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Dealing With Pain · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  If we look at the mechanism of pain, we find that wherever
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  there is an injury, disease, or stress on a part of the body, a
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  vibration starts there. In many cases, what medical
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  science would call inflammation, that triggers a nerve impulse to
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  send the signals to the receptors in the brain where the
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  impulse is then interpreted and experienced as pain.
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  Pain management works to interrupt this series at one
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  spot or another along the way. Sometimes cold is applied at the
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  source of the pain. This tamps down the inflammation
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  and the vibration that the area is creating to send up the nerve
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  fibre. Steroids are sometimes injected
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  at the local site to accomplish more or less the same thing.
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  Acupuncture, for example, disrupts the stream of the
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  vibration flowing along the nerve effectively print,
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  preventing it from reaching the brain.
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  Topical anesthetics work to deaden the impulse, while
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  general anesthetics tend to shut down the conscious awareness on
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  the other side of the process in the brain itself.
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  Hypnosis therapy similarly shuts down the awareness on the side
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  of the brain reception. Pain relievers can be of several
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  types including non steroidal anti-inflammatory aids which
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  reduce the inflammation and the resultant experience of pain.
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  They can also be of the opioid type, which attach themselves to
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  the brain receptors and thereby prevent the signal from being
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  experienced by the brain as the receptor is already occupied.
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  What is interesting about all of this is that the body itself
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  produces its own form of opioids in the form of what are called
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  endorphins. These act to block the brain
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  receptors and are generated by the system internally.
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  They also attach themselves to the brain receptors, replacing
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  the experience of pain with one of well-being.
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  They help reduce stress, relax the being, and block pain all at
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  once. They can be generated through
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  exercise such as the well known phenomenon known as runner's
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  high or dancing or other forms of pleasurable movement,
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  meditation, negative ions such as are generated by waterfalls
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  or lightning, or pleasurable music, reading or focus on any
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  field of interest among other things.
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  Endorphins increase tolerance to pain.
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  What is interesting here is that they supply a link to the method
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  described by the mother here. The more we concentrate on the
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  pain, we are tuning our awareness to it and it gets
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  accentuated. We tighten up, increase stress,
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  and let the pain receptors in the brain become flooded with
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  pain signals to the extent that we can shift the attention and
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  awareness away from these pain signals and even concentrate on
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  things that otherwise are positive and enjoyable
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  experiences. We give the body the opportunity
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  to shift the tuning away from the pain signals and allow the
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  stress level to come down and the endorphins to block the pain
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  receptors. Obviously, pain can develop at
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  various levels of intensity and the more severe it becomes, the
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  more difficult it can be to manage it effectively.
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  The very intense vibration simply overwhelm the system.
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  In that case, shifting the awareness or even blocking the
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  awareness becomes more challenging.
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  In his writings, Sri Robinda describes the intensity of the
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  vibration of either pleasure or pain as being beyond what most
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  people are capable of handling, and that is due to the
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  narrowness of the conscious awareness that is receiving and
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  trying to process these vibrations.
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  By widening the consciousness, the capacity to handle intense
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  vibrations is increased and thus the negative reactions are
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  reduced. An example of this was provided
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  by Milarepa, the renowned great Yogi of Tibet.
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  He had been poisoned by a jealous priest.
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  The priest challenged him to transfer the pain to him so that
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  he could see that Mila Reppa was actually experiencing pain.
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  Given that he was acting quite calm and discoursing normally at
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  the time, Mila Reppa indicated that out of compassion he would
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  not do that as the priest would not be able to bear the pain
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  level. But just as an example, he would
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  transfer a small portion of the pain to a nearby door, which
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  began to creak and strain under the pressure.
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  Milorepa was able to receive the intense pain accompanying a
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  lethal dose of poison through the wideness of his
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  consciousness and ameliorate its impact on the individual body,
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  life, mind he was occupying at the time.
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  In that way, the mother notes quote, there are minor methods
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  of stopping pain and they have smaller results.
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  They are not very easy either. That is the knowledge of the
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  power to cut the connection between the suffering part and
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  the recording brain. One cuts the connection, then
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  the brain does not register. That's what one does.
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  What the doctors do with anesthetics, they cut the
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  connection of the nerves between the spot that's ill and the
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  brain. So the brain no longer perceives
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  anything or it is reduced to a minimum, and it always comes
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  back to the same thing one way or another.
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  And all this calls for an occult power or a training.
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  Some people have it spontaneously.
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  There are not many of these, very few.
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  But obviously without going so far, there's one thing that one
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  can try to do. It is not to concentrate on
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  one's pain, to turn the attention away as much as
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  possible, not think at all of one's pain, think as little as
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  possible, and above all, not be concentrated on it, not to pay
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  attention. Oh, I'm in pain, then it becomes
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  a little worse. Oh, I'm in still greater pain.
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  Then it becomes still worse like that because one is concentrated
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  on it. And this is the mistake one
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  always makes to think, be there, attentive, awaiting the sign of
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  pain. Then naturally it comes.
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  It comes increased by the concentration of the attention
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  given to it. That is why when 1 is not well,
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  the best thing to do is to read or have something to read.
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  You see, it depends on the condition 1 is in, but if one
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  can turn 1's attention away, one no longer suffers.
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  End Quote reference. Shrioro, Bindo and the Mother
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  Powers within, Chapter 14. Power over Illness and Pain,
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  pages 118 to 119.