The mind and body look like two things, but really they are one. It is striking that this fundamental truth is not explored even taught in schools, as it is an important philosophical issue and practical tool whose neglect has a profound individual and social cost.
Indeed, the issue is judged important enough to be given a name western philosophy - the mind / body problem.
The philosopher Descartes, who just wanted to be left alone by everyone so that he could think, famously coined it 'I think therefore I am' but is our identity really defined and so limited as to be just about our mental capacity for thought? A baby does not think, yet he or she undoubtedly exists.
This omission, which amounts to a lie about what it means to be human in a culture that supposedly values scientific truth so highly, and which is of such influence across the planet is the cause of a great deal of unnecessary pain and suffering.
Not being attuned to who we really are, encouraged to obsessively think our way through life makes us inherently unfree because it forces us to be in constant and continuous denial about the nature of things and to lose our connection with the physical world around us. The anxiety that accompanies this state of false consciousness forces us to attempt to compensate by seeking solace or escape by striving to fulfil our own desires, but because the desires themselves are based on a false idea of who we are and of how the world works they can never fully satisfy.
Worse, because we are so disconnected, they (our personal desires) are often by their very nature dangerous and damaging to the fabric of the world. We have no responsibility to 'the other' precisely because they are seen to be 'other'.
Religious people counter this by saying we must take care of God's creatures because they are just that, and also because there is a hell to come for failure to do so, which is one of the reasons why religion, properly practiced is a good thing.
But even religionists, without a good practice can all too easily fall into the trap of not feeling the other as one's own brother at which point all sorts of sins will naturally follow.
This is especially true in the modern world with all its suggestions to not be enchanted by the world, in direct opposition to the religious view that the universe is inherently magical and mysterious.
I was on silent retreat once and, thanks to the daily diet of and meditation practice, simple (and also silent) work activities and inspiring evening talks by accomplished teachers I learned a lot about how to integrate spiritual practice into my daily life. Not only that, but also something quite strange and wonderful happened. Even though I was up early (6am) and working hard most of the day, at night I barely needed any sleep, three hours and I was done. This in itself was amazing as I am someone who has always liked my sleep. But also something else happened. At night - every single night - I had the most incredibly vivid, lucid dreams. Despite being quite the dreamer, I have never before or after had dreams of such lucidity and intensity for such a sustained period of time.
This experience got me thinking, perhaps the ideal state for a human being is to have the body rested subject to a bit of necessary turning in the bed to stay comfy at night, with the mind fully active and for the mind to be similarly rested, subject to necessary and useful thoughts and less wasteful nonsense in the daytime. This nonsense of an untrained mind (rife in the modern world) has been described as akin to a leaky tap. While the master plumber can switch on and off the tap (of the thinking tool) more or less at will and there are no leaks, others are pretty much constantly leaking and therefore wasteful and ineffective at best, the cause of great and unnecessary suffering in the world at large at worst.
We like to think of ourselves as materialist, but the evidence as with our experience of the body and its physical senses, and our preference for the monkey like workings of the mind, likewise with the disdain we treat material things in our consumer society, says otherwise.
Indeed, as a result of this over-emphasis of mind over body which has probably crept up on us, slowly from the very beginning means we all think too much and experience the pleasures of the body far too little. The tree of knowledge of good and evil, judgement being an abstract, mental and all too often subjective, holier than thou experience in contrast to the tree of everlasting life.
As a result, in my experience many people in the west are dead from the neck down. Ask someone if they're feeling their breathing and they'll either say no or look at you blankly. But this is at half of who we are! Surely it is impossible for us to be healed and happy if we're only aware of half of what makes us human?
The famous poems of the Ch'an succession in ancient China are instructive
'The body is the bodhi tree, mind stand of mirror bright. Carefully we wipe them hour by hour, to make sure no dust alights.
There is no body bodhi tree mind stand of mirror bright. Since all is void impermanent where can the dust alight?'
Likewise Dogen's classic
Indeed, the issue is judged important enough to be given a name western philosophy - the mind / body problem.
The philosopher Descartes, who just wanted to be left alone by everyone so that he could think, famously coined it 'I think therefore I am' but is our identity really defined and so limited as to be just about our mental capacity for thought? A baby does not think, yet he or she undoubtedly exists.
