Unite 2

Q.1 'Human being is co-existence of the Self and the Body'

The human being is the co-existence of 'I' and the body, and there is exchange of
information between the two, i.e. 'I' and body exist together and are related. There
is a flow of information from 'I' to the body and from body to the 'I'. We can make
this distinction between the self and the body in three ways in terms of the needs,
activities and the types of these two entities. All the needs of I, say respect, trust,
etc., can be called as Happiness (such), while the needs of body are physical
facilities (suvidha) like food. The two things are qualitatively different. There is
no relevance of quantity for the needs of I as it is qualitative, while the needs of
body are quantitative, and they are limited in quantity. The activities of 'I' are
activities like, desire, thinking, selection, while the activities of body are activities
like eating, breathing etc. The mode of interaction of 'I' includes knowing,
assuming, recognizing and fulfilment. The fulfilment depends on recognition
depends on assumptions and assumptions depends on knowing or not knowing
(beliefs). If assuming is based on knowledge, then recognition will be correct and
fulfilment will be correct. If assuming is not based on knowledge, then things
may go wrong. The mode of interaction of body is only recognizing and fulfilling.
Self is a conscious entity and the body is a material entity, or physic-chemical in
nature. To conclude we can say that the human being can be understood in terms
of a co-existence of two entirely distinct entities, namely sentient 'I' and material
body. Their needs and activities are quite different and have to be understood
accordingly. But these two constituents of human being are to act in close synergy
with each other.
Q.2 Needs of self and body:
The human being is the co-existence of 'I' and the body, and there is exchangeof
information between the two. We can make this distinction between the self and
the body in terms of the needs as shown in the table below:
1. Needs: The needs of the body like food for nourishment clothes for
protection, and instruments to ensure right utilization can be categorized as
being 'physical' in nature, or also called 'physical facilities' (suvidha)
whereas the need of I is essentially to live in a state of continuous happiness
(sukh). The needs of the body are physical in nature, whereas the needs of
the self ('I') are not physical in nature -like trust, respect, happiness etc.
2. In time, needs are...The needs of 'I' are continuous in time, unlike the need
of the body, which is temporary in time. We want happiness continuously.
We also want the feeling of respect continuously and so also acceptance in
relationship. If we talk about food, clothing, shelter, or instruments, these
are needed only for some amount of time, or we can say that the need for
physical facilities of the body is temporary in time- it is not continuous.
3. In quality, needs are: Physical facilities are needed for the body in a
limited quantity. When we try and exceed these limits, it becomes
troublesome for us after some time. Let's take the example of eating. As far
as, physical facilities (say rasgulla) go, they are necessary in the beginning,
but if we keep consuming, it becomes intolerable with the passage of time.
This applies to every physical facility. We can only think of having
unlimited physical facilities, but if we try and consume, or have too much
of physical facilities, it only ends up becoming a problem for us. Whereas
the needs of 'I' are qualitative (they are not quantifiable), but we also want
them continuously. Our feelings are qualitative. Either they are or they are
not. Ex. Happiness is qualitative. Either we are feeling happy or we are not.
Also if a feeling is not naturally acceptable; we do not want it even for a
single moment. If acceptable, we want it continuously.
4. Needs are fulfilled by: The need of the self ('I'), for happiness (sukh) is
ensured by right understanding and right feelings, while the need of the
body, for physical facilities (suvidha), is ensured by appropriate physico-
chemical things.
Q.3 Body as instrument and "I am the seer, doer and enjoyer:
Ans: There is a relation between the self and body that body act as an instrument
of self. Whatever self thinks body performs it physically. Body does not decide
itself. We can verify this by the following discussion.
