The Spirit-Body Complex
February 27, 2019
By Steve Beckow
The relationships among the soul, the spirit, the mind, and the body are complicated. Vipassana meditation master S.N. Goenka used to speak about the “mind-body complex” and a “complex” it is.
By “spirit” I mean the etheric or astral occupant of the body, which I experienced in 1977 in an out-of-body experience.
But what I mean by “soul” – that is, the Self – is many layers of Reality beyond that.
So to say that “the spirit” is the Source of our bliss would only be partially true. Really the spirit plays no more than a mediating role. It’s a vehicle, more than a Source.
It’s very much more gentle and subtle than this body is: like feather down compared to a football.
The body can play a role in bliss. Orgasm is an example of a taste of bliss mediated by the body. The body plays a role even though it isn’t the Source of the bliss thus experienced. It’s almost as if it permits a momentary taste of bliss by relaxing its patterns of tension.
Another example of the “complex” of responses is the experience of love at the sight of the beloved. There are bodily responses, to be sure, but what’s most important is the rise of love from the depths of the heart, from the seat of the soul. And that love does not originate in the body. It originates with God as the Source and everything else – every other body it passes through – as just a vehicle, a conduit.
For my money, I’d rather stay with the pure experiences of bliss and love and forego getting into the mind about the Source. Even though I know that’s also a very legitimate path. Just not the one I choose.
As Sri Ramakrishna said, I came to the mango orchard to eat mangoes, not to count them. I want the experience, as my road to realization.
The experience of pure bliss and innocent love will lead us to the Self. Of that I’m sure.
Source: Golden Age of Gaia
February 27, 2019
By Steve Beckow
The relationships among the soul, the spirit, the mind, and the body are complicated. Vipassana meditation master S.N. Goenka used to speak about the “mind-body complex” and a “complex” it is.
By “spirit” I mean the etheric or astral occupant of the body, which I experienced in 1977 in an out-of-body experience.
But what I mean by “soul” – that is, the Self – is many layers of Reality beyond that.
So to say that “the spirit” is the Source of our bliss would only be partially true. Really the spirit plays no more than a mediating role. It’s a vehicle, more than a Source.
It’s very much more gentle and subtle than this body is: like feather down compared to a football.
The body can play a role in bliss. Orgasm is an example of a taste of bliss mediated by the body. The body plays a role even though it isn’t the Source of the bliss thus experienced. It’s almost as if it permits a momentary taste of bliss by relaxing its patterns of tension.
Another example of the “complex” of responses is the experience of love at the sight of the beloved. There are bodily responses, to be sure, but what’s most important is the rise of love from the depths of the heart, from the seat of the soul. And that love does not originate in the body. It originates with God as the Source and everything else – every other body it passes through – as just a vehicle, a conduit.
For my money, I’d rather stay with the pure experiences of bliss and love and forego getting into the mind about the Source. Even though I know that’s also a very legitimate path. Just not the one I choose.
As Sri Ramakrishna said, I came to the mango orchard to eat mangoes, not to count them. I want the experience, as my road to realization.
The experience of pure bliss and innocent love will lead us to the Self. Of that I’m sure.
Source: Golden Age of Gaia
The Spirit-Body Complex | Steve Beckow
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Reviewed by TerraZetzz
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2/27/2019 07:33:00 PM
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