Pain is not real

Intellectually, I am aware that pain is not real. The body is a manifestation of God's perfection, and God cannot create pain. Nevertheless, as long as we believe in pain, it exists for us, and we will be burdened with its apparent reality.

I mention this because my physical age and condition are such that aches and pains appear to be real with increasing frequency. However, I made an interesting observation today.

I woke up feeling soreness in my lower back. I pampered it as I started my morning, holding myself stiffly so that I would not move the affected muscles more than necessary. Then I got more involved in my daily activity, specifically washing dishes and making breakfast. I noticed that when I focused on one of those activities, I did not notice the ache in my back. Once a task was finished, my attention would return to the pain and I would feel it again.

The thought came to me that pain is only a bodily sensation. One realization that followed this observation was that I did not identify my self with my body. The pain affected my body, but it did not affect me.

The second realization I had was that, since the pain is not part of me, there is no need for me to be concerned with it. If I focus my attention elsewhere, I should not notice the pain, and if I do not notice it, the pain does not exist. Pain is not something that is real independent of the body which experiences it. To the extent I can -- as I have been trying to do anyway -- concentrate on the Christ spirit within me rather than on its physical manifestation in the body, I should be unaffected by pain.

I hope that this will help me understand Joel Goldsmith's teachings better.

Namaste.