Introduction
Have you ever felt as if you were carrying a heavy weight on your shoulders, but it was not physical? This weight is invisible, yet it presses down on you, affecting your thoughts, your emotions, and your relationships. Author Eckhart Tolle refers to this as the pain-body. It is the accumulation of unprocessed emotional pain that we carry from past experiences. This pain-body becomes alive within us at different times. It can manifest as anger, jealousy, sadness, anxiety, or depression. It influences our reactions and distorts how we perceive others.
But here is the good news: the pain-body does not have to control your life. By understanding what it is and how it works, you can detach from it, stop fighting with it, and begin to experience joy, clarity, and peace in the present moment.
This discourse is based on a question I received from Ananda Swaranda: “How do you stop fighting your pain-body?” Let us first understand what the pain-body is and how to dissolve it, both when it arises within you and when you encounter it in others.
What Is the Pain-Body?
The pain-body is the collection of vasanas and vikaras of your mind. In Sanskrit, vasanas are deep-seated tendencies, while vikaras are patterns, distortions, or modifications of the mind. Together, they make up your pain-body.
Your pain-body may appear in the form of jealousy, anger, resentment, or insecurity. Imagine that jealousy is one of your tendencies. When you see someone who appears more intelligent, wealthier, or more successful than you, immediately jealousy rises. Why does it rise? Because the energy of jealousy is already inside you. You have not yet worked upon it.
In that moment, the mind is running the show. The mind perceives through the senses, interprets what it sees, and creates a judgment: “This person is superior to me. I am inferior.” This interpretation is not the truth; it is the mind’s distortion.
The pain-body sits in different parts of your being. Jealousy, for instance, often sits around the heart chakra or the solar plexus. When triggered, it produces sensations—tightness in the chest, unease in the stomach, restlessness in the body. Your sympathetic nervous system is activated. Emotions stir, thoughts run in chains, and your clarity disappears.
The mind then reacts—internally through emotions and sensations, and externally through words and actions. You may feel suffocated, attack the other person, or spoil a relationship. This is how the pain-body plays out.
The Role of Awareness
The first step to dissolving the pain-body is awareness.
When your senses perceive someone, you gather raw information—how they look, what they say, their gestures. The interpretation, however, is entirely the mind’s. The mind quickly plays a cassette: “He is superior. You are inferior. You should feel jealous.”
At that moment, pause. Be aware of the thoughts. Ask yourself: “Who is telling me this? Before I saw this person, where were these thoughts? Did they exist?” The truth is, these thoughts were nowhere until the mind created them.
Your mind has its own mechanism to process information. But the moment you hand over judgment and interpretation to the mind, you lose control. To regain your power, remain conscious. Watch the thoughts as they appear, like watching a movie.
Watching the Inner Movie
This is where the journey becomes fascinating.
When you become aware of the cassette playing in your head, you realize you are watching a movie—sometimes a thriller, sometimes a horror show. The best part is, you do not need a Netflix subscription; the movie is already inside you!
Once you step into the role of the watcher, you see that you are not the mind. You are not the pain-body. You are the witness. This separation is the key.
From this space, even jealousy becomes amusing. You may laugh at the absurdity of it. A shift happens. You no longer drown in the movie; you enjoy it from the seat of the observer. That very moment, you know for the first time: “I am not the mind. I am not the pain-body.”
The Case of Jealousy
Let us return to the example of jealousy.
Suppose someone has more money than you. Your senses perceive this fact. The mind interprets it and declares: “He is superior. You are inferior.” Immediately, sensations arise in your solar plexus. The pain-body wants to react—either by silently suffering or by attacking that person in words.
But if you remain aware, the whole drama changes. You see the thought arise, you watch the sensation, and you realize, “This is not me. This is the pain-body playing its role.”
You laugh, you detach, and you allow the energy to dissolve. The pain-body loses its grip.
Dealing with Other People’s Pain-Body
Now let us look at another scenario: facing someone else’s pain-body.
Imagine a person showing off his wealth, status, or power. He may even try to make you feel like a beggar in front of him. His words or actions are loud with superiority.
What do you do? First, be aware. Before reacting, take two or three conscious breaths—inhaling deeply, exhaling slowly. This shifts you from a reactive pattern to a responsive space.
Then look at the person and recognize: “This is not about me. This is his pain-body.” His inner wounds are troubling him, and his display of arrogance is only a projection of his own suffering.
You may choose to respond, but let the response come from awareness, not from anger or hurt. A conscious response is calm, clear, and compassionate. Sometimes the best response is silence, sometimes a gentle word, and often simply walking away.
Remember, your time is precious, your energy is sacred. You do not need to let another person’s pain-body hook you into their drama.
Shifting from Reaction to Response
The difference between reaction and response is enormous.
A reaction comes from the pain-body. It is automatic, unconscious, and destructive. A response arises from awareness. It is deliberate, conscious, and healing.
By practicing awareness, you shift from being a slave of the mind to being the master of your life. The more you watch your thoughts and sensations, the more distance you create from them. Slowly, the pain-body loses power, like a fire without fuel.
Practical Steps to Dissolve the Pain-Body
- Awareness of Sensations – When jealousy, anger, or sadness arises, feel the sensations in your body. Do not suppress them, and do not identify with them. Just observe.
- Question the Thought – Ask yourself: “Who is telling me this story? Where did this thought come from? Is it the truth or just the mind’s cassette?”
- Watch Like a Movie – Imagine you are sitting in a theater. The thoughts are characters on the screen. You are the audience, not the actor.
- Conscious Breathing – Take two to three deep breaths to shift from the sympathetic nervous system (fight-or-flight) to a calmer state.
- Respond, Don’t React – If you must interact, let your words or silence come from awareness, not from your pain-body.
- Detach from Toxic People – If someone’s pain-body constantly tries to pull you into drama, it is okay to step away. Protect your energy.
The Joy of Freedom
The first time you truly watch your pain-body without being caught in it, something miraculous happens. You feel light. You laugh at the absurdity of the mind. You realize: “I am not this pain. I am the witness.”
That realization itself dissolves layers of accumulated pain. With practice, you carry less and less burden. Life feels lighter, relationships improve, and joy returns.
The pain-body may arise again, but now you know its tricks. You no longer fight it, because fighting only feeds it. Instead, you watch, you smile, and you allow it to dissolve in the light of your consciousness.
Conclusion
The pain-body is not your enemy; it is simply unprocessed energy stored in your system. By becoming aware of it, you stop giving it control. Awareness is the flame that burns the pain-body into nothingness.
Whether jealousy, anger, sadness, or another vikar, each is just a passing cloud. You are the sky, untouched and vast.
When dealing with others, remember their arrogance or superiority is only their pain-body speaking. Do not let it touch you. Breathe, stay conscious, and walk away if needed.
To Ananda, and to all who wonder how to stop fighting the pain-body: the answer is not to fight, but to witness. When you witness, you are free. When you are free, you can live with clarity, peace, and joy.
So watch the inner movie. Laugh at the drama. Step out of the mind’s trap. And walk lightly, for life is too precious to be lived under the shadow of the pain-body.
