Beyond Body

If there is one thing in human beings, which can be considered the center of all good and evil, it is undoubtedly the physical body; all that men do may be ultimately linked to some aspect of the human body. There is another element which can predominate if the physical needs are fulfilled: the mind looks for avenues to satisfy. The last element that we may think of is the spirit or the soul. But I am baffled at thinking the most complicated mechanism that God has created that it would take quite a few millennia for the human mind to just comprehend the intricacies involved with this, leave alone recreating it.

There is such an amount of energy stored into the human body that we seldom realize it; at moments when we least expect, this energy may flow out, even without our realizing it. We often hear of unimaginable things done by feeble and fragile persons; at the spur of a moment, their bodies become a store house of energy which is beyond human comprehension. We cannot explain this phenomena in human logic; it is something which is a blessing of nature (or call it God). But at the same time, the body is also the cause of much of the evil we see in the world. If only we had no bodies, life would be so very different.

The two elements which dominate the media in today’s world are violence and sex, and both are involved with the physical body. Both last only for a short while and the pleasure or the pain involved with these acts are just momentary. Even before we realize that something had happened, the harm is already done. There are several ways of looking at the double-edged sword that media thrives on; remove these two elements, and the entire media, especially television and cinema, will fall flat. But what makes the human mind to seek after violence and sex, not only in literature and in silver screen, not to mention the cinema.

The answer to that question is not too difficult to find; there is something so very basic and fundamental to the human psyche, and it is related to the fact of our bodies, the perishable entity of our selves. It is just an external layer, which undergoes decay once the hour comes, and then the soul is freed. That is the notion which is proposed in the Second chapter of Srimad Bhagavad Gita. It is only the soul which is imperishable. But it would be dangerous to think that the body is just a dispensable entity, because it is in and through the physical body that the human person is to find his/her own path to salvation.

How do we explain the craving for the physical pleasures, and what is its function in a person? Is it possible to forego the physical realities and live in a realm which is above all speculation and imagination? The mind and the spirit cannot be duped as easily as the human body could be, and that is the reason why often we find people seeking to end their lives, because they feel with the loss of the battle on the physical grounds, their lives have come to an end. They cannot think that there are two other layers which can be the center of their existence. The body is a wonderful creature, and it is only who has understood the nuances and the science of it, can really enter into the world of the inner spirit!

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!