Understanding Body Consciousness
When asked to introduce ourself, we state our name, the place where we come from, educational background, professional status, family etc.. However, all these aspects we introduces about ourself are neither permanent nor stable i.e. have changed over time. The introduction that we commonly give about ourself is actually not an introduction of our true self but of our acquired identity (an identity acquired through the body). Our True Identity is that which has never changed with time and is permanent. In spirituality, Truth is defined as that which doesn’t change over time, that which is imperishable, indestructible, and immortal.
For example, one’s name is an acquired identity, an identity given to the human bodily costume in which the Being of Energy has entered and resides for a period of time. One’s body changes with time, at present it is different from what it was like 20 years back and it will not be the same 20 years down the road. When a new bodily costume is taken, the acquired name changes.
Furthermore, We say My Body … This body is mine, we do not say … I Body, I Hand, I Leg but we say My Hand, My Leg … the one who is exercising ownership over the body is the True Self. This I is the True Self – one’s true identity. This True Self that one ignores every day, and as each day passes one thinks more and more about the things external to and acquired by the True Self – one’s body, family, job, material possessions, situations.
When it comes to bodily relations, one’s family has never stayed the same over time. 40 years back the number of members in one’s family may not be the same as the present count and there will most likely be new additions or deletions of members from family in the coming 40 years. Moreover, the nature of relationship between family members never stays the same e.g. the happiness experienced at the time of wedding or having one’s first baby is short lived and changes with time. Happiness acquired from other human beings does not last for ever.
When it comes to bodily possessions, one’s material possessions such as financial assets, home car, furniture, clothes, etc. also change with time. The possessions one owned 20 years back may not stay the same 20 years in future. However, one is so closely identified with material possessions that, if the state of any material possession changes it impacts the state of one’s mind e.g. one’s car gets dented and the mind feels the dent for longer period of time. A natural calamity or financial loss may turn tables overnight on one’s possessions. Moreover, when one departs from the body none of the possessions can be taken along. And still the Being of Energy, I, does not realize the True Self and constantly identifies the self with the world of matter i.e. 5 elements. The separation of matter and energy (i.e. consciousness) has been lost due to the Being of Energy being in continual contact with the five elements of nature (i.e. matter) and consequently the two separate identities have been fused into one i.e. I am a Bodily Being. The distinction between consciousness and matter can only be achieved via continual attention on the awareness that I, the Being of Energy, I am different, unaffected and separate from all external matter and the body. Originally, Matter was affected by Consciousness but in present times Matter is affecting Consciousness, as of result of the mistaken identity crisis of the Being of Energy believing the self to be a Being of Body.
We identify oneself with a name, but I am not the name given to this body. For example, John is the name given to one’s body, but John is a role and I, the Being of Energy plays the role of John. I am not John but I play the role of John in this lifetime. There’s a clear distinction between I, and the Role I plays. In reality, every individual is enacting a part on this worldly stage in a bodily costume. There are various stages that each one is enacting a role with several different actors – the stage of home, the stage of school , the stage of professional work, the stage of social life, etc. Every second, the stage location, the actors or stage partners, and the stage scenes change depending on the karmic accounts that exist between actors. If an individual is interacting with another individual e.g. a car accident on the highway, it is not a coincidence but a settlement of karmic debt between two individuals. The stage of home has those actors present on it who have a karmic account that needs to be settled (i.e. exchange of good and bad energy). Once the karmic account has been settled the actor departs the stage by either shedding the bodily costume or by changing the stage i.e. end of relationship/break-up. What one perceives as a relationship, is actually a karmic account that is settling. The quality of a relationship is based entirely upon the nature of karmic account that exists between two individuals.
Moreover, one’s professional status varies from degrees of successes or failures. An individual can be a Company’s CEO or hold a high managerial position for years but when laid off the individual’s identity changes from a high held position to being unemployed. One day I am a CEO and the next day I am jobless, then I am employed again and few years later I am retired – how can professional status that changes overnight or with time be one’s real identity? One’s professional status can not stay the same forever. and is not one’s True Identity. One’s professional status rarely stays the same as time progresses. Human Beings have been so deeply identified with the temporal aspects of life that there is hardly any time left or appropriate education given to realize one’s True Self i.e. the Being in the Human. When a job loss occurs in one’s life, it lowers one’s morale. Living with the awareness that the job was part of a role being enacted and the role encompasses a change now, this awareness helps in keeping a positive outlook towards undesirable events happening in our life.
