Table of contents hide 1 relate in a healthy way 2 we are more than our body 3 mental and spiritual dimension 4 the physical deterioration is natural
This is a very important issue in the culture of the East and is part of what is known as The four foundations of attention , the first is that of the body, the second is that of sensations, the third is that of the mind and the fourth is that of the phenomenal world.
For the moment we will talk about the application or foundation of attention in the body. Being a useful tool in meditation is also effective in our daily lives.
One of the objectives is to determine if we are only our body, and the most important reason is that many people today suffer from an extreme fixation in it, in their form, in their dress, in makeup sometimes falling into extremes Detrimental or disorders such as food, in which we lose the notion of how our body is and exists, we see it fat, thin or shapeless, strict diets begin and in extreme cases death is reached as happens with anorexia.
relate in a healthy way
This teaching is very useful and necessary to relate in a healthy way with our body. In some western traditions, the body is understood as the temple in which you live and that in some way if you damage it, you are attempting against yourself.
In the East you start thinking, analyzing calmly and attentively if I am only body, that is, if I were only body I would not have mind, I would not have sensations and I would not have perception and relationship with the external world, from this point of view we are more than body, we are a set of vital physical and mental processes and activities.
we are more than our body
Another approach that seems strange but makes a lot of sense. If I did not have this body, it would not exist? The above not addressing it after death, rather if, for example, as a result of an accident I stopped moving any part of my body. be me ?, NO, whatever happens our mental process remains, that is, we are not just body, we are more than that.
An important reflection here is that the body is also ephemeral sick and ages but when this happens, do I stop being me? The answer is NO, we are more than that.
The clinging and attachment to our body is suffering and reflects an unhealthy relationship with what we really are, body, mind, sensations and the perception of those around us.
A very interesting practice is to contemplate an aged body and contrast it with a baby body, it is different to the naked eye but inside if we have worked on all the components there is a more or less evolved mind or what is known as a dimension spiritual that goes beyond the physical, of the muscles and bones, there is something very valuable that identifies us and enriches us beyond our material dimension that is the spirit, our mind and our heart or ability to love.
mental and spiritual dimension
This is nothing other than an invitation to relate healthy and attentive to our body, as the instrument that serves us to work, to travel and to grow deep inside, if the body is not healthy we can not meditate properly, or We will not be able to analyze what surrounds us successfully, we need our body and take care of it without clinging and understanding that if I only concentrate on this aspect I am neglecting another dimension of myself and that I would become a complete person: the mental and spiritual dimension.
Just as the physical is important, it is not everything and it is not right to give one hundred percent of our attention, because as everything in our life, sooner or later will grow old, or get sick and if I have not worked on the other aspects of myself You may suffer from a physical deterioration that is natural .
physical deterioration is natural
This is how we must orient our life beyond the material (not neglect it) but work on everything else that includes us to be beings in balance and with attention to everything we are and not just one aspect.
The balance is also peace and tranquility, the clinging to what we know will deteriorate will generate suffering and resistance that we can not avoid, the passage of time is inevitably and what sustains us in the face of this change is our internal and spiritual practice That, as some teachers mention, the only thing that we get when we die is our interior, our conscience, the other, the material, stays here, we are good investors and we dedicate ourselves more time and energy to what transcends and that will go with us at the end of the day, our interior, our mental and spiritual dimension .
AUTHOR: Pilar V zquez, collaborator of the great family of the White Brotherhood
