What is the body?

"I am not the body,

Nor is the body mine.

I am awareness itself."

We may be surprised to know that the body is not solid. The foundation of everything in this universe, including bodies, is made out of atoms. Atoms have huge distances between them, compared to what is envisioned in the sky.

If we compressed the body, the total amount of atoms created would amount to a pinhead. Atoms are made of subatomic particles, pure energy. The body that appears solid is nothing more than a vast amount of space, empty, nothingness.

The idea that the body is a temporary vehicle serving the soul is an accepted belief among many organized religions. Regardless of believing that to be true, many still grieve intensely, instead of happiness, they embrace sorrow.

Although most agree with the view that our true being is an immortal soul in a mortal body, most if not all identify ourselves with the body.

We often refer to the personal 'I'; I grew up, I work, I'm ill, I love and so on. Our minds are swept into this realities' obsession with an accumulation of things, often living selfish lives with very little regard for the well being of others.

Our hopes and fears are projected into the future, as we chase after anything that could possibly bring us happiness. Most times it is seeking security, status, comfort, or recognition, assuming some or all will deliver love and peace.

It becomes a process of going through a loop of new things becoming old things and as the moment of its lime-light is passed, the mind starts looking for the next thing that would certainly fill that happiness void. It is generally both getting and not getting what the mind desires that can be extremely disappointing.

Ultimately mistakenly believing that obtaining acquisitions or status qualifies as an intended goal determining the success or failure of one's life. It isn't the pursuit or collection of things in which the mind finds true joy. It is happiness without cause, the bliss that is felt when seeking stops. Only when minds are clear of desire can true peace and overwhelming joy be experienced.

"The body is confined

By its natural properties.

It comes, It lingers awhile, It goes.

But the Self neither comes nor goes.

So why grieve for the body?"

Time dictates the process of the body's existence. Fear of our own extinction is the driver behind a wish for a body's continued life. The mind tends to equate the body's survival with its own survival, and generally spends a lot of effort into prolonging its existence. Strangely, many ignore mental health; thus, the consequential well-being of the body, effectively becoming responsible for its death.

It is this realities' 'never enough' mentality that drives us in circles, endlessly looking for security that never arrives. The hypocrisy is that struggles experienced with a hope of a long and happy future, merely brings the body closer to death, the mind's greatest fear.

We rarely stop to smell the roses or just be in the present moment. If we could relax and slow down demanding thoughts, there would come a recognition of a truth that life is solely a "timeless presence".

The mind believes itself to be a time-bound mortal entity, who's actions are driven by desire and fear. If only it could perceive itself differently and not allow mental stresses to be the drivers and creators of its reality. Life would be fully expressed with a certainty that this unique moment is complete, perfect, and with its own reward.

Embracing the death of a body without personal attachments or emotional reactions is freedom. When the mind is no longer invested in this reality and a belief in a body, fear of death no longer exists. It is truly a challenge to change the mind's belief systems and consequential withdrawal from identifying with the body.

Allowing to be drawn into life's dramas, or identifying personally to attacks by others, must stop; an attack by another is merely a call for love. To remain neutral, means to see things for what they are; a play within which actors deliver their scripts, presenting no significance in the mind because just like the body they are unreal. So just 'allow' this play to play out.

Yes, insults will still sting, activating emotions and intrusive thoughts, but they do not refer to the "real you". Much like watching a movie becoming absorbed and entranced, momentarily believing it is real. When emotional upheaval arrives, it also leaves, unless there is resistance in letting it go. Pleasure, as well, is part and parcel of the experience, it is transitory and insignificant, so do not try to hold onto it, simply enjoy the moment, as a moment.

All suffering is caused by identifying with a body that is separate from others, firmly believing in its reality. This world, referred to as being our reality, is filled with temporal manifestations; compositions such as experiences, emotions, thoughts, bodies, cosmos, trees, animals, children, neighbors, all simply appearing in a background of space.

Our true and eternal Self sees the body as one of many temporal appearances. No longer identifying the Self as an idea of a body growing old and dying. The realization of this truth enables processing an idea that its true identity is not the body, but the mind that thinks it to be real. The collective mind is the background, all that which appears against it, and the pure awareness of it all.

"The body is false, And so are its fears.

Heaven and hell, freedom and bondage.

It is all invention. What can they matter to me?

I am awareness itself."

This movie has been replayed for so long that the mind is so completely identified with the body that it has apparently forgotten the truth. The truth is that we are not immortal souls temporarily confined in a body, collectively, we are an infinite mind having a finite experience.

Break free from identifying with a body in a world filled with deceptions. Know the Self in its true splendor, free from illusory chains binding the soul to the birth and dying cycle. As a united whole, the Mind is of the eternal and the temporal; the One Son of God, the Christ Mind, the One without Time.

"Because you think you are the body,

For a long time you have been bound.

Know you are pure awareness.

With this knowledge as your sword

Cut through your chains.

And be happy!"*

*From "The heart of Awareness - Ashtavakra Gita"

translation by Thomas Byrom.