Temple of the Spirit (1.c)

I place myself in the presence of the Lord, and take a few moments to “feel” his presence; the aura of the Lord’s presence surrounding me. I sit comfortably in a position which I feel at ease with, and now become conscious of my body, the different parts which make it. Let me pay attention to the different parts which are tensed, and I relax them. I call on the particular part and ask it to relax… my right shoulder, relax! I loosen the muscles, and can feel the entire body becoming light, almost weightless. When I feel comfortable, then I bring to my mind that this body which I behold here and now is not only a fragile God’s creation, but is also a temple of the Spirit; it is here that God deigns to dwell. Therefore it is holy and sacred!

God has sanctified my body by breathing into me his own life spirit, and the air I breathe in is but his breath… it is his breath which nourishes me. Let me therefore turn my attention to my breathing, the cool air entering into my body, filling my lungs and come out with the impurities, warm! Close my eyes and feel the breath, become conscious of the air entering in and getting out. I will also focus on the heaving of my chest, the gradual filling of my lungs, and how it feels on the nostrils. Let me stay with my breathing as long as I can, because it is the life spirit of God that has been given to me, and this spirit makes my body holy and sacred. God is not only a passive craftsman, but he has shared part of his Self by breathing into me.

I also become aware of the different ways how this body is made to indulge in things unholy, contrary to his divine plan; the eyes which see evil, the ears which listens to gossip, the mouth which curses and abuses others verbally, gluttony through which I eat more than I really need, hands through which I harm others, my sexual organs which are sometimes subjected to unholy acts of self gratification, my flesh, about which sometimes I am too fastidious… My body is by itself holy and sacred and it is only the conscious I who subject it to sinful tendencies. I shall move from the top considering how different parts of my body become vehicles of defaming the creator who made me.

The human body has immense potentiality, and today I would like to become conscious of it. I recall to mind some of the most outstanding works that I was able to do during the past few years, and the body had been always the vehicle through which I was able to carry out these noble, beautiful works. It is like Alladin’s magic lamp, you rub it and the genie appears, ‘Your wish, my command!’ The body is there always to do what I wish it to do. I receive this immense potentiality and creativity from the creator, the omnipotent God. Let me also remember some of the achievements people around me had made using their bodies. The human body is capable of achieving far more things than the best computers can.

If my body is the temple of the Spirit, the house where the Lord of the universe dwells, then it is only proper that I keep it neat and tidy. Today I pause for a moment to recall the moments when I had abused my body, or different parts of it! I remember the moments when I had not cared for this body sufficiently, failed to listen to what the hands or legs had to tell me when I forced them to the point of collapsing, or moments when I had forced to cover the natural beauty with artificial materials, when I had not given opportunity for nature to cure the commonplace ailments but rushed to artificial means of arresting them, when I had not given enough rest to my body, but made it work for days without sufficient rest… Let me for a while listen to my body, what is it telling me now!

Subduing the Bull within

If I were to evaluate my performance as for as self-control is concerned, I would not be able to give more than 40 points out of one hundred! I understand that the points gained are rather low, which means in self-control, I am below average, and yet I might look quite in control over what is happening to me. It is difficult to assess how one is in control over one’s feelings and emotions, both positive and negative, because there are hardly any external criteria to evaluate a person; all the vital criteria are experienced interiorly. Therefore one might seem quite in control over one’s emotions, but in fact might be quite out of control regarding emotions.

Therapeutically several ways of approaches are suggested to achieve self-control, and one of the very ancient techniques is deep breathing. Often we breathe from the upper part of our chest, and seldom does the air go deep into our lungs, and come out. When we begin to breathe deeply, consciously taking the air inside, letting it rest inside the lungs for a second or two, and again consciously letting it out, we become aware of what is happening not only to our body, in our body, but also in the mind and the spirit. At that moment we become a third person, standing outside of our selves, and observing what is happening to our bodies, minds and spirits. This is a magic moment, when we are able to pick up many of the things which we would otherwise not be aware.

I am reminded of this anecdote which is told of in the context of the means of achieving self-control. Johny had been notorious in losing temper, and so his mother had taught him to take deep breath, close his eyes, and count slowly one to ten, whenever he would feel angry. So whenever he felt angry, he would close his eyes and start counting, and it was expected when he finished ten, he would be quite sober to take control over himself. But one day Johny returned home from school with a swollen face. When his mother asked what had happened, Johny said: You had told me to count one to ten, but Paul’s mother had taught him to count upto five, and so after completing five, he smashed my face and ran away!

That was only an anecdote, a joke, which should not be stretched beyond its length. But deep breathing can really help us get in touch with our inner self. Associated with this is meditation! Here by meditation I mean to imply, calming and quieting the mind. Eckhart Tolle would say in The Power of Now, that if we are able to overcome “thoughts”, then we are very close to the divine. The moments in between two thoughts is a sacred moment, and by placing ourselves as a third party, we may be able to stretch these moments, and meditation may help us achieve this. Like all disciplines, meditation will also need to be cultivated.

There is no quick solution to achieving self-control; one may have to undergo long hours of sadhana, discipline in order to bring an absolute unison between the body, the mind and the spirit. This has been one of the most often sought after salvation for many a rishis and munis. For the persons who had achieved perfect self-control can achieve anything they would wish. There is nothing impossible for them; even what is impossible becomes possible to them. It is possible that external reality has not changed much, but their minds have been moulded in such a way that they find it easy to accept whichever means takes them to perfect union of body, mind and spirit.