12/11/2024
A tree and a body are subject to the same environmental changes. In that case, both the body and the tree can be considered similarly. This is because, just as the body undergoes environmental changes, so does the tree.
Although the tree and body are alike, we feel the body in an intimate way, while the tree doesn’t evoke the same sense. Why does only the body feel intimate to us? It’s because the body feels constantly present, close to us, and is most frequently encountered.
There’s a prevailing view in contemporary knowledge that the body is not an inherent self. Yet, let’s take a moment to reflect on the body as it is felt by the mind.
Now, look at your body. What you see as the body is just what is visible to your eyes. Yet, the body should include your internal structures as well. However, you only feel the parts of the body you can see. Even if there is discomfort within, you don’t say, “my kidneys hurt” or “my liver or intestines hurt.” You simply say, “my stomach hurts.” Even if there is discomfort within the head, you say that the head hurts, not the brain or the mind.
In this sense, what we perceive as our body is essentially just the visible surface parts. Therefore, in your mind, the idea of “the body” is limited to only what is visible to you.
Similarly, in a dream, you might walk, play, cry, laugh, or feel fear with a body. Even though that body isn’t connected to your physical form, you still feel it. If you imagine eating a mango with salt, pepper, and chili powder, your mouth waters at the thought. But there’s no actual mango—yet the sour taste still stimulates a physical response within you.
From these examples, we can understand that what we feel as the body is a construct created within the mind. Moreover, along with this mental body, a mind that experiences sensations related to that body is also created.
Thus, the body is a mental state, and along with that state, a mind arises that perceives it as inherently present. Every thought you have brings a new mental body and an intrinsic mind to perceive it.
As you read each word of this post, a mental body is present to translate the words into sound, and along with that mental body is a mind to feel it.
Therefore, it is not necessary to experience physical death to see the body as something separate. For one who sees with awareness, each moment the body and mind are recreated in new forms.
