Baba
Human body: complex machine
Namaskar,
Imagine a situation in which someone is doing something important in their office and they are severely pressed for time. If they suddenly feel hungry or need to go to the toilet then a question arises: Should they stop working and tend to one’s bodily needs or suppress the urge until the work is completed.
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The human body is a biological machine
Baba says that the human body is a sophisticated and complex machine. Many processes are happening simultaneously inside the human body. It is very difficult to comprehend the exact working of the human body due to its sheer complexity. The human body should get adequate support, such as air to breathe, water to drink, and provision to defecate toxic substances out to name a few, for proper functioning.
Body's warnings: keep an eye
The chemistry of the body needs to be maintained and for the same, the demands of the body must be paid heed to. Take the analogy of an indicator of a car which is displaying the warning that the engine has gotten overheated. If the warning is ignored for a long time and one continues driving the car then the engine may fail permanently.
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Ignoring signals can cause disease
The human mind is very powerful. Those who are mostly engaged in intellectual work often ignore their bodily needs, unlike the ones who are mostly involved in physical work. By ignoring the basic needs one puts their body under undue stress. Maybe occasionally ignoring one’s bodily needs may not be so dangerous, but such a habit can lead to serious diseases. Just as a machine becomes dysfunctional if its warning signals are ignored continuously, the human body can also get affected by diseases.
The basic rule of yoga is to perform all one’s daily bodily duties like eating, sleeping, bathing, and defecating at the right time. One should never force oneself to change the schedule for the above daily activities as that can adversely affect their health.
Risk of long-term damage
If one’s body is strong then one may not immediately feel the adverse effects, but internally the body as well as the mind does get affected. For example, if one is trying to hold the pressure to urinate then one part of the mind gets busy exclusively in that activity and one’s concentration gets divided. It is better to relieve such pressure. If one is hungry then, as an effect, one may feel a headache or burning sensation in the stomach which again may affect the proper functioning of one’s mind.
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Recipe for happy life
If one listens to one’s body’s signals then one will be able to live a long and healthy life. Rather than holding normal bodily functions one should make a proper timetable and follow that. Like a train that can run smoothly on rails but if it is not run properly then it can derail. On derailment, the train can get stuck in a field or a ditch. In that case, a powerful crane has to be brought to put the train back on the rail track.
Thus, one should make a routine and follow it strictly. One should not do anything at arbitrary times. The body has its own biological clock, and by duly following it one can live a healthy life and can make progress. Not following the same is an invitation to troubles.
The body is the vehicle for carrying out spiritual sadhana. If the body is healthy only then spiritual progress is possible. After death, the brain disintegrates but the mind remains. An Alzheimer patient’s brain begins degenerating during their lifetime but the mind is still fully functional. For such patients, the mind wants to work but the brain is not capable of helping. There is also a deep relation between mind and the brain.
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Conclusion
If one does not listen to the signals of one’s body then serious diseases can take place, and the mind will also be disturbed.
In Him,
Bhakti
False alarms / wrong justifications
Note: In the context of not ignoring one’s bodily needs, there should not be any misunderstanding about following negative bodily or mental tendencies.
1. Some have malevolent vrttis, e.g. the urge to cause harm to someone. This can be misinterpreted by the person to be an urgent call from within. But malevolence does not qualify as among the natural signals of the body, and must not be heeded.
2. Those who have sexual weakness and feel an urgent demand to satisfy it. The desire for sex is not fundamental in the way the need for food, water, and sleep is. It is not to be included among the natural signals to which one should respond. The reason being that responding to it degenerates the mind and arouses the animal tendency within.
3. Physical addictions such as to cigarettes, alcohol, and other drugs are just that, physical addictions. They must not be given heed to but rather are to be shunned by goading the mind toward positive activities in their place.
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Biological machine
Sadguru Baba says, “Let me explain why the human body is a biological machine and goaded by propensities….There are ten indriyas [organs] – five jiṋánendriyas [sensory organs] and five karmendriyas [motor organs] – and one antahkarańa [internal faculty]. The sensory and motor organs are bahihkarańa [external organs]. Antahkarańa is directly associated with the body. It is one intrinsic portion of the mind itself. It is by dint of this portion that the mind feels the emptiness of the stomach, and thereby hunger. Once the stomach becomes empty, the mind starts searching for food, and this is expressed through the physical actions of the body. So there are two portions – antahkarańa and bahihkarańa. One consists of an intrinsic portion of the mind itself, and the other of the ten organs – five sensory organs and five motor organs.”
“The propensive propulsion comes from antahkarańa. The origin or source of the propulsion is antahkarańa. Antahkarańa is made of the conscious and subconscious portions of the mind – thinking, memory, etc., all belong to antahkarańa. Antahkarańa is doing these things. Now, whenever antahkarańa does something, the physical body is activated accordingly. The body is also transformed accordingly. Thus, this biological machine is goaded by propensive propulsion.” (1)
Reference
1. Yoga Psychology, The Human Body Is a Biological Machine
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