(no subject)
What if I told you that discpline in body had an analog in the mind? Would you believe that it was clarity in thought? If I said that flexibility in the body was mirrored in the psyche? That by training your body, you could form your soul as well? Would you believe me? Five years ago, I didn't. I am disillusioned now.
You see, I had the experience of being separate from my body while I was exercising, a feeling of self removed from self. So, I meditated on the experience, contemplated it, and realized that it was only when I felt furthest from myself could I commune with myself. So, you ask, shouldn't this convince me of the opposite? No, I realized. Contemplation as the removal of self from self, a form of being unaware of oneself, is the very mechanism of enlightenment. Contemplation is the process of becoming enlightened. Concentration is everything. Concentration is exercise, concentration in thought. Being aware of what your body and mind are doing. This is the key to all achievement.
If this sounds too Eastern for your tastes, you'll be happy to know I got this straight out of the Western Tradition's finest, the Delphic Oracle herself. "Know Thyself." The answer has been there all along.
You see, I had the experience of being separate from my body while I was exercising, a feeling of self removed from self. So, I meditated on the experience, contemplated it, and realized that it was only when I felt furthest from myself could I commune with myself. So, you ask, shouldn't this convince me of the opposite? No, I realized. Contemplation as the removal of self from self, a form of being unaware of oneself, is the very mechanism of enlightenment. Contemplation is the process of becoming enlightened. Concentration is everything. Concentration is exercise, concentration in thought. Being aware of what your body and mind are doing. This is the key to all achievement.
If this sounds too Eastern for your tastes, you'll be happy to know I got this straight out of the Western Tradition's finest, the Delphic Oracle herself. "Know Thyself." The answer has been there all along.