Mortal body and Philosophy ?

Namaste HDF,

If body is anyway going to perish, why should we follow healthy lifestyle. Should we pay attention to the need of the body?

What is the role of God in the protection of this body? Who is responsible for the protection of this body?

By protecting this body or addressing the need of body am I not focusing on mortal than on immortals.

If Soul is unaffected and body is not permanent, then what is our philosophical view on self defence or can any one answer the above questions without contradicting with the scriptures?

Pranams

Vedic lifestyle is not inactive or nihilistic, basic study of Sri Bhagavad Gita is worth while.

Firstly we have Ayurveda which is the direct manifested teachings of Sri Danvantari. It is part of many yoga systems to maintain good health for sadhana practices.

The study of Sri Bhagavad Gita Chapter 14 is a worthy study to take guidance and apply sattvic living, rajas leads to craving which in turn ends in suffering not only of ourselves but other Jivas, and Tamas will lead to inertia and madness

http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/chapter-14.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narayana

Vaishnavas can also see the body as the temple of Lord, so we treat with the utmost respect, if our Jiva is an aspect of Lord Narayana, then that means that all forms of Jiva is an aspect of Lord Narayana, that is why a true Vaishnava will respect all life as sacred.

Also many yogic paths will revere the body as a vast source of potentials, I would say that the Jiva when in correct alignment of its true nature is a scared gift perfectly designed for self realization, the human form of life is not an ordinary thing.

In terms of self defense we can can follow the story of Kuruvas and Pandavas, this should be enough knowledge in their exchanges on the stance of self defense, which is as Sri Krsna says in Gita to uphold Dharma and religious principles. Maharaja Yudhistira was a noble King and the son of Dharmaraja, but was also a warrior.

Ys

Md

Dear all ,
The goal of human life is self realisation . That is attained through sadhana .Sadhana involves many practices at physical as well as mental levels . A healthy body can only do such fruitful sadhana .
It is the most important perquisite for achieving the goal .

Thank you very much MS ji and Saswathy ji.

So every Hindu ( Jiva to be precisely ) has the moral obligation to protect the body to practise Dharma. In other words the Jiva has the moral obligation to protect the Dharma.

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Originally Posted by Anirudh

Thank you very much MS ji and Saswathy ji.

So every Hindu ( Jiva to be precisely ) has the moral obligation to protect the body to practise Dharma. In other words the Jiva has the moral obligation to protect the Dharma.

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Namaste,

Precisely. A car with a poor petrol/mileage ratio is useless, similarly a body that isn't functioning to its optimum is a poor tool for liberation.

The Body/Mind/Soul relationship is particularly important to me. Even when I think of a shower; a true daily shower is one that first cleanses the physical body, then the mind in order to help reveal the soul on a daily basis.

Krishna also states in the Gita that the body which can be the seat of illusion can be transformed into the seat of liberation through Karma Yoga.

All in all we can deduce as everyone else has said the body is very potent, respect of the body is important. It is the attachment, obsession, anxiousness, identification and avidya connected to the purpose of the body that creates discrepancies.

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Originally Posted by IcyCosmic

Namaste,

Precisely. A car with a poor petrol/mileage ratio is useless, similarly a body that isn't functioning to its optimum is a poor tool for liberation.

The Body/Mind/Soul relationship is particularly important to me. Even when I think of a shower; a true daily shower is one that first cleanses the physical body, then the mind in order to help reveal the soul on a daily basis.

Krishna also states in the Gita that the body which can be the seat of illusion can be transformed into the seat of liberation through Karma Yoga.

All in all we can deduce as everyone else has said the body is very potent, respect of the body is important. It is the attachment, obsession, anxiousness, identification and avidya connected to the purpose of the body that creates discrepancies.

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Namaste Icycosmic ji

How do we differentiate steadfastness in executing the responsibility from being anxious or obsessed ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Anirudh

Namaste HDF,

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Anirudh

If body is anyway going to perish, why should we follow healthy lifestyle. Should we pay attention to the need of the body?

What is the role of God in the protection of this body? Who is responsible for the protection of this body?

