Tagged: body
The game of opposites
Opposites drive Life into movement. “Life changes” is the consequence of opposite energies.
Want to be “spiritual”? Want to be “good”?
Non-spiritual and “bad” has to be experienced. Thus, It is to be “bad,” “bad” after all? 🙂 It is a matter of time.
We will find people with opposite virtues/weaknesses, characters, perspectives, experiences, skills, etc. That is what is necessary for movement in the World to occur, yet; our conditioning will judge and label what is not considered “right” through our standards.
God needs the Devil. Police needs crooks, politicians need masses, day needs night… Get the picture?
Those apparent opposites work as “One,” practically it is a unity.
We say: “Body, mind and spirit,” to define a human being, but all of those separating labels cannot divide what is meant to be ONE.
Our minds will affect the way our bodies feel and our bodies, the perception of the mind.
For most the word “spirit” is not experiential. It is only a nice label to throw in there to “look spiritual.”
Nevertheless, whether we dissect a human into 20 types of bodies and 500 chakras, everything works as a unity. It is ONE.
Our education, our learning is based on information. That is second hand knowledge. That is worthless to understand Life, but for the human world, it is priceless stuff.
Once a human being is sold into the ways of society as the only “Life,” then he will not be able to connect with Nature, with Life itself.
In some minds, a concept is real: Triangles exist and so numbers. An” ideal” such as “justice” is supported, the unchanging ideal unable to fit “what is.” Life has its own “justice” which has very little resemblance to human justice. It is merely the experience of the opposite. We say “my karma.” One side of the full experience.
“Spirituality for the masses” keeps teaching its followers how to avoid change. How to stick with an ideal. “Summer is good. Don’t go into Winter for that is bad.” That creates inner dishonesty. A believer believes Summer to be the “right” thing, but he cannot stop the process of living Winter in his own skin.
The procession of the opposites is bound to pass by, it is the 2 faces of the coin which makes up ONE coin. Every time we choose one side, we cannot avoid the other to show up. It is a matter of time.
We have learnt to separate opposites, but from another vision; those opposites are complementary.
Every human experience has an opposite. Every Life journey will go through that trip. Today saint, tomorrow sinner. Where is the middle line? There is none… or we could make up one and label that as our “morality.”
Our conditioning to believe in labels don’t allow us to see the continuity of the rainbow: Different colors, even opposite of each other making up ONE white light.
The gist of “Spirituality”: Awareness and Surrender
Spirituality is related with the word “spirit” and that word is open to many meanings. How can we talk about “spirit” without the experience? Could a blind person speak about light?
Obviously, whatever he says about light will be far from what is, although he could speak scientifically about wavelengths and color spectrums. There is no experience. Nevertheless, even if we are not blind, whatever we say about light cannot be the “truth” but merely a description of it, of our own experience with “light”. The same principle applies when trying to make sense of “holy books” or “spiritual best sellers,” words cannot convey ‘truth’ only a partial description.
The other day I was talking with friends about “spirituality.” (i.e. Making the human experience “better”) Someone “discovered” (heard from others) that the problem of human suffering was related with ego.
“Get rid of the ego and you are free,” she said.
Bravo! That is the solution that most everyone knows. Why is not working? Why “knowing” the solution is not bringing the expected fruits? Oh! You need to “practice,” to follow the “right” method.
That is the next belief in the chain. What are you going to practice? An idea of what someone told you to be “right”?
Most are not AWARE of ego. Most only have concepts about it. Thus, how is it possible for ego to be dissolved, to SURRENDER it?
That is a key question.
Intellectual understanding of a concept does not change the individual. That is why “spirituality” as it is “now” is pure hogwash; nevertheless, “inspirational.” Any concepts that we bring in, will not accomplish the goal of “creating better human beings.” It will be all “pretty” talk; collectively we have become used to this.
Spiritual people ask the question: Who Am I? Any conceptual answer will not bring the experience of knowing ourselves. Because there is no AWARENESS, we could go on with some belief or with some dishonest phrase: We consistently say “I,” without knowing who that “I” is. We embrace another label such as “soul” or any other “spiritual” term, then we are “happy” with, for we believe to have the “right” answer.
When we are AWARE, we could perceive that we are not the body. Breathing happens. I am not DOING it. The heart pumps blood, I am not DOING it, thus; how can I say that “I am the body?”
When we are AWARE we could perceive that we are not the mind. Thoughts come and go without “my” control. They just appear and I want for them to go away, but I cannot DO that.
