Awake Where You Are by Martin Aylward

Author:Martin Aylward
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wisdom Publications

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5

An Awakening Body

We are extraordinary beings. We are so used to our human functioning we take it for granted: this human body-mind here, in front of a laptop screen, tapping keys and writing thoughts, and your human body-mind reading and taking in these words. Illness or injury may wake us up to the fragility of our bodies — if you’ve ever broken your leg and been on crutches, you’ll remember how suddenly walking is recognized for the miracle it is. But unless an issue becomes chronic, we easily drift back into complacency when the condition heals. (When it heals! That is also pretty extraordinary).

My teacher Christopher Titmuss, during his six years as a monk in Thailand, was given a daily practice of slowly raising and lowering his right hand, repeatedly, and contemplating the process (for three hours, every afternoon!). Contemplating doesn’t mean thinking about it, imagining sinews and muscles, synapses and “orders from the brain.” To contemplate the fact that the body moves at will (moves at all!) is to wonder deeply at the miracle we are.

You can take a few moments to contemplate:

Reflection

Rest your hand on your lap. Then raise it and lower it slowly a few times. If you leave aside your ideas and explanations, can you tell how it happens? Feel the movement from the inside. When we suspend our knowledge about this body, we can enter into its mystery. Maybe we don’t know this living, breathing body at all well. A deep relationship with body is not at all what we may think it is.

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