Vipassana FAQ: I feel pain on the back while sitting

Sunday, 26 June 2011 16:59

I feel pain on the back while sitting on Vipassana session

If not caused by physical injury it is most likely caused by the mind,
based on former, familiar habits and patterns.

For example:

we all know very well the reaction
when someone rant and shout at us.

Especially in the childhood, when we couldn`t answer back verbal,
the shoulders tend to go up, the neck tends to get stiff
and the upper part of the body starts to duck.
It is an automated reaction of self defense.

Just to stay with the example above,
lets assume we bring this automated reaction in particular into a silent sitting meditation, 
it now creates a conflict.

While sitting,
the mind tries to bring the body into the accustomed, automated position above,
tries to bring the shoulders up, tries to get the neck stiff
and tries to bring the upper part of the body into the position of ducking.

This automated activity of the mind is in sharp contradiction
to what the sitting meditation recommends,
to sit straight and relaxed.

Now, we all have our individual vita with its own habits and patterns,
but what they have in common is, they are created by the mind
and are causing conflicts and pain.


This is the conflict:

The silent meditation creates an atmosphere of relaxation
and the mind creates an atmosphere of tension.

The question is, who do you want to follow ?
What is your choice ?


And a few notes on this:

First,
anything you can watch is not you.

This is obvious when watching others,
when they slip and fall it is not happening to you.

If you can watch others to slip and fall, it is not you.

But what is with sensations and happenings inside us ?
Do we use to say: "I am pain" or "I have pain" ?

Meditation techniques basically simply makes you aware of the fact
you can watch sensations happening to you the same way you watch others.

If you can watch pain, it is not you.
If you can watch the mind, it is not you.

Second,
for the first time in your entire life you become aware of something
that happened in an automated, mechanical way up to now.

Feel blessed, you are on a good way to become aware of it
and no longer becomes an unconcious rock on your shoulders.

Allow it to happen, allow anything to happen and stay watching the breath.