Conventional Understanding

In conventional terms, pain is understood as an unpleasant sensation signaling damage or danger to the body or psyche. Medicine defines it as a neurological response to harmful stimuli, while psychology frames it as suffering to be eliminated. This perspective positions pain as an unwanted intrusion, something that happens to us and that we should avoid. Our societal approach reflects this: we develop medications to eliminate it, techniques to manage it, and generally view it as evidence that something is wrong or broken in our experience.

Resonant Understanding

Mathematical analysis of language reveals the 1-3-4 resonance pattern appearing across various expressions, with “pain” specifically emerging in the over-modulated state. This pattern occupies Position 4 in the creative sequence—the threshold where energy first becomes recognizable through distinction. Like the moment when undifferentiated potential first distinguishes itself enough to be recognized, Position 4 marks where energy patterns become distinct enough to be directly experienced. The 1-3-4 pattern shares this numeric signature with “unification,” “in the middle,” “in step with life,” and “surrender to” in its balanced state, showing this energy naturally flowing as centered alignment with life when not fixated or disconnected.

Expressions Spectrum Analysis

In balanced expression, this resonance pattern appears as “deserving,” “feeling,” “beingness,” and “body knowing,” revealing how energy naturally flows at Position 4 when not distorted. “My relationship,” “unification,” and “in step with life” show how this pattern corresponds with harmonious integration when flowing optimally. “Surrender to” and “in the middle” demonstrate how this energy naturally finds its center without fixation or resistance, while “I honor who I am” shows direct recognition without attachment.

When over-modulated, expressions such as “pain,” “believing,” and “identified” emerge, revealing how energy becomes fixated through excessive pressure. “Attention on a thought” and “virtual world” demonstrate disconnection from direct experience through conceptual fixation. “I am right,” “I am an authority,” and “anxious” show how over-modulation creates rigid patterns of identity and emotional intensity. “Busy” and “manipulation” reveal the forced activity that occurs when energy cannot flow naturally at this position.

Under-modulated expressions such as “guilty,” “past thinking,” “unprocessed,” and “watching” demonstrate what happens when energy lacks sufficient engagement at Position 4. “I am cut off” and “hard” show the disconnection and rigidity that occur when recognition remains incomplete. “Watching” particularly reveals how under-modulation creates detached observation without participation, while “guilty” and “past thinking” show incomplete integration of experience.

Beyond modulation states, uncategorized expressions like “creative medium,” “at the core of life,” and “electromagnetic form” reveal the fundamental context within which this pattern operates. These expressions suggest that the 1-3-4 pattern connects to organizing principles beyond human experience, forming part of reality’s basic structure through which energy becomes recognizable.

Russell’s Cosmogony Connection

Walter Russell’s cosmogony illuminates this pattern through his precise understanding of how universal energy expresses in different states. In “The Secret of Light,” Russell writes:

“A local anesthetic stops pain. Pain is a too intense electric current. The voltage is too great for the nerve wires to stand the strain. They burn out, and the over-charge of burning out causes the pain.”

This directly corresponds with pain being an over-modulated expression state of the 1-3-4 pattern. Russell reveals pain not as a separate phenomenon but as a particular intensity of the same electric current that flows through all creation.

Russell further clarifies in the same work:

“When we sleep, or are anesthetized, we say we are ‘unconscious.’ We cannot be unconscious. We have always been conscious without the slightest awareness of it. Our confusion in this respect lies in mistaking sensation and thinking for consciousness.”

This insight illuminates Position 4 as the threshold where energy becomes recognizable through distinction, not as separate from energy itself but as energy patterning in ways that create the appearance of distinct experience.

Practical Implications

This understanding transforms our relationship with physical, emotional, and mental pain in profound ways. When we recognize pain as an over-modulated expression of the same energy that naturally flows as “feeling,” “unification,” and “in step with life,” we can approach it differently:

Shifting Awareness Rather Than Fighting Sensation

Instead of treating pain as an enemy to eliminate, we might recognize it as a signal of over-modulation at Position 4. This doesn’t mean accepting suffering, but acknowledging that the energy pattern currently expressing as pain has the potential to shift toward balanced expressions. The table shows that the same resonance pattern expressing as “pain” when over-modulated can also express as “deserving” and “body knowing” when in balance.

Breaking the Identification Cycle

The over-modulated expressions “identified,” “I am right,” and “I am an authority” reveal how pain connects with rigid identification patterns. When experiencing pain, we often become fixated on it, defining ourselves through our suffering. This identification actually intensifies the over-modulation, creating a cycle that sustains pain. By recognizing this pattern, we can practice releasing identification with pain without denying the sensation itself.

Working With Underlying Under-Modulation

The under-modulated expressions “guilty,” “past thinking,” and “I am cut off” suggest that pain often appears alongside patterns of disconnection or incomplete integration. This reveals why simply addressing the over-modulated pain itself often doesn’t create lasting relief—the under-modulated patterns must also be addressed. Practices that help integrate “unprocessed” experiences and move beyond “past thinking” may help shift the entire pattern toward balance.

For an example of how to work with this understanding of pain, here are suggestions for practical approaches for different pain types.

For physical pain: Rather than simply numbing sensation, we might explore how to allow energy to flow differently through the affected area. The balanced expressions “in the middle” and “in step with life” suggest practices like centered awareness, rhythmic breathing, and allowing sensation to be experienced without resistance. This aligns with Russell’s understanding of pain as “too intense electric current”—practices that help redistribute and balance this current may naturally shift the experience.

For emotional pain: The over-modulated expressions “believing,” “anxious,” and “virtual world” show how emotional suffering often involves fixation on conceptual patterns rather than direct experience. Practices that help release rigid beliefs and return to direct feeling—without either fixation or avoidance—may help shift emotional pain toward the balanced expressions of “feeling” and “beingness.”

For mental suffering: Expressions like “attention on a thought” and “busy” reveal how mental pain involves energy becoming trapped in thought loops. The balanced expression “my relationship” suggests that what’s needed isn’t elimination of thought but a changed relationship with thinking—one that maintains connection without fixation. Mindfulness practices that develop the capacity to notice thoughts without becoming absorbed in them align with this understanding.

Relationship With the Medical Approach

This perspective doesn’t reject medical intervention but contextualizes it. When Russell writes that “A local anesthetic stops pain” by addressing the “too intense electric current,” he’s describing exactly what pain medication does, it interrupts the over-modulated pattern. However, this Word Cosmology understanding suggests that addressing the modulation pattern more completely, working with both over-modulation and under-modulation, might create more comprehensive healing than simply blocking sensation.