When we are AWARE we could see that any concept that I have not experienced, it is just conditioned information, “knowledge” coming from the mind.
Soul, Spirit, etc. are such learned concepts. I want to believe to be those, although I don’t know if I have experienced what the label entails, so I can be “spiritual” but I am faking it. If you have experienced to be a soul or spirit, please do me a favor: Change the label... Pick any other label, for your experience will be different from that of others.
When we are AWARE we recognize that “I will not be able to find who I am” for “I am always changing.” Paradoxically, I am the body, I am the mind, I am the soul, the spirit, I am ALL of those things that we believe to be, so why label to separate?
Paradoxically, the question “Who Am I?” is most important to formulate as long as I am not looking for an answer. Can the mind “understand that”?
Probably not. That is why, get out of the mind if you would like to experience you own wordless reality. That is part of deconditioning.
If you observe your own mind, you will be AWARE of it and then you will understand what the word ego, the “I” means, without using a dictionary definition.
Please be AWARE of this: We cannot live in the “NOW” as long as our mind IS. The mind is past or future only. To say: “I want my mind to be in the Now” is an ignorant remark for lack of awareness.
If you are in the NOW, you are in No-Mind.
Don’t believe me. Try it at home… BE AWARE of all of these things, so SURRENDERING happens.
If you believe that “I will surrender,” even though this phrase may be grammatically correct, in “spirituality” that phrase is completely senseless.
Why?
I am glad you asked. That is for you to find out. Your own journey.
Until March 20th! 🙂
The mirror of “truth.”
AWARENESS is not something to practice. It is something to be aware of…
How to make sense of that sentence? We heard so much about being AWARE, but all we have are beliefs, interpretations, concepts, information of what that is thus, useless stuff for self-realization.
“Useless” is the right word. It has to be experiential to be able to understand, to know.
Here is an “exercise.” It is not something to “practice.” It is something to fully experience. If you cannot fully experience it, if you cannot let yourself go, then repeat it again.
Find a full size mirror, those that will allow you to observe most of your physical body.
If you are fully clothed, you will probably be alright. The conditioning is to look at the clothes to see if they are wrinkled, if they match, if they look good on you, etc.
Now, take your clothes off. Observe your body and your face fully while doing this “exercise.” Did you notice your tummy? The size of your sexual organs? The color of your skin? The wrinkles in your face?
Good!
Did you notice how you feel while observing those elements of your body?
AWARENESS resides in that.
Did you feel shame? Did you blush and feel embarrassed?
In that moment, that is who YOU are.
Isn’t it silly to get embarrassed by looking at your own body?
That is where the hang up resides. Look for the root of it.
Did you like your body?
That is sick! You are supposed to like someone else’s body but not your own. Perhaps you have some homosexual issues… huh?
That’s it! You found another trauma. Go to the root of it. A body is a body. There is beauty in the body. Appreciate it. Enjoy the moment.
Want to go on with the exercise?
OK. Caress your face while looking at the mirror. What do you feel? Caress your chest. What do you feel? Caress your sexual organs. What do you feel?
Masturbation is “bad”! I shouldn’t touch myself! Do you recognize that thought? What is the difference between touching your face and your sexual organs? Find the beliefs, the taboos. Observe how you feel. Be aware of it.
How could you enjoy pleasure with all of those hang ups, taboos and beliefs in morality and decency?
You cannot. Your mind will not allow you. It is not the ACTION what makes something “sinful.” It is what you feel while DOING it.
How do you “love yourself” if you cannot accept what you see and what you feel by touching your own precious body?
Do you take care of it? Now you are aware…
Want to go deeper? Now self-pleasure yourself in front of the mirror. Look at your face but even more important, observe what you feel. Observe the taboos, the moral standards, the traumas flowing…
Do you feel shame? How about guilt? Someone watching you?
Be AWARE of all of that to discover who you truly are.
Observe how all of that inside you is being covered by decent words, spiritual concepts, Godly morality, that stuff is defining you, coercing you to comply with the conditioning. Discover the root of it, liberate yourself!
There cannot be innocence while looking at your image in that mirror and caressing yourself, until that rust accumulated over many Life experiences, is cleaned up, cleared. For that stuff will be the “inheritance” you will give to others close to you.
Become AWARE of that.
Life is not meant to be understood
When a human being starts the journey of self-realization, many things may happen externally: Meetings with ‘God,’ ghosts, near death experiences, close encounters of the third kind, the Kundalini rising and the chakras aligning, etc, etc.
Those “experiences” are meant to motivate the seeker.
