Body, mind and soul (or spirit) are the three aspects of our being on gross and subtle levels. Body is the most apparent part of our being, so much so, that our mind that we know of, is constantly engaged with the body alone and everything that relates to the body, including all of our relationships, whether with people or profession and other animate and inanimate objects that serve the needs and desires of our body on physical or sensory level.
The third aspect of our being, and in fact the very reason that we have a body and mind, is the spirit, which is often ignored because of the inherent tendency of our mind that is ego-centric, associated with our worldview identity, which allows us a limited experience in life. When our mind is associated with higher intelligence, which brings disassociation with the ego and connection with the higher self, which is cosmic consciousness, is when we get closer to exploring the full potential of our being and experience infinite bliss once we realize our 'Real Self', which is Pure Consciousness, from which arose Cosmic Consciousness and Nature, and from which arose everything that exists, was or will be there.
Unfortunately, a whole lot of people even refuse to believe the very presence of spirit as a constituent of our being, simply because they can't see it or feel it. And out of those who do acknowledge its presence, a lot do not bother to pay attention to this aspect of our being (which is the real eternal and immortal 'Being' inside our body), because they are too occupied serving the other two elements of our being, which are transient and mortal - body and mind.
With this ignorance towards the very basics of the constitution of our being and the knowledge of why we exist, our quest and focus in life seem to have strayed fundamentally. Instead of exploring the nature and purpose of our spirit and focusing on our spiritual growth by deploying the mind and the body, which are the tools that we are blessed with on this expedition of our spiritual development, we are constantly entangled with the mere tools, having lost the objective of the tools, to the extent that we are rather exhausting our spirit in serving the tools and yet constantly being defeated by the tools in the form of depleting physical and mental health. And it is simply because when we are not engaging the tools to achieve what they are meant for, they turn against us at some point, because they are not being optimally utilized so long as we are keeping them confined to achieving mere the material world experience. And that is because body and mind at a subtle level know what they are made for, what we consciously may not know (simply because we have forgotten because of the ego-centric tendency of the mind). Then the question is - who we are then, if not body and mind?
On the gross level of our consciousness (physical awareness), as we constantly stay engaged with the chatter of our mind, we tend to believe what is portrayed by our mind about who we are. Because of the inherent association of mind with the ego, our mind makes us believe that we are our body and/or our mind. And because we can clearly see our physical body and work with it, it is easy to perceive ourselves to be our body believing our body to be the only means of our existence, reckoning that when we lose our body, we cease to exist. And because apparently it is our mind, that thinks and directs all our feelings, emotions and actions and drives our intelligence, we may also believe that it is our mind, that runs our body and our life. With such beliefs of ourselves being our body and mind, we confine and constrict our experience of life.
However, at the level of Pure Consciousness (inner and subtle), we are mere witness to this whole play of our mind and also to the entire existence in the cosmos, something that we generally don't experience at gross level with our outer consciousness (our physical awareness). Once we learn to train our mind to engage with higher intelligence at a subtle level, we can transcend ourselves into the workings of our spirit - not only to have more profound experience of our being, but to realize our true nature, which is 'Pure Consciousness' itself, and to live in this union consciously, the union of our outer consciousness (physical awareness) with our inner consciousness and that is what is called as 'Yog' (yoga), which with regular practice can lead to 'Nitya Yoga' (permanent state of being 'One' with the eternal 'One', that is, being who we really are in Pure Consciousness).
The Sanskrit word 'Yog' (yoga) literally means union. The science and practice of various yoga philosophies and techniques are meant for serving this sole objective of union of our spirit with pure consciousness (or divine). This union albeit already exists and has always been, it's the mere ignorance, lack of knowledge and awareness that keeps us separate and veiled from our innate wisdom that knows that not only we are one with the 'One', but we are the 'One', keeping us from the blissful experience of who we really are in Pure Consciousness.
And because 'The One' is one with everyone and everything else that exists, we too are one with all that exists. This realization turns the ego-centric (self-centeredness) tendency of our mind into universal love for all. Once this truth is revealed to us in our experience through knowledge and practice, comes true love, surrender and pure wisdom into the experience of our being, which is our true nature, rendering us the divine experience of being nothing but 'Pure Consciousness'. Realizing this true nature of our being and 'Being' who we really are in Pure Consciousness, is the purpose of our being, of our life.
Because we are one with everyone and everything else that exists, the only way of individual growth is through the growth of everyone and everything else. Self-centeredness is only bound to cut us off from the whole system with probable and apparent short-term success, but subsequently making us a prey to poor mental and physical health and eventual demise without the fulfillment of any real purpose of our life.
