Fear, not pain, creates suffering

“Pain is not the enemy. The fear of passing through pain is.”
Pia Mellody

“According to Buddhism, it is our fear at experiencing ourselves directly that creates suffering.”
Mark Epstein, Thoughts without a Thinker.

Last year, I went to a 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat, during which I had one of the most intense and transformative experiences of my life. It started with my realization that I was completely disconnected from my body sensations. I could feel very little of my body, and what I could feel was displaced, several inches away from my body. It took a few days to get my body sensations back and to the proper place.

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