You touched on something meditators (buddha, lao tzu, etc) were talking about:
The brain detects a plausibly threatening sensation and generates mild pain
We become afraid this pain signals tissue damage (often due to prior experience or general anxiety)
This fear directly increases the brain's threat assessment and attention to the sensations
The brain produces more pain as a protective response
-->Increased pain confirms our fear, amplifying it and repeating the cycle
Unwinding this process completely all around within your entire body and mind these figures would call 'enlightment'. This concerns not just chronic pain. There is a sense in which we all have chronic pain. continuously. Furthermore, even the pain of stubbing your toe is 95% the... (read more)
You touched on something meditators (buddha, lao tzu, etc) were talking about:
The brain detects a plausibly threatening sensation and generates mild pain
-->Increased pain confirms our fear, amplifying it and repeating the cycle
Unwinding this process completely all around within your entire body and mind these figures would call 'enlightment'. This concerns not just chronic pain. There is a sense in which we all have chronic pain. continuously. Furthermore, even the pain of stubbing your toe is 95% the... (read more)