E-Paper
The inner workings of the mind
Many people are not sensitive to their bodies on a deep level, until something goes drastically awry.
Many people are not sensitive to their bodies on a deep level, until something goes drastically awry. They do not ever think that the automatic functions like breathing, digesting food, excreting what is not required, glandular secretions, and blood circulation, are things that they need to bother about. They are on auto-pilot, and therefore ignored, until the time when some function collapses.
Then they run to an expert, who can diagnose what has happened, but most often treats only the symptoms, not the underlying malfunctioning. Sadly, modern medicine has not yet reached the goal of making people healthy and bringing them into a state of complete well being.
This goal can be integrated into our lives, when we realize that the principles of mindfulness, clear seeing, and non doing, are the cornerstones of the aspect of perfect physical health.
When we comprehend that the body contains within itself the inner resources required to heal, we have touched upon the most important truth of maintaining our health. The body is supposed to contain a self healing mechanism, which encompasses the three principles outlined above.
Mindfulness involves seeing every thought, emotion and act of your own, as well as others, as a 'witness' or a 'seer'. When we go to watch a movie in a theater, we get so involved with the story, and the stars portraying the characters, that we forget the surroundings. We do not remember that there is a theater with seats around us, filled with people from different backgrounds, come together for the singular purpose of watching this movie. It is only when the story ends, and the lights come on, that we realize where we are. Life is exactly the same.
We are not mindful of the totality of our situations, but get so engrossed in the dramas and stories being played out by us and others, that we lose perspective, and draw ourselves into unhealthy emotional parameters, eventually affecting our bodies adversely. A simple exercise is to take one day of your life, at first, to try the practice of mindful living. The moment you find yourself moving emotionally into a situations, stop right there. See it in perspective, as just another story enacting itself, and you will have controlled the situation, not allowing it to affect your health adversely.
Tuning in to what the body is telling you, is what clear seeing is all about. Look at the emotional response of the body as if you were seeing it in another person. Objectively you can then advise yourself what to do. It helps if you talk to yourself as if you were talking to a dear friend, whose well being is close to your heart!
Non-doing would mean not taking any action when it would lead to a further deterioration of the situation, rather than bring it to a happier closing.
Meditation is the best practice for moving into a state of health and well being. However, a number of people treat this as a one-hour job a day, sitting like a Buddha, concentrating on whatever they are taught to do. The practice of mindfulness should emerge as a by product of the smart meditator, followed by clear seeing and non-doing.
To be continued……
