The Dis-ease of the Body

I picked up a load of manure on Saturday. Farmer Charlie said he has Lyme disease, and thinks he's had it for a few years. This is a man whose very life is physical activity from dawn to dusk.

We are all subject to illness, no matter that we eat organic, grass-fed beef or that we eat only organic vegetables. We  are all subject to dis-ease. Whether it's a cold that hangs on weeks or the aching of the body, the body does become sick.

We are pretty clear that "I have a body, but i am not my body" until illness strikes us with aches, pains, and discomfort. Then we are overwhelmed by sensations and claim them as "mine." "I" hurt, "I" feel awful, "I" want things to be different than they are. "I" want my old self back; "I" want a healthy body, not a sick one.

The body is doing its best to survive. The physical organism responds to its needs. The body is a vehicle.

And we? We are awareness--a non-complaining, simple awareness.

Bugs--on the Plants and in the Body

The houseplants have been cooped up in the house all winter, and, now, with the change of season, they're getting bugs. And i've caught a bug too.

I set the sickest houseplants on the front step to sun themselves, have a rainwater bath, and get some fresh air. Their anti-bio-tic is the bigger bugs that will dine on the little aphids and spider mites. I myself am taking hot baths and bundling up to stay warm in order to balance the cold that's affecting my respiration.

We are of the nature to become ill. Sickness is unavoidable.

I didn't ask to become ill. I don't want to be sick. Yet, here is the body, feeling poorly and fighting off some intruding bug. Sunning myself today, after a hot water bath, will ease the discomfort.