August 25th

Body

I am not this fragile body.
We are not our bodies. This may seem an odd assertion. After all, there is no other object on this earth that we know more intimately. Why should we not identify with it? What is there about our bodies that is tangible? Of course it has substance, but how do we account for volition? A corpse is just as tangible as a living being, and yet no one would mistake the two. Something mysterious accounts for the differences between a live and a dead body. Something animates us.
It is the mind that directs the energy. But what of the mind can we call definite? It is like a flickering flame : At no point can we determine its exact contours. The more closely we examine ourselves, the more subtle distinctions become. Everything becomes quite indistinct. We cling stubbornly but futilely to the impression that we could find something in the reduction of things.
It's all quite confusing. But one thing is certain : I am not this fragile body.



Personal Interpretation 

 We are more than our physical selves. Our bodies are a kind of shell, a husk. What animates us? What distinguishes a live body from a dead one? When we look upon the corpse of a loved one we have lost, we see a kind of doll lying in the place that was once inhabited by the person we knew. There is an energy that gives us breath, and when we die it seems to leave. It only continues its journey elsewhere. Life is more than substance. It is the state of being possessed by the intangible energy of something greater than ourselves. We can never define it in a way that is satisfactory. It exists all the same. And it is beautiful.