I am the seer: When we are reading a book or listening, when someone is
explaining something to us, when we are watching a scenery or when we are
thinking -we are engaged in the activities of 'seeing' or understanding. Now when
we see some nice scenery we say 'I am seeing' that means our self 'I' see via the
eyes, the eyes don't see, they are just instruments, that unable me to see something
outside. Different images are formed in the eyes every time, but it is I who is able
to relate it to the meaning of that image every time. Similarly, I can see inside 'in
me' also -without the eyes. For example: I can see that I am getting angry. In this
case I understand or know or am aware that I am getting angry. When I see outside
the body works as an instrument.
I am the doer: once I have seen/ understood something, I am the one who decides
what to do or not to do. I am the doer. For example, when I see the scenery. I am
the one who decide to take a picture of the scenery. I use my hands to pick camera
and click a picture. The hands in the body are thus used as an instrument. In this
way I work with my hands and legs.
I am the enjoyer: I saw the scenery and I took the picture. I am the seer and doer
so far. When I see the picture, I like it. I am the one that enjoys it. Thus there is a
continuity of being the seer, doer and enjoyer. Similarly when I eat, I am the one
that gets the taste -from the tongue.
Q.4 Characteristics and activity of ‘I and harmony in I:
Understanding the Activities in the Self and the Activities in the Body Having
discussed the needs of the Self and the Body, we can now explore the activities
in the Self and the Body. This gives us further insight into the difference in the
nature of the Self (I) from that of the Body. Let us revisit the table we initially
started with. We have already explored the needs of the ‘I’ and Body, we will now
explore into the activities in the I and Body (shown in larger size font, and shaded
in the table below).
Desiring, Thinking… in ‘I’ and Breathing, heart beats… in Body: Let us look at
some of our common daily activities and see how we understand them in the
context of the Self (or ‘)’ and the Body. This will help us understand and discern
the Body from (our) Self or ‘I’. If we look at the variety of activities that we are
engaged in commonly - we see that we can put them in three categories: •
Activities that are going on in the Self • Activities that are going on in the Body •
Activities involving both the Self and the Body Let us write our proposal about
the ‘I’ and Body again, so we may refer to it:
In order to understand the distinction in the activities in ‘I’ and those in the Body,
let us write down all our activities. For better clarity, we have categorized them
as
1) Activities going on in the Self (‘I’);
2) Activities involving both ‘I’ and Body, and
3) Activities going on in the Body.
1) Activities that are going on in the Self (‘I’) All of us think. This is something
each one of us can verify. We also imagine, and this is very evident from the
following example: You are sitting in the classroom, and there is a lecture going
on. As you listen, you hear something and are suddenly reminded of an incident
that took place years ago. Your attention is drawn to that incident, and you start
thinking about it, and spend a few minutes there. After sometime, your attention
shifts back into the classroom and the teacher is standing at your desk, and asks
“Where were you?” – your body is here, but you were not ‘mentally here’. This
happens with many of us – in the classroom, and outside it. We may be sitting at
home, and our mother may be calling us to eat. The words fall on our ears, but
we are so engrossed in reading a book, or in front of the computer, that she has to
repeat herself a couple of times before we respond! What is happening in these
examples? – We are fully engaged in activities in ourselves, in ‘I’. We are so lost
in the thinking, or imagining that we don’t hear the inputs from the Body. If you
now start observing yourself, you will see that most of the time, you are engrossed
in yourself; quite oblivious to what is happening outside. This also usually
happens when we are driving, or riding a bike for example. We may have ridden
for 30 minutes through heavy traffic, but we may have been lost in some thought,
some imagination, some analysis most of the time – with the result that when we
reach our destination, we are surprised that we are already there! These are
activities that take place in ‘I’. Understanding, desiring, analyzing, imagining,
choosing – are activities that take place in the Self (‘I’) These activities are going
on in us all the time, and we are usually unaware of them. If we start paying
attention to them, we can become aware of them. When we don’t pay attention,
we don’t even register that these activities are taking place, with the result that
we are ‘lost’ most of the time, we are absent minded. Just try to keep an account
of this, and you will see how often in a day you are in this state!
