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Articles
by Rabbi Zalman Shacter-Shalomi
Our
Bodies Our Selves
By Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
“The
righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, soar high like
the cedars of Lebanon, they will still be juicy and fresh
in their old age, and blossom in the court of our God.”
—Psalm 92.
Whenever
we think of our body, we begin by identifying with it. In
error, we assume that “I am all that is encased in my
skin.” There are some spiritual teachers who liked to
use the phrase, “This is not my body, this is the temple
for my soul.” I’d like to propose another view.
In
spiritual eldering, we have often talked about the many organisms
which we inhabit: the physical being, the energy body, our
organism of affect, all the people we care for, our organism
of mind which inhabits all our intellectual worlds, and, ultimately,
our spirit.
However,
about body, we need to talk in greater detail. When you get
older and begin to deal with difficulties in the use of your
body—the number of prosthetic parts in you (from dentures
to hip joints to cataract lenses to hearing aids) and, of
course, the glasses that help us read the fine print—you
become aware of the many tired, exhausted citizens in the
democracy of your body. How often have you met fellow aged
peers and exchanged with them the somber notes of your “organ
recital?”
The
“in-box” of these unheeded messages can begin to
weigh us down. From the thoughts we have at four o’clock
in the morning after we have relieved ourselves and want to
fall back asleep again (but it doesn’t always work),
to the sense of fatigue and the rest cramps we experience,
we are beginning to get messages that we are not ready to
receive. The “in-box” of these unheeded messages
can begin to weigh us down to the point that they become the
ballast that bring us to depression.
If
we were to begin to pay attention to them, we would learn
to shape our daily routines to a place where our citizens
wouldn’t have to complain, or worse, rebel, by attracting
dis-ease. So the main task for spiritual elders is to extend
our consciousness along with the gift of the extended life
span. This is one aspect of dealing with the gravitational
pull to melancholia.
Another
way that helps us deal with our aging bodies is to place our
anchor in the future. What have we got to look forward to?
Having come to face our mortality, having been reconciled,
we still can close our eyes and, in our imagination, look
at the fuel gauge of available time. Most of us find that
we still have some mileage left. What would we like to place
on our calendar of great expectations during those miles?
Once I was planning a retreat for myself and went about setting
up hard disciplines for that time. A compassionate and gentle
friend pointed out to me that that was not what I needed.
When I asked what she would suggest, she replied, “Take
time to pamper your soul, Zalman.”
How
often we have postponed the kind of gratifications for which
we do not need excessive muscle or stamina, but which would
give us the satisfaction that would reduce the challenge of
unlived life. Why is this?
Having
such plans that reshape daily routines could create in our
bodies tendrils that reach into the future and invigorate
us in the present. The body takes things very literally, as
Bill Schutz in his book, Body Language, has pointed out. So,
if we say, “So-and- so gives me a pain in the neck,”
then the likelihood is that we will somatize this. On the
other hand, happy expectations delay the “deadline”
for some weeks, months, or years.
The
benefit we derive from this process of embodying present satisfaction
will also charge our other organisms of energy, affect, mind,
and spirit. These will provide us with a list of anticipated
joys.
My
mother, God rest her soul, was very frail toward the end.
My nephew, her grandson, was about to be married. Hoping to
attend that event, her vitality increased, she held court
at that wedding and received the accolades she deserved for
an active, caring life. Not long afterwards she died-happily
and peacefully.
I
recommend making a list of those pleasures your body citizens
can afford and enjoy, and in anticipation of these, predict
that even your T-cells counts will increase. When you make
New Year’s resolutions, keep this in mind.I wish you
a good year and a good life, and hold up my cup of cheer and
sing to you:
To
life, to life,......l’chaim. L’Chaim, l’chaim,
TO LIFE!
Articles
by Rabbi Zalman Shacter-Shalomi
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