This omission, which amounts to a lie about what it means to be human in a culture that supposedly values scientific truth so highly, and which is of such influence across the planet is the cause of a great deal of unnecessary pain and suffering.
Not being attuned to who we really are, encouraged to obsessively think our way through life makes us inherently unfree because it forces us to be in constant and continuous denial about the nature of things and to lose our connection with the physical world around us. The anxiety that accompanies this state of false consciousness forces us to attempt to compensate by seeking solace or escape by striving to fulfil our own desires, but because the desires themselves are based on a false idea of who we are and of how the world works they can never fully satisfy.
Worse, because we are so disconnected, they (our personal desires) are often by their very nature dangerous and damaging to the fabric of the world. We have no responsibility to 'the other' precisely because they are seen to be 'other'.
Religious people counter this by saying we must take care of God's creatures because they are just that, and also because there is a hell to come for failure to do so, which is one of the reasons why religion, properly practiced is a good thing.
But even religionists, without a good practice can all too easily fall into the trap of not feeling the other as one's own brother at which point all sorts of sins will naturally follow.
This is especially true in the modern world with all its suggestions to not be enchanted by the world, in direct opposition to the religious view that the universe is inherently magical and mysterious.
I was on silent retreat once and, thanks to the daily diet of and meditation practice, simple (and also silent) work activities and inspiring evening talks by accomplished teachers I learned a lot about how to integrate spiritual practice into my daily life. Not only that, but also something quite strange and wonderful happened. Even though I was up early (6am) and working hard most of the day, at night I barely needed any sleep, three hours and I was done. This in itself was amazing as I am someone who has always liked my sleep. But also something else happened. At night - every single night - I had the most incredibly vivid, lucid dreams. Despite being quite the dreamer, I have never before or after had dreams of such lucidity and intensity for such a sustained period of time.
This experience got me thinking, perhaps the ideal state for a human being is to have the body rested subject to a bit of necessary turning in the bed to stay comfy at night, with the mind fully active and for the mind to be similarly rested, subject to necessary and useful thoughts and less wasteful nonsense in the daytime. This nonsense of an untrained mind (rife in the modern world) has been described as akin to a leaky tap. While the master plumber can switch on and off the tap (of the thinking tool) more or less at will and there are no leaks, others are pretty much constantly leaking and therefore wasteful and ineffective at best, the cause of great and unnecessary suffering in the world at large at worst.
We like to think of ourselves as materialist, but the evidence as with our experience of the body and its physical senses, and our preference for the monkey like workings of the mind, likewise with the disdain we treat material things in our consumer society, says otherwise.
Indeed, as a result of this over-emphasis of mind over body which has probably crept up on us, slowly from the very beginning means we all think too much and experience the pleasures of the body far too little. The tree of knowledge of good and evil, judgement being an abstract, mental and all too often subjective, holier than thou experience in contrast to the tree of everlasting life.
As a result, in my experience many people in the west are dead from the neck down. Ask someone if they're feeling their breathing and they'll either say no or look at you blankly. But this is at half of who we are! Surely it is impossible for us to be healed and happy if we're only aware of half of what makes us human?
The famous poems of the Ch'an succession in ancient China are instructive
'The body is the bodhi tree, mind stand of mirror bright. Carefully we wipe them hour by hour, to make sure no dust alights.
There is no body bodhi tree mind stand of mirror bright. Since all is void impermanent where can the dust alight?'
Likewise Dogen's classic
“To study the Way is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things. To be enlightened by all things is to remove the barriers between oneself and others.”
In my opinion this truth has huge ramifications for the future of our culture..
In my opinion this truth has huge ramifications for the future of our culture..
And the omission about the unity of mind and body, now supported by mainstream science supports a number of other, linked untruths - or perhaps better put partial or limited truths - which we need to address. One of these is our emphasis on individualism and independence.
Another, as profound if not more so and with the capacity to drive us into a fully enlightened religious belief in the One God, and linked to the other partial / untruths through a subtle web, and now being confirmed by scientific understanding is, believe it or not our belief in free will...
Another, as profound if not more so and with the capacity to drive us into a fully enlightened religious belief in the One God, and linked to the other partial / untruths through a subtle web, and now being confirmed by scientific understanding is, believe it or not our belief in free will...
No comments:
Post a Comment