Internally, that individual is not aware of his emotions due to living Life experiences.
Emotions have a body response. They come as a consequence of a growing ego. Feelings are well beyond the “traumatized” individuality.
The external experiences are enticing but lack inner knowledge. Without inner knowledge there is no self-realization.
Thus after the external experiences have worn out in the seeker’s consciousness; then to deal with the mind becomes the first step into grasping “inner” rather than “outer.”
Most individuals at this time are lost in their own minds. Life is a concept to analyze. Purpose, meaning becomes the driving force. The ability to enjoy Life is almost gone.
“What is the purpose of stopping and taking the time to smell the roses?”
“What is the reason?”
That questioning destroys our wonder, our appreciation, our zest for Life.
Although some may want to tame and re-train the mind, there is no realization that it is the mind coming up with that “solution.”
The mind is trained to fight. Life is a struggle.
“We will fight for peace and the betterment of the human race.” Out of that political correct but meaningless phrase, a spark of intuition may appear: Harmony does not require a fight. It is not an inner struggle. It is to learn to use the inner audio “equalizer” according to the song that it is being played in Life. Some may call that “intuition.”
That “art” requires the ability to listen beyond what we have been taught, for Life will play songs that have never been played before. Therefore, there are not set “methods” or “rules of thumb” capable of dealing with such newness.
At this point, we may learn to feel. We may have been trained to believe that reasons are “better” than feelings. But, we may learn now that “better or worse” are inventions of the mind.
Life plays a song. It will change soon. Better or worse is of no consequence, when we understand that one song is related with the other, although they are different.
Isn’t that mind blowing?
Harmony. Hopefully that is more than another “spiritual” keyword.
Mind, body and soul. Heart, mind and gut/intuition. Aligned, together.
The concepts trying to separate which one is which, are useless mental constructs.
In a human being, those labels which separate are in “reality” intermingled, together, one.
Hard to understand? That is because it is not meant to be. Feel it. 🙂
Question on Overeating
“What are the causes of overeating and being overweight? I am curious to know about it from a spiritual angle.”
Thank you for your question.
First, Ahnanda does not write from any particular angle. You may believe that this is the “spiritual” angle; but then what is “spiritual”?
What is spirituality? Who decided to coin that name related with “spirits” rather than human beings?
When we are aware that we are endlessly dividing one self into body, spirit, soul, etc. we will realize that one “part” cannot be without the other.
It is senseless to “limit” spirit from the body out of a mental idea. In “reality” body/spirit/ soul are together for human beings to manifest in the physical realm.
Ahnanda writes about Life and is interested in living Life in a sensible way. For me, that is the art to know and “practice.” That is why this blog is titled “Exploring the depth of Living” rather than “exploring spirituality.”
Now into your question…
“Overeating”is the keyword in your question.
“Why do we overeat?” Some anxious belief in being “better,” a need of being rewarded, the compulsion of savoring a permissible pleasure of Life which is “OK” in our society, as many other pleasures may be considered “wrong,” “bad,” “taboos.”
Observe that I am not telling you the “cause” or the “causes.” I am just observing your question in myself. That is my experience of overeating.
No need to find “reasons” and be “rational” about it, when dealing with “emotions.”
If we were AWARE that our hands are feeding us and then aware of how we eat our meals, then that AWARENESS will cure us from overeating. But because we are not AWARE, our compulsions, anxieties and need for gratification will cloud our consciousness. Our emotions will dictate our compulsive behavior.
Did that sound like “Psychology 101”?
Sorry about that. It is not. I am not researching “others” and testing on demographic samples. I am just observing, watching myself.
How do we label that? Under which angle do we classify that “activity”?
Curiosity is a good thing to “get the answer,” but to wonder may be the key to “have the answer.”
“Why?”
Because curiosity looks for answers. When we wonder, we are observing, fascinated by just that. It is in that AWARENESS how the answer arrives, for there is no need to answer what haven’t been questioned.
You just know. 🙂
The word of God
Looking back , nothings has filled “me” with more fear than knowing that, “I” wasn’t following the “word of God.” That experience was necessary for “me” at that time. When fear needed to go away…then the “word of God,” went away as well. Thus, fear is not “bad” but necessary in our path of “learning” through experiences.
What could be the “word of God” if we understand that there are different perceptions due to different consciousness and that the “I” cannot change this consciousness?
Perhaps a different God may be needed for every type of consciousness.
