Our work on identification is ultimately to establish our true identify, that is, the identification with the True Self. This takes place when the True Self can function consistently. Before this happens, the false self is in charge of life. So we can say this shift is a process of weaking the identification with the false self and facilitating the manifestation of the True Self.
One of the main pieces to work on in order to weaken the identification with the false self is our identification with the body. This is because it is an integral part of unhealthy patterns. To most people, the body IS life. The body becomes the self-identity.
But the body is only one of three main components of life. Why do we not develop strong identifications with Qi and Jingshen, especially the true heart and True Self? It is mainly because we experience almost everything through the body, and it starts from the very beginning of life. For example, the survival instinct drives a newborn to cry when he is hungry. When he is well fed, his body will feel satisfied and so will his Jingshen. The pleasant feelings felt in the body provide feedback, and we naturally want to do more and more of the things that bring such feelings. We learn to serve the needs of the body right from the start and get very good at it. Gradually, the identification with the body is formed. Once the identification is formed, it becomes part of the “self”. As self-identity becomes more established, so is the identification with the body. At the same time, life will become more and more centered around the self, and serving the self becomes the main focus of life. Life is then governed by the fundamental instinct to pursue self-interest and avoid harm and to seek simplicity and avoid complexity. In the end, life becomes centered around the needs of the body.
This goes way beyond just pursuing the satisfaction the body gets on the biological level. The needs on the social level also generate the pleasant feelings we feel in the body, albeit many of them via the heart. For example, when other people think we are good, we feel happy. When we consider ourselves doing or knowing better than others, we feel good. When things go our way, we feel good. All these good feelings are felt in the body and reinforce the identification with the body. We pursue these pleasant feelings and avoid things that can cause the opposite, the unpleasant feelings. In this process we also develop identification with our feelings – the pleasant feelings and the unpleasant feelings. We take them as true while most of the time they are the result of the work of our patterns, of the false self! We hold on to them so strongly and make decisions based on them. Even the slightest indication of disrespect to our feelings can be taken as a personal attack.
This identification makes us believe that when we don’t have a body, we lose everything. We will no longer have the chance to experience all the pleasant and wonderful feelings. The death of the body is the end of life and an ultimate loss. This belief generates a fear of death. This fear further strengthens the identification with the body and drives the relentless effort to serve the body and to prolong life, even to the degree of obsession.
The human body is an amazing piece of the universe’s artwork. It is the embodiment of the love and wisdom of the universe and the perfect home for human Jingshen. Without the body, Jingshen would just be floating around. It is with the body that we can do what it takes to Zi Du Du Ren – to grow and help others grow. Everything that we experience with the body is an opportunity for learning and growing – everything we do and everything we feel, the pleasure and the pain – and this is the purpose of the body. It deserves our best five Xin, our trust, openness, love, gratitude, and Gongjing, and it deserves our best care. We need to strive to build the best relationships between our body and the Qi and Jingshen it accommodates. However, we also need to know that the body is only a temporary house of Qi and Jingshen. This house should not replace the True Self and become the self-identify. This house has a finite lifespan no matter how good a job we do at maintaining it. When it is time to move to a new house, we just need to follow the wisdom of the universe and do that. The True Self will live on and never die. This is our true identity.
Yuan Tze
Experience this message on Guided Meditation on Identifying with the Body as a meditation on REN XUE TV
