| In many spiritual teachings, there has been a tendency to view the body as perhaps evil or bad, a source of temptation, a lowly dwelling. The western culture has emphasized a split between the mind and the body elevating the mind to a higher stature than the body. This has been a costly belief and that is all it is. To a large degree this split has been caused by shame, as we have discussed, and has led to a very poor understanding of the spiritual nature of the body. As we discussed previously, the body is a reflection of our spiritual nature; it is a way for our divine, loving Source to experience itself. And so the way to transcendence is actually through the body and not away from it. Our path to god lies inward, and inward in this sense means bringing all of ourself to conscious awareness. All of ourself means being consciously connected to every feeling in our body, feeling the energy flowing through our whole body. Through bringing this to conscious awareness, we are able to let go of thought and experience our unity with everything. And we are able to experience the love that is what we are made of and what we are surrounded by and what flows through us all the time. Our hearts, both spiritually and physically, are the center of our being for experiencing this love. It is no accident or fairy tale that the heart is a symbol of love. When meditating or in any situation when one wants to become more mindful or aware, the more we can turn our awareness to our hearts, the light and love which is always there, the more we will experience our true selves leading to peace and joy. We have talked about how we have dissociated from our bodies and what kinds of things create the mind/body split. I want you to understand the importance of your physical body and your spiritual journey. Take the time in your day to nurture love and respect. All of you know that you are perfect as you are right now, you are loved, you are made of love, it is always in you. And value this earthly experience which you chose, and which is the basis for your continuing expansion and growth. |
