Have you ever found yourself asking, “What is the meaning of life?” If so you are not alone. But this is not the right question we should be asking if we are looking for answers about our life. We are supposing that there is some general answer for all and that once understood gives us clarity about life. But each life is different, complex and each of us has a different fate and destiny so there can be no single answer that fits all.
The body has its own wisdom and ways of knowing, separate and distinct from that of the mind. The mind thinks while the body feels. From each of these ways of knowing we get valuable information. Just as seeing and hearing are two totally distinct senses which supply us with discrete sensations, so too the body gives us different feedback than the mind. Our bodies have a special and unique relationship with the vibrating matrix of our reality, one which we can learn to tap into and be informed from. Unfortunately our western culture has a history of misunderstanding this relationship. Instead of seeing our body as special, unique and a valuable part of who we are, the body is often dismissed as something less than the mind or soul. We have divorced ourselves from our body wisdom; the body’s feelings are now ignored and dismissed as unimportant or irrelevant. How have we let this happen? Our religions are partly to be blamed; they mostly have been distrustful of the body, dismissing it as a temporary vehicle whose instincts and desires are to be ignored and overcome. There are countless stories of mystics and saints who flogged the body in order to keep it under control, so frightened were they of its powerful instincts and urges. But this seems illogical. From a spiritual point of view, if God has put us in a body, it is probably not for the purpose of fleeing or transcending it, but rather to learn from its mysteries, absorb its great wisdom and be nourished by it. But forget spirituality for a moment; just from a very practical point of view, if the body has access to wisdom and knowledge beyond what the mind can access, would it not be prudent to tap into this source of knowledge? If the body does have these capabilities and we are not listening to it, we are undoubtedly missing out on a lot. But does it? Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio has done extensive research on the body’s ability to feel and process information. “The body contributes more than life support,” he writes. “It contributes content that is part and parcel of the workings of the normal mind.” One of Damasio’s most startling discoveries is how the feelings of the body influence rational thought without us even being aware of the process. Damasio devised an experiment that he called "the gambling task." It worked like this: Each subject was given four decks of special cards and with each card the player either won or lost money. The subjects were told to turn over the cards one by one from any of the four decks. What they didn’t know was that the decks were rigged. Two of the decks had higher payouts but more severe penalties. Choosing these decks eventually resulted in losses for the participant. The other two had lower payouts but much less chance of losing, so subjects ended up ahead by choosing from these decks. On average it [...]