Many people practice tai chi, chi gong, and so on with the aim of keeping their bodies fit for a long time. There is certainly nothing wrong with keeping one’s body fit—indeed, it is one of the aims of yoga—but unfortunately, many such people are trying to run away from the inevitable death of the body. Some mystic yogis strive to keep their bodies alive forever—but that is not possible. Even if one was the greatest yogi and could keep his body alive for thousands of years, that still is not forever.
Jagad Guru Chris Butler - Science of Identity Foundation
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The real value of the body lies not in the organization of its components, but rather in the self, in the person who operates and uses that body.
Science of Identity
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Only one who can learn the process of nescience and that of transcendental knowledge side by side can transcend the influence of repeated birth and death and enjoy the full blessing of immortality.
~Sri Ishopanishad, Mantra Eleven
Some neophytes on the spiritual path may fall into the illusion that taking care of the body is somehow evil, or a sign of spiritual backwardness. Not only may they neglect the needs of the body, but they may go out of their way to actually damage the body. Such people actually hate the body. They see it as a source of misery, and thus they take out their anger on it. This is certainly a mistake.
Jagad Guru Chris Butler - Science of Identity Foundation
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An enlightened person sees the body as a garment that he is only wearing and using temporarily.
Jagad Guru Chris Butler - Science of Identity Foundation
~ Jagad Guru (Jagad Guru Chris Butler)
© 2008 Science of Identity Foundation
Showing posts with label Sri Ishopanishad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sri Ishopanishad. Show all posts
Thursday, 25 June 2009
Saturday, 20 December 2008
Jagad Guru Chris Butler - Learning from History
LEARNING FROM HISTORY
In this world, people are always fighting over property. They want to stake their claims of ownership on both the living and the nonliving. According to the Sri Ishopanishad, these people are like thieves fighting over stolen loot. If we look at the question from the relatively short-term view, we may find it hard to accept that no one is really an owner of anything. But if we adopt the point of view of the Sri Ishopanishad—which sees the universe not in terms of decades, centuries, or even thousands of years, but in terms of many millions of years—then we can understand this point.
Jagad Guru Chris Butler - Science of Identity Foundation
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If you understand that you are not your body, then you’ll understand that a life of false lordship and sense gratification will not satisfy you. Therefore, you will not see the gaining of material wealth and power as the goal of your life. You won’t feel that you need things that in fact you don’t really need. Therefore, you won’t be driven to try to get something “at any cost”—including the cost of your life, someone else’s life, or imprisonment.
Jagad Guru Chris Butler - Science of Identity Foundation
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Why does a person claim ownership of a thing or of another person? To control it or them. And why does he want to control it? Usually because he wants to be the enjoyer of it.
Jagad Guru Chris Butler - Science of Identity Foundation
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If a person sees himself as the Supreme Enjoyer, he will automatically live a life of exploitation. He will not respect others or the environment, nor will he care for the well-being of others. He will lead a hedonistic life of unrestricted sense enjoyment, lording over everything and everyone. Although human in form, he will be no more than an animal who lives by the philosophy “might makes right.”
Jagad Guru Chris Butler - Science of Identity Foundation
~ Jagad Guru (Jagad Guru Chris Butler)
© 2008 Science of Identity Foundation
In this world, people are always fighting over property. They want to stake their claims of ownership on both the living and the nonliving. According to the Sri Ishopanishad, these people are like thieves fighting over stolen loot. If we look at the question from the relatively short-term view, we may find it hard to accept that no one is really an owner of anything. But if we adopt the point of view of the Sri Ishopanishad—which sees the universe not in terms of decades, centuries, or even thousands of years, but in terms of many millions of years—then we can understand this point.
Jagad Guru Chris Butler - Science of Identity Foundation
==========
If you understand that you are not your body, then you’ll understand that a life of false lordship and sense gratification will not satisfy you. Therefore, you will not see the gaining of material wealth and power as the goal of your life. You won’t feel that you need things that in fact you don’t really need. Therefore, you won’t be driven to try to get something “at any cost”—including the cost of your life, someone else’s life, or imprisonment.
Jagad Guru Chris Butler - Science of Identity Foundation
==========
Why does a person claim ownership of a thing or of another person? To control it or them. And why does he want to control it? Usually because he wants to be the enjoyer of it.
Jagad Guru Chris Butler - Science of Identity Foundation
==========
If a person sees himself as the Supreme Enjoyer, he will automatically live a life of exploitation. He will not respect others or the environment, nor will he care for the well-being of others. He will lead a hedonistic life of unrestricted sense enjoyment, lording over everything and everyone. Although human in form, he will be no more than an animal who lives by the philosophy “might makes right.”
Jagad Guru Chris Butler - Science of Identity Foundation
~ Jagad Guru (Jagad Guru Chris Butler)
© 2008 Science of Identity Foundation
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