The sense of the body is a defining experience of earthly existence, one of the most elemental of givens. The infant still kicks and flails as it learns the bounds of its body, and later we manage our bodies quite well. Self-awareness is likewise a natural experience, through which we come to see our own existence, and so for man the self-reflection of body and of consciousness is decisive. And yet it is said that in the primordial states there was no self-reflection, that is, beings did not become conscious of their existence in the way we know, and what they experienced was not life but the fullness of existence. To man today such an elemental experience of self and of the universe is granted only in rare, blessed flashes.
The body is perishable, and yet how much attention we devote to it! Comfort today is a far stronger motive than, say, security, but a small crack in a comfortable way of life is enough, and at once the feeling of insecurity reaches down to more elemental levels. At such times the sense of security of a settled life may be shaken to its very foundations. Searching for life's most important ideals, a young man might still rightly name the holy trinity of sex, drugs and rock and roll, but with a head even a little more mature, the ideals of health, family, security take shape as well. Bodiliness usually comes with a certain petty-bourgeois sensibility: a comfortable, well-appointed, happy life – what more could one wish for? But where is the fire, where the risk, the blaze? Today we try to replace the heroic life with adrenaline rushes, and in place of standing firm, the fashion now is the chase for experiences.
Behold, people wander hither and thither to marvel at the peaks of mountains, the fearsome crests of the sea, the vast windings of rivers, the wide expanses of the ocean, the courses of the stars, and yet they pay no heed to themselves. (St Augustine)
The soul is eternal, and how little attention it receives… Balm for the body can be had in any shop, but a remedy for the soul is a rarer commodity. Perhaps the demand is smaller too? But whoever seeks, finds. Kahlil Gibran encourages us: ‘Have you not heard of the man who searched in the earth for roots and found treasures?’ The dichotomy of body and soul is not a split but a union, for man is more a soul who takes on a body than a body into which, now and then, even a soul is squeezed. The soul can be explored and experienced by spiritual means. Self-reflection is a good first step, and gradually one must set aside every incidental, perishable and hindering factor that would stand in the way of experiencing one's spiritual nature.
If the body is perishable, then we may suppose that spiritual existence is imperishable. If man is ignorant – and that is why the thirst for knowledge drives him – then we may assume that his spiritual nature is conscious. And if earthly existence is suffering, then we may hope that spiritual existence is joyful. Set against the perishable body, this much at least we may assume about the soul. The peak achievement of the gift of existence is awareness, and the peak experience of consciousness is bliss. It is worth signing on in search of this treasure. From body-consciousness one must arrive at spiritual awareness.
- › Adapt, adjust! The river does no harm to the supple reed, but the rigid trunk it breaks.
- › Shut out negative opinion! Rise above your own limited opinion!
- › Behind everything lies the divine will! In everything, see the divine spark!
- › The illness must be ended, not the sick man! Live by the faculty of discernment!
- › Overcome evil with good! Overcome bodily awareness with painstaking work.
- › Examine yourself strictly from time to time. But be not only your own judge, be your own defender too!
- › Do the best you can, and remain independent! This is responsible freedom.
Granted, to pass from bodily comfort and happy ignorance to the responsibility and the heights of spiritual awareness is a venture not without danger. The depths of the sea are full of treasures, but security is found on the shore…