READING
AND
WRITING
The mind-body complex and spirituality
The mind and body are referred to as many things. Most of the time it
is said to be a waste. People I have come across, often times seem either
spiritually empty inside or mentally asleep. The mind in the physical
sense of what we know it to be is composed of flesh of different sorts.
Made of neurons that lack myelin due to small distances between axons
and their terminal buttons the result is a giant life mass that functions
in ways we are barely starting to understand, a mass we know as the brain.
The mind is often thought of as the brain, but I would argue that it is
more than the brain alone, but rather is a spiritual being that functions
within the parameters of the human body, yet is dependent on the body
for its nourishment and stimulation. Spiritually inside I know my mind
to be my brain and so much more. It is explainable as a feeling or an
essence, but is never described as an absence. We have seen those that
are spiritually dead on the inside. They roll through life like that walking
dead. I ask myself what they must be lacking, as I look though their hollow
eyes in an attempt to get a glimpse of the body human. The mind and body
are one in the same. Where on one hand, the brain, is a purely physical
being and the other, the body, is prosthesis for it. Together they comprise
the spiritual being wholly dependent on the each other.
When I think of the mind, I think of the brain first. It holds the power
to perform on so many levels, yet I know it is only made up of these fleshy
pulps. Gray matter is the same as white except with out the myelin sheaths
derived from the proliferation of Schwan cells. Saltatory conduction is
only a necessity for long distances such as between the head and the foot.
Ion gates swing open at such a rate I am in awe every time I contemplate
the physics of the process. What truly amazes me is how the mind works.
It functions so fast that I consider it a thing displacing my mind from
the real and referring to it as a whole rather than the collection of
its parts. I could spend a lifetime on the parts alone. Nothing I do can
even compare, yet it is my brain that is functioning. I know broken down
into basic scientific principals the mind is just the embodiment of physics.
Tiny fragments of matter interact with each other to makeup the nutrients
that make up the protein and ultimately performing flesh. It functions
on a level and on at a rate that is unreal to me in the spiritual sense,
but it is me and I will its reaction and function. We think of some portions
of the mind that perform independently and are autonomic by nature, yet
consciously we can control our heart rate, breathing, peristalsis of the
digestive system, and even make ourselves weep like a new found widow.
We try to explain the mind as a result of the brain itself. This is like
trying to define a word with the same word and is absurd. The mind is
a result of the brain doing what it does. Dendrites reach out waiting
to react to neurotransmitters that stimulate a certain type of axiomatic
response, yet there has never been a distinction in the levels of those
responses. The all or nothing principal plays huge roles on the functions
of neurons where propagation of tiny millivolt waves are the result of
an achieved threshold. Can anyone explain to me why I feel a great loss
when a lover leaves or a friend dies? I know chemical agents in the body
play essential roles, yet I cannot separate the brain from the spiritual
and trying to explain would be false.
The body seems to me to be even more fascinating than the mind. Where
the mind, although with structure, is to me a mass, the body is a physical
marvel. There is not one detail that has been overlooked. The structure
of such a complete thing is where the line of spirituality blurs for me.
We have bodies, that when all the physics have come into play properly,
function perfectly. The joints are flawless fulcrums sliding in synovial
bliss. The heart in itself is awesome, pumping a biological liquid that
reacts in the most scientific of ways. The blood carries oxygen to complete
the chemical process and be the final electron acceptor in the transport
chain that gives us our energy source, ATP. The body can be explained
by science, this I accept.
The body and mind together, however, present a whole collection of new
questions. I do not believe these questions are answerable in the scientific
sort of way. We relegate our accomplishments to tell us how and marvel
at our knowledge, yet science has left me empty and so I have left it.
I worked so hard at becoming educated in all aspects of physics and all
subjects relating. However, in the end I could not commit my life to field
that although fascinating is without humanity no matter how much for humanity
it claims to be.
So I am left with my mind which a cannot comprehend as a whole and the
body that allows its function at least for the time being. Up until now,
I have combined the two only based on necessity for one another. I do
not believe, however, necessary one is to the other that, they are merely
solitary beings in state of symbiotic achievement. The mind and the body
to me are one. I know one cannot function without the other. Take away
the mind and you cripple the body. Remove the body and you condemn the
mind. Together they comprise a universe that consists of the mind, which
I know as the brain in a spiritual sense and the body as a reactive manipulating
extension in this world. Together, the mind and the body transcend as
universal beings contributing to something that is explainable only as
a force. George Lucas truly hit the nail on the head when he dubbed it
‘The Force.’ It is a network of life and matter that creates
this universal dynamic that can only be explained by our interconnectedness
to each other and those we have not yet met.
How does the body know what to do? Science can answer how, but it has
failed me when I ask why. Many replace one question with the other how
or why, but I hold in my belief that they are not interchangeable. Why
does one atom react in a certain way to the others around it? Well one
has a negative charge and one a positive charge. Again I hold that I have
just been told how a negative reacts to a positive, but why do they react
to each other? Telling me because will fall short every time. The only
reason I can hold is that there truly is some sort of force. If you want
to call it god or whatever, it makes no difference whatsoever. We have
collections of astral bodies existing in the universe, reacting to one
another in ways that are beyond the realm of science. However fundamentally
grounded in science I am, my mind-body complex is solely spiritual in
nature and everyday I suck in air is a new chance for me to relish in
what I am, a spiritual being.
READINGS
After reading the assignment
several times, I thought about what books to refer to in my search for
spiritual reference. I decided the books that I choose should be those
which have truly touched me on a level that cannot be explained by a person
telling me what the dynamics of some other astral science in some book
that I have made no effort to understand.
