You
are not your body. You are a spiritual being, and your body is an
expression of you. You have, in fact, over time, experienced many
different types of bodies. Currently, you are a spiritual being having
a human experience. You manifested your body in the physical realm in
order to have the opportunity to learn, to heal and to experience the
emotions and the senses.
Your physical body needs to be treated
lovingly and with honour. Looking after a physical body is both a
responsibility and a joy. Physical bodies need activity. They need
recreation, in the sense of doing things that interest the body. They
need attention on many different levels. They need sleep, shelter,
food and sex. These are basic core needs, located primarily at the
first, second and third chakra levels. I am using the word need
because I feel it is important not to be in resistance to the human
experience. There have been many spiritual practices that have had the
intention to transcend basic human needs as a way of attempting higher
spiritual reality and awareness. I believe it is possible to have it
all, all the lovely aspects of humanity and all the transcendent
qualities of Spirit in one experience, a highly conscious spiritual
being in the human body having the full human experience.
Bodies
need to be taken care of, without allowing them to become senior to the
Spirit, without allowing them to take over. One of the major problems
on the planet right now is that most people's bodies are in charge.
Balance is the solution. We must find the way to give to our bodies
without them becoming senior, without any of the physical needs,
desires or activities taking over.
For some bodies, shelter
takes precedence, or the acquisition of physical things. For others,
the main focus is food. Sex is the primary motivator for many. While
for others sleep or a relative degree of unconsciousness is their
primary state. Some people have to give the body constant attention.
For others still, activity or recreation can take over to the extent
that there is no time for peace.
We must put the basic needs in
place for the physical body, but the Spirit must continue to be in
charge. On a fundemental level we primarily desire Spirit over all
things. It is obvious when observing our culture that Spirit is the
missing piece. Often the first chakra (survival) and second chakra
(emotions, sexuality, and clear feeling) desires are taken care of,
but the separation from Spirit creates an empty void. People will try
to replenish this void in physical ways, but it can only be filled by
Spirit being prominent again.
As mentioned earlier, there are
some spiritual practices that believe shutting down certain aspects of
being in a human body can help to achieve a spiritual goal. These
practices can often be rigorous or painful. In some belief systems,
sexuality is perceived to be a primitive drive and not spiritual and
therefore wrong. Thus, the objective becomes turning off one's
sexuality. The reality is that sexual desire is part of a human body.
Sexuality is one of the joys of the human experience. Shutting off
your sexuality will not make you more spiritual. It would make you in
resistance to one of the reasons you manifested a body in the first
place, to have the human experience.
Another example is the
spiritual masters in the world who choose to energize their bodies in
ways other than eating. This shows high mastery over the body but this
too is unnecessary. We can nourish the body in the direct way of
providing it with food while simultaneously raising the spiritual level
of consciousness.
There are also holy men in the East who walk
around with no accoutrements. They have no material possessions, nor
established shelter. They seek spiritual enlightenment through
extreme non-attachment. Again, this does not have to be an expectation
on the spiritual journey. The spiritual piece is about transcending
materialism to achieve non-attachment to material things. One can do
this with possessions as long as one reaches a point where they realize
that possessions ultimately are not important and can let go of them at
any time.
There are many spiritual practices that will take any
one of these pieces and work with it in order to learn the lessons.
The reality is that sexuality, food and shelter are not only basic
physical needs, but also a few of the joys of the human body. It is
not necessary to relinquish any or all of them in order to grow
spiritually. Every aspect of the body reality is valid. It is
important not to place judgment on it. Abstaining from sex, limiting
food intake or sleep, denying any core body need, does not make a
person more spiritual.
There is only a problem if one of the
desires owns you. Then that is the place you need to heal. There are
people with millions and millions of dollars, and it is never enough.
If they do begin to awaken spiritually, they often realize that what
they need to do is give it all away. They need few material
belongings, for a while, in order to learn the lesson.
Balance
needs to be achieved in order to have a full, well-rounded human
experience. We are all entitled to eat, sleep, be sexual, have shelter
and be given attention. These are all wonderful things about being
human. Our intention is to experience all of these things from a place
of Spirit.
The middle path is the easiest one to follow. The
strings on a guitar that are too tight break; the strings that are too
loose make the guitar impossible to play. The guitar must be tuned to
the appropriate place, the middle path, the path of balance.
One
of the amazing things about being in a human body is the abilities that
we have. The sixth and seventh chakras allow us to have awareness at
the higher levels of clairvoyance and knowingness. This awareness is
an advantage over our animal friends. A wolf may be alert and highly
aware of its environment, but it does not question its reality. This
is simply because the sixth and seventh chakras, and the associated
clarity and spiritual consciousness, are not vibrating at as high a
frequency. The human body enables us to explore the idea of spiritual
consciousness in a body.
We manifested these bodies to have the
human experience and to learn spiritually - to transcend, and to enjoy
the journey. You can care for and pleasure your body from a place of
Spirit. If Spirit is present, there will be balance. More of you as
Spirit will want to be present in your wonderful, beautiful and amazing
body. Acknowledge it for what it is, and honour it. It is a beautiful
thing when the Spirit can enjoy the body without being owned by it.
