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Enlightenment 101 - Don't Leave Your Body There’s no use reaching for the stars if you’re uncomfortable in your skin. Do you love your body? The fact that many people find these questions uncomfortable - or answer in the negative - illustrates a basic misperception that leads to all kinds of trouble. One of the greatest fallacies in human thought is the so-called mind/body dichotomy. This assumed split in our makeup turns out to be a confusing obstacle to personal growth and understanding. Simply put: by objectifying “my body,” it forever becomes “other,” and while “I” am inhabiting “it,” I can never feel whole. It’s like the body is the car; I’m the driver (or passenger), but I can’t get “out” ‘till the ride is over. Many earnest truth seekers believe enlightenment is a meta-physical achievement that is, beyond the physical. They think meditation involves renunciation and “transcendence” of the material world of form, including the body. Extreme religious asceticism and the repression of sexuality result from this displaced view, as does the unfortunate concept of “heaven” as attainable only after death. This historic but dysfunctional schism between consciousness and matter, spirit and flesh, leads to disassociation, alienation and guilt. It’s a false (if persuasive) duality that separated man from nature, and created the centuries-old battle between science and religion. It also perpetually postpones the very realization we seek. Come Together One can never know self while divorcing mind from body. Neither peace, joy, love, nor wisdom can ever be found out there. We are the Living Spirit of the Universe, but we’ll never realize it if we can’t relax and enjoy being mortal too. The famous spiritual destination of “here and now” also includes “within and without.” To those that experience the body as just so much weighty encumbrance, like some kind of anchor pulling us down into the sea of death, astral projection feels like “liberation,” at least temporarily. But - in the poetic-holistic parlance of the East - the lotus blossom ascends to the sun from the dark, wet slime below. No compost, no flower. As the Buddha so poignantly taught, life hurts, but the solution is not avoidance (which is impossible), but simple acceptance of what is (which takes practice). The middle way is more than a proverbial roadmap leading between extremes to moderation; it resolves all dualities, pointing directly to our true unbounded nature. Sit Down & Stop Mindfulness meditation begins on one’s seat, and deals firstly with mechanics like balance, alignment, and relaxation. After these come sensory, breath, energy and thought awareness. By investigating the mind/body sensorium in real time—perceiving all experience fully—accurate insight into Life Itself arises. We awaken to sense the miraculous in all of creation, physical-to-subtle-to-sublime. Spiritual understanding and ultimate liberation exclude nothing; including the very atoms and elements we so ingeniously accreted from star-stuff in order to enjoy life on this good Earth. Let us gratefully celebrate the miracle of evolution that we’re part of. If anything “out there” is sacred and holy, then so must we be, “in here,” for are we not expressions of the same source? The body is a temporary temple, its every living moment precious and poignant. Remember: we can’t stop and smell the roses, without our noses! Closer Than Breath One reliable way to rediscover the spirit within the body is to simply feel your breath. . . carefully and continuously. It’s no accident that breathing is closely related to spirit in many cultures and languages. (The word conspiracy for example, means “to breathe with.”) The breath is the single most immediate testimony of your aliveness in the present moment. You needn’t go anywhere else to fully awaken. To “go with the flow” of your own natural breathing—without control or distance—is to know the primordial force that animates all beings, with equally universal awareness.
Lonny J. Brown is the author of Enlightenment In Our Time (BookLocker.com), and the online column, The Holistic Mystic (TheMetaArts.com). His writings on holistic health have appeared on AOL’s Alternative Medicine Forum and in Alternative Health Practitioner, Yoga Journal, and many other progressive publications. Brown teaches holistic health, mind/body healing, and stress reduction courses at hospitals, schools and businesses throughout the US. His Web site also features essays, tapes, books, and links to a variety of integrative health sources. www.LonnyBrown.com, lonny@holistic.com. |
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