Throughout the day, our awareness is either in our duties or in the events of the past and future or in problematic situations. All the events that have happened throughout the day, whether good or bad seem to captivate the mind. While the actual event lasts only for moments, it’s impact on our mind however lasts for much longer. This awareness of past or future happenings is consuming energy of the self. Not only the mind is occupied with unnecessary thoughts but the Soul is denied from living in the present moment. Thinking the necessary amount of thoughts in order to plan and execute a task does not drain the energy of the Soul. But thinking too much i.e. thinking more than is necessary, leads to leakage of Soul’s energy. Such leakage of energy manifests as stress and/or lack of concentration. Thinking too much about situations is not healthy for the Soul. A confused state of mind is a result of thinking too much. Thinking the right quality of thoughts and the necessary quantity of thoughts is key to the nourishment of the Soul. Putting a brake to unnecessary thoughts and negative thoughts, requires inner strength, which is acquired through meditation.
One’s mind is constantly connected to bodily relations, material possessions, our role, and events of the external world and is rarely connected to the inner world of the True Self . A heavy investment of thoughts has been going on in all that is external to the True Self – this default awareness of the self is known as Body Consciousness. The return that one receives from the investment of thoughts around body consciousness is entirely dependent on the nature of external world i.e. one’s body, relations, job, possessions, and situations. When anything changes in the external world, the state of mind changes and thus the way one feels also changes. The awareness in which we are all living defaults to the bodily existence and bodily world. If the body is healthy we feel good, when the body gets sick we feel bad. If the day at the job went well, we feel good because we are identified with the job, and its outcome determines how we feel. As the thoughts are connected to the job’s success and since the outcome of the job is good, how we feel is also good. However, if the outcome of the job was unpleasant, then due to the constant connection of the mind with an undesirable outcome i.e. thoughts centered around it, the unpleasant feelings i.e. feelings of discomfort arise.
Feelings are entirely based on thoughts. If one feels good, it is because of the quality of thoughts is good. If one feels bad, it’s because the quality of thoughts is bad. As long as one’s awareness is constantly focused outward in the world of 5 elements, one will never experience stable happiness and peace. This is because the external world is characterized by change. If the mind is constantly connected to external sources that keep changing, the feelings that result from this connection also keep fluctuating. Only when the mind is anchored to a stable source, that’s when one will experience continual happiness and peace. The place where the mind is connected needs to be changed to feel good … constantly.
This world of 5 elements can never be stable permanently– it is not meant to be that way. It’s the law of entropy – that which is new gets old with time. One can’t change anything externally but the change has to come from within by changing one’s inner thought process, in order to fulfill the purpose of one’s life on this world stage – which is to express and experience one’s innate qualities of peace, purity, happiness, love, bliss, truth, power(inner resilience). The purpose of human existence, as revealed by The Supreme, is not to suffer but to experience these original qualities and express these qualities. Meditation is not just about sitting in silence and focusing thoughts on an object such as a candle, but it is a lifestyle that pivots on two factors: i) the constant and correct use of the mind every second, every day, every moment … to generate thoughts from the positive energy spectrum and about one’s original incorporeal, immortal, imperishable, indestructible existence; ii) anchor the mind and intellect on The Supreme by experiencing a living relationship with the Supreme Being. Both these sources are stable and permanent and hinging on to the True Identity of oneself and qualities of The Supreme leads to liberation from all kinds of sufferings. Meditation means thinking the right thoughts. This meditation is the king of all meditations and is thus called Raj Yoga Mediation. Raj means King, Yoga means Connection – connection with the Highest, The Supreme. Raj Yoga Mediation is not taught by any human, or mentioned accurately in any religious scripture but it is taught directly by the Supreme for all human beings – no barriers of age, gender, religion, caste, creed, educational status, financial status, etc. for these factors are all applicable to the Humus i.e. Body and not the Being, the True Self. The Supreme Parent directly imparts this knowledge for all Human Beings worldwide. The World Spiritual University disseminates this knowledge across the world free of charge as per the directions of The Supreme Parent, and those directions are to serve humanity. The Supreme Parent is The Supreme Teacher who has descended from the Soul World to give us this highest knowledge of who we are and to whom do we belong eternally.