On the Mystery of Being by Zaya Benazzo

Author:Zaya Benazzo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: New Harbinger Publications
Published: 2019-08-05T16:00:00+00:00

Part Five:

The Body as Teacher

A common pitfall on the spiritual path is to focus on transcendence, while disconnecting from the body. Indeed, many spiritual traditions seem to invite the student to disidentify with the body, through different practices and teachings. If misinterpreted, these teachings can lead to denying the body and the wisdom encoded in it. This not only greatly limits our experience of life, but also makes our spiritual path narrower as we disconnect from our life force, our vitality.

While our search matures, we may experience a distinct transition as we descend from the lofty realms of transcendence back into the body. All of a sudden, all the teachings and realizations we previously experienced and perceived in intellectual form become solidly anchored. We realize they were already living in the body. Along with this descent comes a deeper surrender to life in the immediacy of each moment. No matter what the experience—illness, trauma, anger, bliss, or ecstasy—they all arise as a flow of sensations devoid of interpretation or story.

As much as we love our spiritual teachers in the flesh, the situations we confront moment to moment become our everyday teachers. The tenderness in our chest, the tingling in our belly, the trembling of our voice—these become our teachers. Inside our bodies we explore the essence of billions of years of evolution. We track traces of the pain, fears, and hopes of our ancestors and we connect with the intelligence of life itself. We realize that our bodies are collections of thoughts, experiences, and sensations moving through us at dazzling speed, constantly changing. It becomes apparent that we can never fully comprehend, only feel.

When we put all understanding, all knowledge aside and listen to the body, each sensation becomes a unique portal through which we enter into a deep silence and intimacy with all things. Enlightenment is intimacy with any experience that arises in this human form.

In this section, we share some beautiful portals to the intelligence and wisdom encoded in our bodies.

—Maurizio and Zaya

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