January 18, 2011

The body is fragile and subject to pain and disease. From a simple (yet painful) paper cut to broken bones, from a sprained ankle to cancer, from birth defects to the ailments of age, from a chemical imbalance contributing to depression to more complex mental illnesses, the body is an imperfect vehicle for the perfecting spirit. These imperfections provide the foundation for a wide variety of lessons for our spirits. Our responses to our physical challenges inform our internal realities and our interactions with others. Even a headache can change our ability to act optimally. Spirit, on the other hand, is always at the ready to be and do its best. When we are being our best selves, our spirits are overcoming the challenges in and to the body. On the other hand, sometimes these challenges obscure the spirit, subjugating it to a place from which its light cannot shine and inform the individual. In such cases, the mind and body act without the benefit of higher input. It is then that the individual can perpetrate harm to self or others, since its spirit has lost its connection to these beings. This loss is only an illusion—the spirit is still in communion, but the physical challenges obscure that reality. It is to be kept in mind that the body is ill, but the spirit is whole. The path of greatest progress is to acknowledge this with compassion. Namaste!