2) Activities involving both the Self (‘I’) and the Body: In the many activities
we perform on a daily basis, we will discover a distinction between the Self and
the Body. We saw above that there are some activities that only take place in ‘I’.
There are some activities that we do, in which both ‘I’ and Body are involved.
Take the example of eating. Here, I first decide which food to eat, then make the
choice to take the food inside the body, and then use my hands to carry the food
to the mouth and then use the mouth to chew the food and then swallow it. Thus
eating is an activity which involves both the Self (and ‘I’), where the choice is
being made, and then the Body, with which the activity is carried out. Now, who
do you think is enjoying the tasty food that is being eaten? The enjoyment that
one gets out of eating tasty food – who do you think enjoys it? Me, the Self (‘or
I’) or the Body? The answer is obviously: “I (my Self) am the one who is getting
the taste of the food and enjoying it!” It is I that gets the taste of the food, enjoys
the food.
Similarly, in walking, running, studying, doing my household chores, etc, both ‘I’
and the Body are involved. The decisions, and choices are made in I, and these
are carried out via the Body.
What about listening? When I listen, what is involved, ‘I’ or the Body or both?
think about it for a while… Say, your father asks you to get him a glass of water.
But you are busy solving your maths problem. What happens then? The words
fall on your ears, but you are unable to ‘listen’. The Body has received the words,
but you (‘I’) have not attended to it. So, you do not respond. The participation of
the body in this activity is to receive the words, and your (‘I’’s) participation is to
receive information from the Body, and get the meaning of those words. Thus,
listening involves both- ‘I’ and Body.
Similarly the activities of tasting, seeing or smelling involve both –‘I’ and Body.
To conclude, we can say that whenever there is involvement of the sense organs
in the Body, then ‘I’ is also involved. You can now notice that tasting, listening,
smelling, seeing – that use the bodies five sense organs also have an involvement
of ‘I’. It is ‘I’ that receives information from the sense inputs, and provides
direction to the five sense organs in the Body.
Thus, it’s all about paying attention! As we pay attention to our daily activities
with the distinction of I’’ and Body in mind, it becomes possible to distinguish
that many of these activities like seeing, walking, smelling listening, etc involve
both I and the Body.
3) Activities that are going on in the Body: The Body is a set of 'self-organised
activities' that are occurring with my (‘I’’s) consent but without my (‘I’’s) active
participation. These are functions like breathing, various organ functions,
digestion, etc and we will call this category of functions as “bodily functions' or
simply the activity of the 'Body'. An activity like breathing happens by itself and
there is no active participation of 'I' in the performance of the activity. However,
this breathing continues with my consent. I.e. I can choose to stop breathing when
I want to, but do not have to pay any special attention to keep breathing. Each one
of us can easily verify this – all we have to do is start paying attention to it!
Knowing, Assuming, Recognizing & Fulfilling in ‘I’ and Recognizing &
Fulfilling in Body:
In the previous section, we saw that the activities in ‘I’ and those in the Body can
be clearly distinguished. We will now look at the activities in ‘I’ and Body from
a different perspective. Activities of ‘Recognizing and Fulfilling’ In the Body: We
saw that breathing, heart beats, digestion, etc were activities in the body. The
activities of the Body can also be understood as ‘recognition and fulfilment’.
‘Recognition’ means that the Body has a definite relation with physical facilities,
and the relation is fulfilled in the interaction of the Body with the facility.
Let us take an example to understand this: When you are thirsty and drink water,
the body absorbs the water to the extent needed and uses for the nourishment of
the various organs. We see here that the water has a definite relation with the
Body. We thus say that the Body ‘recognises’ its relation with water, and ‘fulfils’
it. As a result, the need of the Body in terms of water is fulfilled. We are using the
terms recognition and fulfilment in this sense here.
Now, suppose somebody takes in petrol in place of water. Will the Body respond
in the same way? Definitely not! Since it has a different relation with petrol, the
recognition & fulfilment of the Body with petrol is different.
