The Wisdom of the Body

The body has its own processes, which we think we have the ability to understand through the lens of science. But this lens gives us only one perspective on these processes. While the body is simultaneously "operating" a vast array of functions, our minds can only understand them in a linear, fragmented fashion. The reason is that our intellectual capabilities can only handle information sequentially. In other words, we can generally think of only one thing at a time. Only fairly recently have we really begun to seriously think about the body as an interconnected, multi-dimensional process, not only in itself as an organism, but also as part of its larger enrivornment. The body is naturally equipped to deal with an enormous range of stimuli in its surroundings. It is also equipped in its own way to handle stress, pain and even death. Because of its multi-dimensional functioning, the body has a certain wisdom that greatly surpasses our intellectual understanding. It is entirely in a different realm and yet, strangely and paradoxically, we constantly try to impose our will and understanding on our bodies. We do so because we, or the idea of "me" or "I", is really a foreign agent within the sphere of the body. We think we operate our bodies like our automobiles but in fact, it is the "I" that is a nuisance and even an inhibitor to the body. The whole drama of life is contained within this tension.

In the end, the body dies according to its own nature and processes, regardless of our every effort to resist. Perhaps for most of us, only at that moment of death do we become witnesses to the true magnificence of this organism. Only then most of us will truly understand that death involves only the ending of the idea of “me” and not the body. The body is composed of a web of relationships and patterns symbolized by elements, atoms, heat and energy. It simply transforms into other “elements” which are also composed of relationships. Our fear of death is largely psychological, the root of which is this tension created by the concept of "I." Certainly, YOU did not formulate your body's embryonic cells. YOU did not develop your limbs and vascular systems, and most of all, YOU did not help yourself to be born. This process happened without YOUR intervention. Likewise, death is simply another process that happens with or without YOUR protest.