It is easier to understand our position in this cosmic creation with the analogy of seeing each one of us as individual cell of a human body, as one of the trillions of cells that are born for the higher purpose of supporting the functioning of the whole organism with its role, and not to sustain itself by whatever means, because that simply will not work. That kind of cell behavior will not only damage the cell, but will disrupt the entire equilibrium, communication, coordination and harmony within the various organ systems of the organism. That is what leads to disease. Cancer cells are an example of this, because cancer cells just mean to sustain and grow themselves and are anti-organism in their behavior. So they store the potential of destroying the organism inside which they are born and proliferate, if not controlled.
A healthy single cell in a multi-cellular body has no meaning in self sustenance. The role of each cell is critical, but only in support of the entire system of energy flow, communication and coordination for a well functioning body. Each cell in perfect coordination and harmony with other cells of same or different types and other bodily systems, supports a tissue. Similarly each tissue together with other tissues and flows support an organ, an organ together with other organs an organ system, organ systems together an organism. Likewise, we are individual cells of a bigger 'Whole', the Cosmic Consciousness, also called Gaia, Divine, God, the Real Self, the Supreme Self, the Supreme Consciousness or whatever you like to call it. And the beauty is that we are not only part of the 'Whole', we are the 'Whole' as well in our Pure Consciousness that we can experience anytime once we purify ourselves with the thoughts of universal love and compassion for all beings, and connect with our higher self. Once we free ourselves of our limited beliefs and the constricting chains of our ego, our self-centeredness, we open ourselves to divine love and grace. And then, infinite cosmic resources become available to us that allow us the experience of divine bliss. We just need to start with experiencing the joy of connecting, caring, loving and sharing with all beings, without discrimination, without judgement. When it is all for One, it is One for All.
And so, on our quest to finding our real nature, we must find ways to engaging our body and mind for our spiritual development on this path of self realization. Whatever we choose to do in life as a means of our living, our profession and vocation, must be laced with higher universal values at the core, instead of ego-centric values for self-sustenance and self-glorification in this limited worldview. Of course, we need a healthy body and a healthy, stable and well controlled mind as our efficient tools in this endeavor. However, the purpose of having a healthy body and longevity that we talk about these days, with inculcating right diets, life-styles etc. just to experience more of this world without the goal of any higher experience, is limiting, and will continue to deprive our spirit of what it is seeking inherently, and in turn will eventually constrain our body and mind as well, which will ultimately lead to poor health no matter how well we feed our body and however rich we live in our pursuit of satisfying our senses, mind and ego. As long as we continue to stay ignorant towards our subtle constituency and inherent seeking of our spirit, which is divine bliss, which comes with yoga (experience of union with the One i.e. resting our outer (physical) consciousness into Pure Consciousness), we can try and may live as healthy and as long as possible, but will eventually leave the body at some point succumbing to old age and death, and the worst, spiritually unfulfilled.
Spiritual upliftment is the whole purpose of our being. Without realizing this purpose if we are striving to do and achieve everything else in our life in the outer world, is like running a race blindly just to touch the finish line, without having any purpose beyond that or even learning through the experience of the race (or journey). The finish line of our life race is only death. When we are running this race meaninglessly towards death, and on the way just gathering things, people, possessions and experiences for the comfort of our body, to serve our ego, to pacify our mind, and even short-term sensory experiences just to keep us running, and look and feel good while we are running, is not only worthless, but ridiculous if you see this from a distance for a moment.
Every individual is born with the inner intelligence that is only meant to support the inherent seeking of the spirit, which is infinite cosmic bliss, if only we connect with this inner intelligence that lay latent and dormant in most lives, as we throw ourselves in the waves of transient pleasures and miseries of the outer world that seem to control the course of our life, making us nothing more than a victim of our so called destiny.
Our ultimate destination is only one, to return to our source, that is, to realize our Self as One, as Pure Consciousness. And because it is the same for everyone, we only have to gain and nothing to lose in connecting, caring, loving and sharing with all in this life journey, because it is not me against the world, it is me in this cosmos, together with everything and everyone else in the cosmos and for the cosmos.
To learn how to traverse this path and to explore the various tools to support the body and mind, in turn to support spiritual development and growth, I encourage you to explore the various articles and other resources through different pages of this website or contact at connecting.in.consciousness@gmail.com for personalized guidance on this path.
Hari AUM Tat Sat Chitt Anand Anant
ॐ (AUM) (OM)
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