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Question

How can you speak about health and spirituality in one breath when many religions have a long tradition of viewing the body as separate from and inferior to the spirit?

Answer

The separation of body and spirit does indeed show up in many religious traditions. However, some of those traditions are beginning to reexamine that philosophical point, realizing in the process that the body is as much a part of creation as is spirit and is therefore worthy of the same level of reverence.

My own belief is that sensuality is an essential attitude for one to develop as part of one's spiritual journey. If part of the point of the spiritual journey is to make conscious contact with the God of our understanding, then what better way than to perceive and appreciate the many manifestations of God found throughout creation? In other words, our senses may be the very vehicle for making contact with God.

Consider your five senses. Can you think of one experience through each of your senses which gave you a glimmer of the God of your understanding? For purposes of illustration, here is my list: sight -- a glimpse of a herd of deer in the Lincoln National Forest; sound -- a particular hymn called "You Are Near;" taste -- the taste of peanut butter cookies as made by my Aunt Peg, the one person who, early in my life, gave me the experience of unconditional love; smell-- frankincense; touch --the feeling of relief in my shoulders as a priest prayed over me as a part of a Fifth Step I completed with him.

In a similar vein, we should be able to come up with a list of five sensual experiences which give us a glimmer of the Dark Side. Again, for purposes of illustration: sight -- films of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy; sound -- various voices I have heard uttering words such as "nigger" or "faggot" or "bitch;" taste -- sour milk; smell -- sulphur; touch -- the physical sensations I can recall from various fist fights I was in as a youth.

"Celebrate sensation!" says the Narrator in "The Fantasticks." Hopefully, more and more of us can come to view this as a bit of guidance pointing us to a doorway to the domain of the spirit.

03/14/98

Richard B. Patterson is a clinical psychologist in private practice in El Paso, TX. He is the author of three books on psychology and spirituality.