I just finished up the Pain-Body chapter in the book.
Let me give a quick disclaimer that while we all have pain bodies as Eckhart describes it, I think mine is pretty small. I truly had a happy childhood and live a blessed life. So maybe I’m not coming from a place of authority on this comment. But in the book Eckart ventures to say that sometimes when you’re acting out, it’s not you that’s acting out, but your pain-body.
I whole-heartedly and emphatically disagree with that statement.
One thing I’ve always believed is that we are responsible for ourselves and what happens to us. Even if you’ve had a crappy childhood, or you have emotional issues. We are adults, not children. We do have a say in our actions and reactions. You are responsible for the words that come out of your mouth, always, no exceptions. None. We’ve all made mistakes and said things we regret, but you learn to deal with consequences and take actions to prevent it from happening again. You can’t go around blaming your pain-body.
Eckhart, you had me up to this point. You’ve given people a get-out-of-jail-free card. Now I’ve got to spend some time recovering from that one comment.
You are not understanding.
It does not say that one is not responsible for his/her actions, nor that one should not be held responsible, but rather that is not the person’s true self that is acting out.
Your statement that we have “said things we regret” is the essence of this point. Regret is the true self acting in sympathy for the pain-body’s actions it knows to be wrong. Regret is the awareness of the pain-body, and proof that, in fact, it was the pain-body’s actions that occurred, not those of the true self.
That being said, the pain-body is part of the Human, so that human is responsible for it’s actions. However, we can eliminate the pain-body from acting on our behalf once we become aware of the situation. Trust me, I am proof positive of this.
You’re not posting here and you are not posting on our blog… what is up? I demand more access to Nicole!
Funny, but if you don’t have much of a pain body it is hard to imagine how this “demon” can take over. I think Eckhart’s example of the ultimate pain body experience is suicide. While most people would agree that suicide is the result of a serious mental health issue, which is maybe a more acceptable view of a pain body. It is a mental health issue in effect. It festers, it feeds on negative thoughts. Those thoughts clamp on to the brain and paralyze it. I think suicide is the pain body’s final act. No one in their “right mind” would take their life. But the pain body fights for power over your right mind for so long…that perhaps after fatigue from fighting and fighting it, you just give in.
Hi Lisa.
You are right about that, I don’t have much of a pain body b/c I couldn’t imagine suicide. I feel HORRIBLE for those people who are in so much pain that they feel the only out is death. I can’t begin to imagine…
On another hand, I really do think people MUST be responsible for their own actions. Even someone with clinical psychosis is responsible for their actions. If they prove that they’re a danger to others, then steps need to be taken to prevent that person from hurting others. If we can start blaming others, or ‘our pain bodies’ for our actions, I can only imagine the chaos that would insue.