By protecting this body or addressing the need of body am I not focusing on mortal than on immortals.

If Soul is unaffected and body is not permanent, then what is our philosophical view on self defence or can any one answer the above questions without contradicting with the scriptures?

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Yeah... a good question, lazy people like me who don't appreciate the benefits of physical work would ask why follow healthy lifestyle? all I need is my mind(summation of manas, buddhi, soul and everything in between) to be enlightened! right? I disagree.

Here's an analogy...
You eat food to be alive. You are addressing a need. Let's consider three cases:
case1: Let's see what happens if you don't have food for days: The result of this is starvation and ultimately untimely death. You gain knowledge only if you are alive, so your mind invariably fails it's task or duty of gaining wisdom to liberate itself from the material world. The same goes for not exercising and not defending oneself. It's like you don't want to go(going here is analogous to using railway station) to the railway station(body) because you find it dirty or unhygenic or another different reason, it's simply far, or you just don't like it. But, you forget, you need the railway station(body and senses) to board the train(oppurtunites for knowledge) . Train doesn't come to your doorstep(mind). If you don't use the railway station by not going there, you simply miss the train.
end result of case1: Failure.

case2: Let's see what happens if you indulge your senses in food, you have your tasty treats. This leads to be further sucked into a deeper level of ignorance and ultimately lose your focus and reaching your goal of divinity. The same goes for focusing only on exercise and self defense without making use of philosophy, you never reach your destination. It's like you need to board a train to get to a particular destination, at the train station (station=body and senses) you need the railway station to board the train, trains don't come to your doorstep, at the railway station, you're distracted by a really good book at a stand (like sense indulgence) and stay there and miss the train(oppurtunities for knowledge), even then you don't reach your destination.
end result of case2: Failure.

case3: You don't indulge your senses, you eat food only to the level of fulfilling your needs, not a single grain of extra rice into your belly, and you continue the work of gaining more knowledge without indulging, you reach your goal. The same goes for attending the body, take care of it, but don't indulge. Keep taking care of it, but give more attention to knowledge gained through karma or jnana yoga, by this only you can free yourself. It's like you're there at the railway station waiting for the train and not distracted, you catch the train and reach your final destination.
end result of case3: Success.

The body is like a tool, like a pen to write the notes or for an exam, it is secondary how beautiful or good your pen is, what's more important? how well you write down the notes or how good your answers are in the exam. That doesn't mean you completely ignore the pen. Imagine carrying a leaky pen or a pen that doesn't write properly or doesn't write at all, will you be able to make notes? Will you be able to pass? It's just like that.

The philosophical view is that you need to be like a lotus in a pond, neither getting soaked wet by the surrounding water nor being away from it. I don't find it (taking care or protecting the body) contradicting the scriptures. You only contradict them when you lose focus of your goal of reaching the infinite, not by focusing a little on the body. You lose focus if you don't focus on the immortal truth, you don't lose focus if you focus on the immortal truth and also give a little attention to the body.

You need oil in a lamp for the light to keep burning, you need the body to keep the mind working and reach god. The body is a tool, you need it.

Icycosmic gave a good example.

Differentiating can be done by checking whether you're doing more than necessary. For example, consider this case: I need to do yoga to stay fit and healthy. You shouldn't skip going for work or college for the sake of yoga. Speaking directly without analogies, if what your doing is stopping you from doing your work and duties (karma and dharma), it is an obsession, else it is not. This is how you differentiate obsession from optimal execution.

Hope this answers your question.:)

Hey Aniruddha, I'll show you how to identify obsession right here and now. I'm discussing on Hindu Dharma Forums, when I actually should be studying for a test right now.:eek::doh:Not writing on HDF is bad, writing on HDF is good, writing on HDF when you have a test is bad. So, it's mostly contextual, now don't ask "which contexts?" like you asked "How do we differentiate steadfastness in executing the responsibility from being anxious or obsessed ?" I've given a good analogy of myself:p. Contexts which follow the above condition, quoting myself "
if what your doing is stopping you from doing your work and duties (karma and dharma), it is an obsession, else it is not. This is how you differentiate obsession from optimal execution." is the condition.