The Body is the Temple of the Lord
Aside from the sometimes painful but always transformational inner journeys that took place in the Dietas in the jungle of my mind in the Peruvian Amazon, the most beautiful memories I still cherish to this day are the stories that the gifted shaman Don Diego would share with us either before or after ceremonies. One of them that popped into my mind recently is the following:
“Of all the possible reincarnations, to be born human is a gift.
Of all the possible incarnations, to be born human with consciousness, is a great gift.
Of all the possible incarnations, to be born human with consciousness and aware of your consciousness, is an even greater gift.
Of all the possible incarnations, to be born human with consciousness, with an awareness of your consciousness, and the desire to evolve is a gift even greater than that.
The greatest gift of all, given all the possible incarnations is to be born human with consciousness, with an awareness of your consciousness, a desire to evolve, and to be blessed by Mother Vine.”
Once this thought entered my mind, it started to riff on the theme of the tremendous gift we have all been granted to be human and how for the most part we take it for granted. Although it’s ridiculous that humankind doesn’t take the utmost care of Mother Earth and it appears that we are trying our damnedest to poison and kill her, I can understand this because I can acknowledge how many could mistakenly believe that Mother Earth is outside of the boundary of one’s proper body. The rationale that could be posited, albeit foolish, is that Mother Earth, “it” is over there, separate from myself and consequently “it” is not my responsibility.
So imagine that you won the lottery for millions of dollars. More money than you could possibly spend in ten lifetimes. Despite the fact that you are not a consumer and were quite satisfied with your life as it was except for the inconvenience that you had to work so much to make ends meet, you would most likely buy the car of your dreams. You would purchase this car not because you needed it but since you now had so much money, and after you’ve donated so much of that money to many causes to help people, why wouldn’t you treat yourself to such a gift.
So now you have this ridiculously expensive and absolutely gorgeous car, would you put less than premium gas or oil in it? Even though in your mind this car is nothing more than a toy, you would most likely take tremendous care of this car and actually take great pride in how well it was maintained, n’est-ce pas? Then after three years or so, even though the car is still in mint condition, you would most likely purchase and even nicer car. Why? Well, why not? You have invested your money wisely and with your profits, helped even more people than ever by donating to worthwhile causes all over the world. Why not again treat yourself to an even nicer toy? And it goes without saying that you are such a generous person that rather than sell the first car, you would gift the car to a great friend or family member who deserved it. The fact that you have so much money allows you to do this again and again and always have a gorgeous car that is in perfect condition.
What I find to be so ridiculous is that we would put so much care and attention to a car (or any other valued object for that matter), and yet we disregard our precious bodies, the one vehicle that we are given that must last our entire lifetime, and can never be exchanged or upgraded. How is it possible that we put the equivalent of cheap gas and oil into our bodies for fuel and maintenance, when we would never consider doing this to our beloved car? We only get one body in his lifetime and yet most people treat their bodies as a commodity that can easily be exchanged or upgraded, such as a car.
I first saw the iconic film, “Dog Day Afternoon” in my early twenties. As a reference, do you recall John Travolta in “Saturday Night Fever” chanting “Attica! Attica! Attica” in his underwear? Well, that was a tribute to Al Pacino in this film. Sal’s line- “The body is the temple of the Lord”- although I have never been religious, made a lasting impression on me. For me it was very personal because it related to my life and my body.
Now as a practicing emergency physician for the past 30 years, I have witnessed that at least 50% of the suffering that presents itself in emergency departments is self-inflicted by the poison people put in their mouths in the form of the “Standard American Diet,” whose acronym is “SAD.” Throw in tobacco and that makes about 75% of the underlying cause of all presentations to the emergency department.
What kind of argument could be offered for the fact that such a large segment of the American population is hell-bent on self-destruction and engages in activities that constitute nothing less than ritual Harakiri performed in painfully slow motion? Even more ludicrous is that we have front row seats to this performance and although we find the performance of the self-disembowelment grotesque and barbaric, we for the most part stand in line to wait our turn to do the same.
How so? you ask incredulously. Perhaps you protest stating that I am exaggerating. Well am I? Consider the following:
Is there anyone in our society who doesn’t know the complications and risks of smoking cigarettes? Here are just a few:
- 38 types of cancer
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)/Emphysema
- Hypertension
- Coronary artery disease
We are facing a growing epidemic of obesity that accounts for a significant percentage of diabetes, hypertension, and other disease processes.
The Standard American Diet, whose acronym is “SAD” is related to so many diseases such as diverticulitis, colon cancer, diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease, and many more.
How can family members accompany their loved ones to the ER and in the midst of watching them suffer their final breaths dying of lung cancer or COPD/Emphysema, excuse themselves in the middle of a conversation stating that they have to smoke a cigarette? How can a 23-year old with morbid obesity, accelerated hypertension, out-of-control diabetes whose life is hurdling at break-neck speed towards a brick wall and manages to narrowly escape the clutches of death thanks to the handiwork of some overworked, underpaid and under appreciated ER physician and nurses, only to stop by the vending machine on their way out of the ER & purchase a Hostess Twinky? (Do they even make those anymore?)
There are so many more examples and we watch ourselves commit Harikiri/suicide as a society and squander the one precious gift that we can claim as our own and that is not outside of ourselves, our bodies. Through the grace of Consciousness, we are gifted this one body, this one vehicle to journey through this lifetime and which is our only hope of returning to the ultimate gift of Consciousness. We are also gifted sovereignty to choose how we will use this precious gift, and despite all of those who have stood upon the stage of life and performed Harikiri in front of our eyes, we actively choose to repeat the process. More over, in order to attain more “likes” on Instagram and Facebook, we use a longer sword and perform this barbaric ritual of disemboweling ourselves in even slower motion to some top-40 hit song and choreographed dancers in the background. Do you really believe I am exaggerating? Am I the only one who finds this absurdly insane?
Is it pure ignorance that drives us? As selfish as we are as a society and as human beings, one would assume that we would at the very least take care of ourselves in order to enjoy the rewards of being selfish. Is this evolution at work that slowly over time extinguishes our sense of self-preservation and accentuates our self-destructive tendencies and penchant for suffering?
I’ve asked a lot of questions here and offer no answers. Ultimately this is a dream, a “Play of Lila,” a Divine Comedy and as the spiritual guru of gurus, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson so eloquently stated: “It Doesn’t Matter!” (Please check out my article “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff” about this at: medium.com/lanoixvisions/dont-sweat-the-small-stuff-53d0885c2620). Like all good theater, perhaps the purpose of the ritual Harikiri that so many perform is for our benefit and allows us to experience a sort of catharsis that we would otherwise not have. I can’t think of any other reason why anyone would destroy the precious gift of the one body that they have in this one lifetime in such a dramatic and painful manner other than for the benefit of humankind. So perhaps it is not out of ignorance, but the ultimate sacrifice of giving one’s very life for the benefit of humankind. That’s a different perspective, n’est-ce pas? Consequently, in light of my newfound realization, every time I am at work in the ER and encounter one of these situations that I previously found so ludicrous and pathetic, and for which I’ve cultivated such compassion over my 30 years of practice, in addition to providing the most diligent and compassionate care that I always provide, I now express my sincere gratitude for their performance and sacrifice.