The first book I chose and one that I have read about once a month since
I first discovered it is
The Seven Laws of Spiritual Success by Deepak Chopra. In it he explains
certain things that I now hold as fundamental truths to the way I live
my life. His words were not wise for every person on the earth knows them,
only they materialize that ever-present wisdom and make it tangible for
analysis. Chopra talks of nature and the kinship that must be maintained
between human and the universe in order to be spiritually successful.
He goes over explanation and our desire to tell others what we know. His
chapter on past, present and future actualizes the belief that I remind
myself of everyday. I should never waste time on the past for want of
things that cannot be fixed, I should not contemplate the future that
does not exist and will not if the here and now is not taken care of first.
It is no way for a person to live worrying about the future. One day your
old and you wake up knowing that you have not lived life because of the
fear of the future.
The second book on my list and one that is especially important to me
is A Brief History of Time: from the big bang to the black holes by Stephen
Hawking. Essentially the book is physics for idiots. It allowed my to
truly grasp my position in the universe as a spiritual being. In the last
two chapters Hawking provides a treatise on the existence of God with
regard to the singularity effect of black holes and the four forces of
the known universe and how they are related to time. His scientific approach
to a ‘Force’ that that is or is not is truly awesome. I have
never been the same person after reading it.
Another book that touched me in more ways than I can possibly explain
is Black Elk Speaks by John G. Neihardt. Neihardt interviewed the holy
man of the Oglala Sioux, Back Elk over a number of years. In it, Black
Elk explains the connection between the spiritual and the material, which
transcends the individual to the sublime. I was able to get a glimpse
into the heart of a man that was torn apart by the hatred and intolerance
of others and the tradition that helped him continue.
My favorite book of all time and the one that I cannot imagine living
my live without having known it, The Winter of our Discontent by John
Steinbeck. The story is about the dissolution of a man in the world that
he created. The protagonist becomes the man everybody wants him to be
at the cost of his humanity and soul. The first time and only time I have
read the book, I was crushed and speechless left only with a hollow feeling
inside. I felt lifetimes of tears coming to the surface all at once. Consequently,
I have never been able to read the book again. It was truly a once in
a life time experience for me.
Finally, the book that made me realize my own existence in the role of
the universe and helped me to know that destiny is a belief and not a
fact is The Fall by Albert Camu. It is about a man whose one decision
effects the rest of his life. I think that the man I am today is a collection
of the actions I have taken as results of my decisions and none are separate
form each other. I am my decision and in turn, I am my indecision.
For the most part books that are astral, spiritual or paranormal in nature
have no effect on me whatsoever. Chopra’s book is the exception because
it is common sense, or at least that, which I believe to be common, that
drives the writing. I have chosen books that revealed more to me than
any others could. To know each one of the books above is truly a better
way to know me, and that is the difference.
PALM AND TAROT
I must admit that I do not believe
in palm readings, however, I was surprised at the accuracy of the results.
I met with a young attractive Latina named Esmiralda if that is at all
believable. The first thing I thought was that even her name was a sham.
So with all my reservations in full swing I at least thought it might
be a good experience for me. The whole session took about twenty minutes.
She told me that because I have a great deal of Rascettes I would live
to an age around eighty-five. So far so good. She told me that my thick
and chained heart line indicated that I was very compassionate person
and that I hold friendship in the highest regard. This is all true. The
caring of others is something that I have consciously worked on for some
time because I know that I have been very callous in the past. She also
told me that I have a very strong sexual desire. I know this to be true.
Esmiralda then examined my Lifeline. She said I was not a world traveler.
I did not tell her that I have already been al over the world and that
I find traveling fundamental to a happy life. She said that I was an active
person and I could not disagree with her. I do more things before noon
than my roommates do in entire week.
Next, we moved on to the description of the headline. She said I am a
strong willed person who is independent and possess great deal of intelligence.
I did not think she would tell me I was stupid so I dismissed that description,
although I have had my moments.
Finally, she went on to describe my fingers. She told me at length again
that I have very strong sex drive. I had the urge to wink, but refrained.
She described me as capable and creative. I had no arguments.
In the end, Esmiralda told me I would have wonderful life. I guess I have
no choice then. I’ll have a wonderful life. Then she took me for
forty Bucks and I felt cheated. Was that included in the wonderful life?
The tarot card reading was a lot longer, but not much more descriptive.
I felt very uncomfortable doing while doing it. Even if it is not true,
I do not like to have a hint at my future. It is like ruining a movie.
I want to be surprised. The pattern that our famed Esmiralda used was
the Celtic cross. She first shuffled the cards then laid them out one
by one in a sort of H shaped pattern. Top to bottom I got the
King of Cups – fair man, man of business, man of law, creative and
intelligence
The Tower (reversed) – oppression, imprisonment tyranny
The Devil –violence, vehemence, force, fatality
Page of Cups – a studious youth, news, messy, reflective, meditation
and business
Nine of Pentacles – Prudence, safety, success, accomplishments, knowledge
(Future) Ace of Swords – triumph, conquest, the rule of force “
it is a card of power in love as well as hatred
Knight of Rods – departure, absence, flight, emigration, change of
residence
Ace of Pentacle (reversed) – the evil side of wealth, material wealth
to no advantage, bad intelligence, discouragement
Ace of Cups –joy, contentment, nourishment, abundance, fertility
King of Swords (reversed) – cruelty, perversity, barbarity, and evil
intentions
The High Priestess (reversed) – passion, conceit, shallow knowledge,
the loss of the spiritual world.
She informed me that the cards or to be interpreted and not literal. In
the end I felt the meanings behind the reading, if I chose to subscribe
to it, is immediate. I will be taking flight in sort. After July 16, I
am finished with school and plan on roaming the country. Finally, I will
settle back down in California. She told me a bunch of stuff such as I
would find my love out there and blah, blah, blah. Then she rolled me
for another forty bones.