What could be the “word of God,” if every word has a polarity, which will need to be discovered through experience by the one walking Life? Every truth is a half-truth, half-falsehood. Every Paradox defies logic and reason…
What could be the “word of God,” if interpretations abound and words have no way of expressing the changes of Life, time and consciousness?
Have you found God? 🙂
Great! Let me know when you have found yourself.
Oh! so you know God… Let me share this with you: You can only know yourself.
Searching and finding are part of the on-going-process, part of the journey, which will take us back to the beginning; back to that “I,” perhaps into “no-I.”
When there is “no-I,” who is there to fear? Life does not fear itself.
Less “I” is more love. Less “I” is less fear. Less “I” is more opening to Life, in that state of consciousness, what type of commandment is needed? In that state, what type of “salvation” is required?
We make “God” and naturally, the “Devil” was made as well. Duality 101.
“Is the body different than spirit?”
For some “spirit” is “good,” the ideal. The body is temptation, sin, “bad.”
The duality of body and spirit is made. The rejection is invented.
Consider this: The body and the spirit come from the same Nature, from the Totality. They are only different degrees of vibrational energy. That is all. Just like cold and heat. Different polarities.
Our selection and preference of one side of duality will sooner or later make us experience that which we reject, that which feel against, that which we have formed strong beliefs to move away from.
“Why?”
Because everything, the shadow and the light are together. Our preference of one side means our rejection to the other side of Life; we are rejecting a part of ourselves and in that rejection there is the cause, which will bring the effect to experience that which we reject.
“But… how do I deal with something, which is not desirable?”
First, forget that there is something “not desirable.”
Then, forget that there is something to reject.
Embrace through the alchemist transformation.
“What is that?”
Lead is the raw material to obtain Gold.
That which we reject is the path to experience self-transformation.
More “I” means more Lead, more raw material.
Less “I” means that there is more Gold available for all… and thus, for “you.”
“Where is God, the Devil, the spirit, the body in all of this?”
🙂 Where you believe them to be. Embrace those labels.
But if you reject them, use that raw material, that lead… to obtain “pure” Gold…
The limits of adaptation in Life
All diseases are psychosomatic. Observe that there is no separation between the body/mind/soul. It is a continuous of interlaced “things.”
Your stomach hurts? That stomach is related with other bodily parts as well as with emotions/sensations. To try to separate this “reality” of oneness is to create a problem for adaptation.
When there is lack of adaptation, there is a disease.
That is why, when we say: “I am a soul/spirit and not a body,” that innocent phrase creates rejection of the body by placing it below other things deemed to be “good,” “holy,” etc.
That rejection creates an aversion to the pleasurable sensations that the body could bring for the sake of being “spiritual.”
If we label “spirituality” as the absence of consciousness of a body, we are negating the reality of the wholeness of the experience of Life.
Therefore, the question “Who am I?” is a limit for adaptation.
As we define “who I am?” that which we think we “are not” becomes the “thing” to reject, negate, forget, and even pretend that it is not there.
A definition narrows down the extension of our “knowing,” what is meant to be without borders.
When something does not have artificially created borders, it is open for further exploration, it is open for newness.
Is the “virtue” of goodness something that you value in someone?
When that goodness is limited by our beliefs and philosophies; that goodness is no longer goodness but just a “picture” instead of the “real” thing.
Paradoxically, our concepts, our “knowledge” become a limitation to adapt to the changes in Life.
As Life changes, some would like to remain static in time:
Decaying rather than evolving; while believing in the virtue of being true to a static belief.
The old paradigm of dual moral teachings based on the acceptance of what is considered to be “good” over that which is considered to be “bad,” is no longer what is required for our consciousness to expand.
Why?
Because that paradigm brings guilt and fear, which in turn will not allow us to adapt to Life’s changes.
It is not that guilt and fear are “bad,” but they have timing. Those emotions could be a protection for sometime, to avoid acting in a certain way; but as Life changes and our consciousness do not, that guilt and fear become the ingredients for our own auto destruction.
As our consciousness grows, a different perception will arrive. It is called integration.
Some people like to call integration as “There is nothing bad.”
That definition becomes the door for misunderstanding.
Let me rephrase it: “There is nothing bad, because there is nothing good.” Everything is and by being what it is, there are only consequences, which will change according to time.
There is nothing static in Life, but our concepts, ideals, standards and the way our minds understand the world.
In that dissonance, it is difficult to flow with Life when all we are looking for is for Life to adapt to our needs and wants.
In a sentence, it is the drop of water wanting to control the Ocean.
Isn’t that ironic? If not plain stupid?
Exploring the Depth of Living 