Let's Get Physical!

Week #1 Let's Get Physical with the Fifth Body

It is such a blessing that we are in a physical body. Many of us take it for granted, but it is a real gift on so many different levels. Each of our physical bodies is different and teaches us the lessons we have to learn. It's a vehicle for our spiritual growth and it enables us to do good deeds to uplift humanity. That being said, why do so many of us abuse our physical bodies and ignore them as if they didn't matter?

Just ask anyone who has had a grave illness and has survived, how precious is the human body. Many individuals who have endured physical hardship and pain know the true gift of the human spirit and even more so, the blessing of the physical body.

According to Yogi Bhajan, (the yogic point of view) to get here in this physical form, you have had to have had at least 8.4 million incarnations. Imagine....8.4 million incarnations equals one light year and in order to be a physical body capable of self-realization, you would have had to travel 100,000 light years. That's a long, long time.

So from a purely practical point of view, its a big deal to be here in the physical body. The physical body is the TEMPLE where all the other bodies play out their parts. One of the big jobs of the physical body is the POWER TO SACRIFICE. Another big job is that it give you the POWER TO TEACH, to uplift. It enables you to take esoteric abstract concepts and break them down for others so that they are understood. Having the POWER TO SACRIFICE means that you use this body in this lifetime to work out your incarnation as well as serving those around you. To sacrifice is also to teach because when you sacrifice, you are going outside of yourself to assist others.

Work out this incarnation....what does this mean? Well, here we have to discuss Karma and Dharma...because the gift of the Fifth Body is that you have the strength and discipline to choose Dharma over Karma.

"In Kundalini Yoga we don't worry about the effect, we worry about the cause, because cause has an effect. Effect can never happen without cause; consequences shall never happen without sequence.  If a person can be aware enough to know the trend of the sequences, he can control the consequences".- Yogi Bhajan

Karma is almost a household word yet not everybody knows what it means. The Law of Karma means that every action has a reaction and this is an absolute rule of nature. (It is Newton's third law of motion "Every action has a reaction, equal and opposite"). It does not mean "fate".

The idea is not to perform tasks that have a negative effect or backlash. Everything we do or say is a seed planted for the future. Sometimes we inherit the karmic energy of the past and we have to work it out in our incarnation so we can be liberated. If we are slaves to the ego attachments to objects, feelings, and thoughts, then we are biased toward certain behavior. We aim to balance these tendencies through the practice of Kundalini Yoga and the karmas are the conditions required in order to complete these tendencies.

Dharma is the path of life ABOVE the wheel of karma. It is a life aligned with our souls and destiny. It is a life of action without reaction because all actions are aimed toward the Infinate. If Karma is having a balance that you owe, Dharma is having the account cleared. WHEN YOU LIVE A DHARMIC LIFE, YOU ARE POSITIVE AND GRACEFUL AND YOU UPLIFT ALL THOSE AROUND YOU.

Your physical body can teach you a lot. If you experience an emotional stress, maybe you're the kind of person who tightens up your neck. And every time you have a similar emotional stress, even if its just a "hint" of the issue, your neck does the same thing. Your body is signaling you to pay attention to the source of the emotional pain so that you can resolve those issues. Your body is what it is today because it's a representation of all that you are; all your experiences and everything stored in your muscles and nervous system. What you did in the past not only has shaped who you are now but it informs where you are going in the future.

If you find that you are greedy, angry, jealous, competitive, or ungrateful or that you have trouble expressing yourself verbally, then balancing the physical body is your key to happiness and free expression. 

If you want to create a healthy environment in which your spirit can dwell, then working on the physical body can give you an advantage. If you want to serve humanity, teach and uplift others, then developing the FIFTH BODY will give you the strength and endurance to SACRIFICE and to mentor others.

Sat Nam!