Spirituality Part 3 - Bishop Roger
We tend to think of ourselves as some sort of Deus ex Machina inhabiting and controlling a body rather as we sit in and control a car which cannot work properly without our controlling presence.
This concept has probably always been present, but was enhanced by Reneé Descartes. Since his time the dichotomy of body and spirit has been part of our understanding of ourselves, and has made the feeling that the body is a hindrance to spirituality even stronger than it was ( although since the time of the Desert Fathers and Mothers the body has always had a bad press for Christians).
But think about it. If you hadn’t got a body what would you be? A wandering ghost at best – or nonexistent ! We humans are a triple entity – body , mind and soul, and if one of those is missing all collapse.
In recent time science has shown that we don’t just function from our brain either, as we used to think. The gut controls some of our feelings through the same chemicals as the brain uses, and the hormone producing glands have an input. Indeed some biologists are coming to the conclusion that we act rather like a hologram , and that any cell may be able to take over the function of any other with a sort of mind of its own. This may be a step too far, but current thinking runs along these lines.
These comments has been by way if an introduction to the idea that ‘Brother Ass’ is not quite such a stubborn nuisance as has so often been suggested, and to put to you that the body is important in the spiritual life, and should be kept in optimum condition. Of course sometimes the body is not perfect, because of genetic, accidental or disease-borne conditions, but we must still seek the optimum we can manage.
But as the desert saints, and many before and since have found the body can become an arrogant and demanding master instead of the good spiritual tool that it was designed to be. So in this and the next essays I will give a few suggestions as to how to use the body as a profound spiritual tool. First we look to its needs. They are food, air, protection, exercise, sleep, sex and entertainment – the basics of life.
So let us start with food. There are so many diverse ideas about what we should eat, but humans can survive on all sorts of diets. For instance the current vogue for low fat is given its comeuppance by the diet of the Inuit, who maintain health, vigour and longevity on a diet very high in saturated fat – and indeed show signs of ill health on a modern, accepted as ‘good’, diet.
Likewise the Masai in Africa whose diet is exceptionally high in animal protein. This suggests that dietary fads, and even medical recommendations, should be taken with a pinch of salt (though not too much!). The old adage ‘a little of what you fancy does you good’ is very good dietary advice – though note the ‘little’. The vexed question of vegetarianism or meat eating can be left to the individual. There is no doubt that meat eating reduces ‘spiritual ‘ thinking, while a sensible vegetarian diet feels more ‘spiritual, but physiologically humans are designed (presumably by an all knowing and loving God) as omnivores Eating of any kind should be a pleasure but can all too easily take over, when it becomes harmful both to health and to the spiritual search.
It is well attested that restricting the diet improves the spiritual search, and many religious take fasting as part of the spiritual life. This is indeed a good thing if it does no harm. In certain medical conditions it does harm , so if you want to undertake ‘proper’ fasting seek medical advice first, and I would not recommend prolonged fasting. The body does not need to be beaten into submission.
For most of us it is good to train lightly. For instance take a day when you have a light (fruity?) breakfast, a small mixed salad lunch and no further solid food that day – plenty of fluid, of course. Do this once weekly, and it will improve your will, your figure and your spiritual training. Never try to fast from fluid. It is harmful to do so, whatever the ‘spiritual crackpots’ may say. Certainly it can bring about certain mental/spiritual conditions, but at a cost. We will discuss more on fluids next time.
