Nice as ever, Flow.
But what applies universally is when you DO care about something. Why should you not? Lying to yourself will not work. But letting yourself care about whatever it is, welcoming it inwardly, will work.
Yes. It's as if resistance increases (causes?) the suffering.
I like to treat it as:
So i'm indifferent? Great. Welcome it inwardly, and feel the freedom.
So i'm attached? Fine. Welcome it inwardly, welcome the pain, and feel the freedom.
Recently, after spending some time inwardly welcoming & accepting something that I have an aversion to, I got up to go to do something and hit my knee on a table. I guess I was still in the welcoming state, because instead of clenching I just totally let the pain in, no resistance, no clenching up. I noticed 2 things:
- The pain felt much more intense than any other time that I hit my knee previously.
- It was gone much more quickly, and more completely. On previous occasions, the worst of the pain would go away after 10 seconds or so, but some faint pain would still linger a minute or even more afterwards. This time the pain was gone after 5 seconds or thereabouts. And when it was gone, it was gone COMPLETELY.
Interesting how the whole attachment/aversion/resistance thing works.