The Pain Body - Demons?

You've all heard of 'the demon drink', right? I mean it's a pretty common phrase in Scotland, so I imagine it's common throughout the English-speaking world.

I have wondered for many years what happened to my consciousness when I was in an alcohol-induced blackout, when I was fully functioning physically but would have no recollection at all of what I did and said, sometimes for hours at a time.  

A friend of mine once suggested the idea of demons, and as we discussed it, it actually made sense. The changed state of my consciousness made it more susceptible to demon infiltration, and then the demon would take over the controls and my own consciousness would be out on a limb.

The Power of Now

Back in my early AA meetings around 2005/2006, someone mentioned the book The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle. (affiliate link)

I bought it and it has sat on the shelf ever since. It's always been one of those books that I meant to get around to. I suppose it's a little ironic, given its title.

But no more - I'm reading it now! It actually came up in one of August Bradley's Notion Life Design sessions, along with Sam Harris' book, Waking Up (affiliate link). So since I don't have that one and do have Ekhart Tolle's, I got it off the shelf and dived in.

And oh boy was I ready for this! The timing is perfect! It's resonating with me so hard right now. It sits on my desk and I dip into it through the day, and there's always something that makes me start looking for my highlighter pen or typing something out into my Notion system.

Demons

Then this section came up while I was wondering what to write about this week.  

Some pain-bodies are obnoxious but relatively harmless, for example like a child who won't stop whining. Others are vicious and destructive monsters, true demons.

Demons! You see! Right there! I did actually talk about this fairly recently on my YouTube channel, and I love that this book is not only validating my thoughts but also adding more ideas for me to ponder.  

The pain-body consists of trapped life-energy that has split off from your total energy field and has temporarily become autonomous through the unnatural process of mind identification.  

This makes so much sense. I've been thinking alot about life-energy, meditation, positive reinforcement, the law of attraction, affirmations – all things that five years ago I wouldn't have given the time of day, even though I was 11 years sober five years ago.

This idea of splintered life-energy whose goal is nothing more than self-aggrandizement makes so much sense. I used the word 'sober' in the last paragraph. I'm now coming to understand that that word doesn't just mean free of alcohol or drugs. It means 'whole'. So when my negative behaviours and thoughts start feeding the demons, like a scary feedback loop of horror, I become very unhappy and start thinking self-destructive thoughts, acting in self-destructive ways, sabotage relationships, spend money I can't afford on stuff I don't need, and on and on and on.

So What Now?

So, what now? The power of now, that's what. I'm going to keep reading, keep highlighting, keep thinking. I'm going to ...

Stay present, and continue to be the observer of what is happening inside you. Become aware not only of the emotional pain but also of 'the one who observes,' the silent watcher. This is the power of the Now, the power of your own conscious presence. Then see what happens.

Yep, then see what happens. I'm so into this!