Shouldn’t That Be Reason Enough?

The pain was excruciating and I have a high pain tolerance. In August, and it’s now January, my tooth split vertically. I held it together with my tongue until the dentist could see me, because it was extremely painful if I didn’t. Luckily, she could see me right away and was able to remove the part of the tooth that had split off. This took care of the pain. She referred me to specialists to see if they could save the tooth, and they determined they couldn’t.

I decided to put off the extraction until after I returned from a couple of trips, one to California and one to the Carolinas, and after a visit from my daughter and her husband. By then we were heading into Thanksgiving, and once again I postponed having the tooth pulled until after the holidays and New Year. But, I started to feel intense pain in mid-December. The pain was shooting along the nerve pathways from the tooth into my sinuses and would stop me in my tracks.

A friend and colleague gave me a remote healing session which was very helpful. When the pain would allow, I also did healing work on myself, and I asked my son to help me sense the cause of pain. You might think the cause of pain was obvious: my tooth split and needed to be pulled. Shouldn’t that be reason enough?

One of the central teachings in the healing work I use is this: “It is your thoughts alone that cause you pain.” (A Course in Miracles, Lesson 190) Thus, even when there’s a seemingly physical cause for one’s pain, the task is to discover and address the true cause–the mental emotional issues at play.

I set out to do just this. My son sensed the cause of pain had to do with illusion. So, I engaged in self-inquiry to discern where I was snagged in illusion and blinded to the truth. I noticed I was judging two people very close to me. They both recommended I take antibiotics in case the pain was indication of infection. Although I knew they were acting from love and my judgments were based solely on assumptions, I believed they were overvaluing the body and acting under the illusion medications alone had the power to heal.

Next, I asked myself how this judgment actually related to me. In other words, how was I ensnared in the same illusion? Then I saw it. Earlier that day, I shared about my tooth pain with my sister. She went to her purse and handed me a pack of xylitol gum. My sister told me about watching an interview of a woman who said she healed her teeth using xylitol. I accepted her gift and started chewing the gum, wanting to trust it held the power to heal my tooth.

There it was: I had given power to xylitol to heal my tooth and my desire to save the tooth revealed I placed too great a value on the body. By giving power to xylitol, I wasn’t trusting the Divine with my tooth. By overvaluing the body, I was attached to saving my tooth which was the real reason I kept putting off the oral surgery appointment.

Once I clearly saw the truth lying beyond the illusion, the pain disappeared. A month later, it hasn’t returned, and I don’t expect it to. I finally made the appointment, and I don’t expect the extraction to be painful either.

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What is the truth I uncovered? The Divine is the only source of power in all of creation. While this truth isn’t new to me, it’s hard to remember in a world that doesn’t reflect this and instead ascribes power to institutions and objects, such as governments, money, and medications. It’s challenging to navigate in a society that overvalues the body, denies the power of the Divine, and relegates Spirit to some far off place. It’s difficult to make decisions such as whether to get your tooth pulled, take antibiotics, or get vaccinated.

A relevant question these days is, how do I decide whether to get the Covid vaccine? Here are my thoughts. I am not automatically suspicious of western medicine, medications, and vaccines, nor will I blindly follow western medicine’s protocols or a doctor’s advice. I also do not blindly follow an alternative healer’s advice, nor regularly take supplements or natural remedies. I check in with the inner Divine, and do my research when applicable.

You might ask, since I don’t perceive medications or vaccines alone as having power to heal, does this mean I don’t take any? No, that would be similar to the man who found himself on a rooftop in a flood and who refused help from a rowboat, a coastguard ship, and a helicopter because he was certain God would save him. When at the pearly gates, he asked what went wrong, and Saint Peter explained how God had sent a row boat, a coastguard ship, and a helicopter. Likewise, the Divine could be sending us medications or vaccines.

There are times I’ve been prompted to take medications or natural remedies. Those prompts felt to me to come from the Divine. If I’m feeling unwell, my healing work usually addresses it. Occasionally, I’m moved to seek help or take remedies. I do my best to care for my body without identifying with it or overvaluing it.    

My daughter recently shared with me her reason for choosing to have her baby vaccinated after doing significant research. She said, I trust in her capacity for innate health. I shared how that was essentially the same reason I chose not to vaccinate my kids after much research. I told her, I trust the Divine. How I see it—medications and vaccines by themselves not only have no power to heal, but also no power to harm.  

All this deepened these understandings: Nothing and no one affects you but yourself. Nothing in the external world has any power to hurt, injure you, or cause you pain. Nothing outside of yourself can diminish or oppress you.  “…It is you who have the power to dominate all things you see by merely recognizing what you are.” (Ibid)

You are Divine.

“Nothing in the world can bother you as much as your own mind, I tell you. In fact, others seem to be bothering you, but is not others. It is your own mind.” – Dalai Lama