insilentmeditation (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
insilentmeditation) wrote2011-09-08 09:09 pm
insilentmeditation) wrote2011-09-08 09:09 pm
Pain and Spiritual Experience
I've explored my migraines in relation to spirituality in this blog before. (See "Beautiful Tunnel Vision" at http://thunarsdottir.livejournal.com/8624.html). Today, I want to explore what happened with my migraine this past Tuesday. I was in Claremont at the Claremont School of Theology Convocation and the celebrations of two great new beginnings: the launch of te first interfaith university, Claremont Lincoln University and the addition of the Jain community to the consortium that is CLU. I had awakened with a migraine. I took ibuprofen, but of course it made no dent in the pain. I wanted to be at the celebrations, so I went with trepidation and sat down in a seat toward the back of the theatre. As I sat there, I discovered something that was later reinforced during an in-class meditation. Part of this discovery was the awareness that I have had the same experience many times before...without realizing that something special was happening.
I closed my eyes. I allowed my pain to wash over me, like water. It filled my head, it broke free of the boundaries of my brain, it seeped through my skin. I felt my face tingling, and began to feel as though I were One with everything and everyone around me. The pain was no longer present. I could hear the voices of speakers, the chattering of those who spoke around me and the breathing of those closest to me. I was aware that I had a body, but though I was grounded to it; rooted in it, I was not bound by it. I was part of the River that is all things, and the River was Eternal. The River was God. This sensation continued as long as I was able to remain in that place.
When I had to attend to the tasks of daily living - walking, interacting, writing - the pain returned and I was close to debilitated. After the events, I went to my class, where I experienced this same beautiful sensation again, but for a much shorter time. Once the class was over, I went to my room and lay on the bed. I allowed this to happen once again as I relaxed my body and drifted slowly into sleep. Flat on my back, I sensed that I was floating in the River....
When I woke later, the migraine was gone and I was refreshed.
Questions must be pondered....is pain a threshold to liminality? Is crossing this threshold a doorway to healing? Is there a way to use this experience therapeutically in the service of others? I wonder...
I closed my eyes. I allowed my pain to wash over me, like water. It filled my head, it broke free of the boundaries of my brain, it seeped through my skin. I felt my face tingling, and began to feel as though I were One with everything and everyone around me. The pain was no longer present. I could hear the voices of speakers, the chattering of those who spoke around me and the breathing of those closest to me. I was aware that I had a body, but though I was grounded to it; rooted in it, I was not bound by it. I was part of the River that is all things, and the River was Eternal. The River was God. This sensation continued as long as I was able to remain in that place.
When I had to attend to the tasks of daily living - walking, interacting, writing - the pain returned and I was close to debilitated. After the events, I went to my class, where I experienced this same beautiful sensation again, but for a much shorter time. Once the class was over, I went to my room and lay on the bed. I allowed this to happen once again as I relaxed my body and drifted slowly into sleep. Flat on my back, I sensed that I was floating in the River....
When I woke later, the migraine was gone and I was refreshed.
Questions must be pondered....is pain a threshold to liminality? Is crossing this threshold a doorway to healing? Is there a way to use this experience therapeutically in the service of others? I wonder...