Theos-Talk Archives (October 1995 Message tl00592)

Keith:<The body is often talked about in the Christian and Puritan traditions as
corrupt and leading us to corruption, that is "sin". It is seen in most
traditions as something to be transcended. But is it the body or the kama-manas
that is causing the "sin", leading the body to indulgences etc?>

"Sin" only exists in the human mind. It is a way or mode
of thinking, and otherwise does not exist. The whole idea of sin
comes from the dualism of good and evil. We try to hold to good
and eliminate the evil. Because one side of a duality cannot exist
without the other side, it is impossible to eliminate evil while
holding onto the good, but we all try to do this anyway. So, when
the evil comes back to bite us, so to speak, we call it "sin" and
feel the need for atonement and absolution. Instead of blaming
ourselves, we blame our bodies as convenient scapegoats.
BTW, because feminiinity has always been associated with matter
and the body, the equation sin=body always translates to
sin=women, and this is why most religions see women as evil
and sinful.

Keith:< The body has a special consciousness
of what to do without the help my mentality or will. It knows and remembers.
It is WISE.>

True.

Keith:< In other words the limited conscious mind has been seen as the seat
of the will and therefore responsible. The automatic processes have been
seen as unconscious or not under the laws of Karma.>

I agree. Carl Jung points out the silly fear that we all have
of the unconscious. Some people fear going to sleep at night. Many
fear death, not so much because they must leave everything behind,
but rather because they fear losing conscious control.

Keith:<Are the automatic processes even more the results of Karma and therefore
our
present responsibility? That is, are we responsible for the "perfection" or
imperfection of our bodies from past lives or globes? It seems the conscious
mind is very limited and in control of very little, as Jung and Freud
suggested.>

The unconscious functions mostly under causality, but
is not limited by that, because it also can function under synchronicity,
which is not space or time dependent (karma/causality works within
space and time). My answer to your second question is yes. And I
would agree that the conscious ego is limited, being but a subsystem
of the overall psyche, most of which is unconscious to us.

Keith:<I am thinking of things like cancer also. Is something like cancer a
karmic
debt? The body according to Depak Chopra and others is a stream of information
and has the power to heal itself.>

The body would do quiet fine, for the most part, if left alone.
But the mind simply won't leave it alone. Our body expresses our
thoughts and emotions, our stresses, our fears, our shames, and so on.
Most disease (not all) is brought on via mental causes.

Keith:< As you can tell
I still not thinking clearly, but felt moved to find some meaning in my
accident as many do in their illnesses and "bad" karma. >

Many accidents and diseases do have "meanings" for
those who look for them. A few simply don't, and I have called the
latter group effects of the Chaos Factor. A theosophist or Buddhist
would probably say the cause, and therefore the meaning, lies in
a past life that is no longer remembered. As this does us little
good, and must be taken on faith, I would call them chaotic and
therefore meaningless to the current ego, and let it go at that
(two views of the same thing, perhaps?).

Sorry to hear about your accident, Keith. Hope you recover quickly.

Jerry S.