Awakening to the pain we don’t know we’re in occurs as we peel away the inner blindness we accepted at birth. We did this to play the human game of life.  We begin our transition from a much lighter form of reality that includes a clear direction and understanding of the life game and role we’re about to play while in our mother’s womb. Slowly, we adjust to our upcoming human experience.

Then, just like that . . .

We pop out of our moms, completely forgetting we had a “before” and will have an “after” human life, and settle into the often-painful assumption that this three-dimensional world is pretty much it.

Throughout early childhood, we learn about human life from our environment and our primary caregivers until we seem to fully identify with our names, bodies, thoughts, feelings, perceptions, heritage, culture, beliefs, etc.

In Reality, who we are can’t be completely forgotten and is always present even if we aren’t aware of it. We are never asleep, only pretending for the fun of it. When the time is ripe, we’ll become aware.

Osho says . . .

“Man is not born into mastery. (We) are born a slave of unconscious forces. The first step toward mastery is to recognize (our slavery.) To see that you are unconscious is the beginning of consciousness.” 

The quote sounds brutal, and we don’t want to hear it at first, especially when so many of us already struggle so hard to “get it right,” while the rest seem to “know for sure we already know what’s right.”

An example of denial and how suppressed pain serve to wake us up.

I remember how I first caught a glimpse of denial in the role of co-dependent behavior patterns. Early on in life, I married someone with alcohol issues. Al-anon became an oasis in recovery from denial of my inner misunderstandings about who I am, rather than blaming another. It offered and I accepted a new perspective on humility, self-responsibility, and when “help” really helps and when it doesn’t. 

It was astonishing how unhappy I was and for how long I suffered without being the least bit aware of the reality of the cause of it. In retrospect, there is nothing but gratitude due to how much pain I lost from diving into that experience.

And Another . . .

I felt intimidated by my hand and arm surgeon, the best around, who would remove a small growing lipoma in my elbow. I was an astrologer for a dozen years then, and the day I was scheduled to have surgery to remove a lipoma was a no-go astrologically.

I didn’t speak up. Yes. I was afraid to mention astrology due to the pain stored from the prior acceptance of people teasing and ridiculing my perspectives. The consequence of giving this fear my attention was that the doctor severed my radial nerve during the surgery, which paralyzed my lower left arm, fingers, and hand for life. There was a LOT of self-reflection on that one. I learned not to give my power away to others, and to speak up when it’s important. Otherwise, the pain we may not know we’re in grows. We can not afford to listen to those “identities” that aren’t us. 

Pain has become my favorite loss. It always brings freedom when I can see things for what they are or are not and decide to be grateful either way for what become obvious reasons.

And one more . . .

Do you ever wonder why life is so full of roadblocks and issues? I remember watching a YouTube where Eckhart Tolle patiently listened to a counselor in the audience’s lament. No sooner than she helped a client work through a thorny problem, they would come up with another one! Sometimes even similarly manifesting the same thought and emotional patterns she thought they healed. Why, she wanted to know, didn’t they get better and move on? It seemed that no matter how hard she worked to help bring into balance with these clients, they still had problems.

With his hand on his heart, Eckhart laughed until finally, he caught his light breath and said something along the lines of “Well, isn’t that how life is? There’s always one thing after another. First, it’s this, and then it’s something else. And that’s the way life is here.” More laughter.

The Takeaway

Looking back over my life, I can see what Eckhart said is true for most, if not all, of us. Let’s face it. Evolving our consciousness and humanity is an intense experience in duality. And as long as we are still above ground, there will remain a continual adventure of unexpected treasures of light and dark that are not what they appear to be. Only the Love is Real. We must hold on to letting go of all else.

The content in which suffering appears may differ from person to person, but the context is the same. The game of life has us making decisions while having forgotten who we are. When these are out of balance, we experience the consequences, and if we’re lucky and blessed, a bigger picture emerges in our understanding.

Three Additional Tips

Some painful patterns like to stick around. An ongoing and earnest deep practice of the following three qualities is profoundly powerful in helping to gently awaken us from the pain we are in.

1. Gratitude for every experience, life-giving or life-taking.
2. Humility i.e., Flexibility of Perspective
3. Forgiveness or Compassion for our and others’ unconscious acts

Conclusion

To live in these current times where we have the opportunity to wake up en masse “while still embodied as humans” can be likened to the narrative many traditions worldwide use to suggest life was not always so hard or misinformed. There was a garden paradise they say. Further, these traditions agree that one day it will be time to collectively “get back to the Garden,” where life is once again loving, creative, healing, in balance, and where truth is lived collectively in a pure state of Love Consciousness in human form. Imagine that. It seems we have a long way to go because we have to come to terms with Awakening to the pain we don’t know we’re in – and feel the creative freedom that moves mountains inside and out!. Feel free to post your comments, but no pressure!

See you next week! Please share if you think these words might serve someone you know. Thank you.

Love and Awakening,
Kaye