take a leap... reasons for its incessant activity, but all it can ever achieve is to cover it up temporarily In fact, the harder the mind struggles to get rid of the pain, the greater the pain The mind can never find the solution, nor can it afford to allow you to find the solution, because it is itself an intrinsic part of the “problem.” Imagine a chief of police trying to find an arsonist when the arsonist is the . his research of non-ordinary states of consciousness, summarizes by saying the psyche and consciousness of each of us is, in the last analysis, commensurate with ”All-That-Is“ because there are. individuals in seminars, meditation classes and private counseling sessions, and so I have kept the question-and-answer format. I learned and received as much in those classes and sessions as the. one particle was changed, the other changed instantly. Scientists don't know the mechanics of how this faster-than -the- speed -of- light travel can happen, though some theorists suggest that