Simulations of God: The Science of Belief (Timeless Wisdom) by John Lilly

Author:John Lilly [Lilly, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781579511463
Publisher: Ronin Publishing
Published: 2013-01-09T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

GOD AS THE BODY

In the United States each year billions of dollars are spent on entertainment, athletics, care of the body, cosmetics and other beauty aids, physical fitness, golf, football, baseball, worship of superstars, of music, TV and movies, on yoga, Tai Chi Chuan, Kung Fu, karate, jiujitsu, judo, aikido, swimming pools, tennis courts, mountain climbing, camping, skiing, water skiing, sailing, surfing, and so forth. In each of these activities a very high premium is placed on various aspects of bodily function and the appearance of one’s body to others. Very large numbers of people who indulge in these activities believe in God as the Body.

Over the last few decades, as the belief of God Out There was weakened, the belief of God as Body became strengthened. Instead of going to religious services on Saturday or Sunday, thousands of Americans spent their weekend being physically active, and more and more thousands are becoming adherents of the physical-fitness cult, if only in terms of jogging or light morning exercises. The manufacture of sports equipment has become a very large industry. The various techniques of body improvement, from Jack LaLanne’s to Yoga classes and the various so-called martial arts, are also fast becoming big business.

Let us try to get at the basic factors involved in such a belief system as God as the Body. First of all, whether we like it or not in our more idealized moments, we are a walking, running, climbing animal; unless we perform these activities, our body deteriorates. Unless we work out equivalents for body toning in terms of stretching and stressing the body, the quality of our thinking, feeling and doing slowly but surely likewise deteriorate. Most people exercise because they feel better as a consequence of the exercise. They can think, work, and play better. In the Far East this has been known for literally thousands of years. Stretching and stressing the body have become esoteric sciences. The best known of these, Hatha-Yoga, is touted as one of the doorways to spiritual advancement. Various martial arts: aikido, Kung Fu, karate, and so forth, are also parts of spiritual trips in various countries in the East. The “feeling better” that results from these activities is taken as an advance in personal discipline and in perfection of the body itself.

In the West there is a saying “A sound mind in a sound body,” in other words, a sound mind results from generating a sound body. Apparently, the body responds to a cyclical need for exercise and stretching. There is a daily cycle of twelve to twenty-four hours, and a weekly cycle of approximately seven days. If these cycles are studies in oneself, one can find, for example, that he should devote a period to stretching early in the morning and another period late in the afternoon or before going to bed. On the weekends he should stress the whole organism, exerting physical effort to the extent he hyperventilates as a consequence of the muscular activity, and one’s heart rate and the heart beat volume are stepped up during this period of exercise.

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