Now, suppose somebody takes in petrol in place of water. Will the Body respond
in the same way? Definitely not! Since it has a different relation with petrol, the
recognition & fulfilment of the Body with petrol is different.
We can also see that there this process of ‘recognition’ and ‘fulfilment’ exists
between the various organs in the body besides between various physical facilities
(like water, food, etc) and the body. So, we can say that the ‘heart recognizes its
relation with the lungs and fulfils it’, ‘the hands recognize their relation with the
rest of the body and fulfil it’, ‘the lungs recognize their relation with air and fulfil
it’; and so on.
The activities in the body are thus also called as ‘recognizing & fulfilling’
activities. The fulfilment depends on the recognition. In the example of water and
petrol, the recognition of the body in each case was different, and hence the
fulfilment was also different. These activities of the Body of ‘recognition and
fulfilment’ are definite, hence, the response of the Body to a given thing is
definite.
Activities of ‘Knowing, Assuming, Recognizing & Fulfilling’ in the Self (‘I’)
When it comes to the Self (I); we see that in addition to ‘recognizing and
fulfilling’, there is also the activity of ‘assuming’ and that of ‘knowing’. Let us
take an example to understand the activity of ‘assuming’ first.
Thus, we can see that in the case of ‘I’, the recognizing and fulfilling changes
based on the assumption. There is no such faculty of ‘assuming’ in the Body.
Irrespective of whether a doctor or a person wanting to do harm is pricking the
needle, if the needle is sharper than the body, it will still pierce the body
(recognition and fulfilment of the body is always definite)– however, as the
assumption in I changes, the recognition and fulfilment in ‘I’ changes – either I
will assist, or resist. This is a crucial distinction in the activities in ‘I’ and in the
Body.
• In the Body, recognizing & fulfilling are definite; there is no ‘assuming’
• In ‘I’, recognizing and fulfilling depends on assuming. As the assumption
changes, recognizing and fulfilling changes.
Let us now write down what we have learnt so far about the activities in ‘I’:
• We assume – we all make assumptions. We say “I assumed this was true, but I
was wrong”. Example: if I see a snake and assume it to be a rope, I shall respond
differently to it (recognition and fulfilment), than if I see it to be a snake in the
first place. We call this activity ‘assuming’ or ‘mannana’
• We recognize – we all recognize things today, we recognize a variety of things.
Like, we recognize water, our parents, friends, etc. We call this activity
‘recognizing’ or ‘pehacha-nana’. The recognizing in ‘I’ depends on assuming.
• We fulfil – once we recognize water, we take it, when we recognize a friend, we
greet him/her, when we see a wounded dog, we try and help it. This response that
follows recognition is called the activity of ‘fulfilling’ or nirvaah-karna. The
fulfilling depends on the recognizing.
Q.5 Sanyam and Health:
Sanyam: The feeling of responsibility in the Self (‘I’) for nurturing, protection
and right utilization of the Body. As I come to realize that the Body is my
instrument, and that the Body needs to be given nutrition, protected from the
environment and utilized to work as an efficient and effective tool for the right
purpose, I become responsible to the Body. This sense of responsibility flows
naturally and does not have to be imposed. Thus, there is no feeling of control or
imposition, but a feeling of responsibility that is regulating the way we use our
Body.
When I live with Sanyam, there is harmony among the different parts of the Body
and the Body acts according to me as a useful instrument. Thus, we define
Swasthya as having two elements:
Swasthya (Health) =
1. The Body acts according to ‘I’,
2. There is harmony among the parts of the Body.
So, Swasthya is the condition of the Body where every part of the Body is
performing its expected function. There is harmony within the Body and it is fit
for use by the Self.
On the part of the Body, its being in harmony with ‘I’ is conducive to Swasthya-
its fitness and readiness to serve ‘I’. In fact, the word Swasth literally means being
anchored to the Self, being in close harmony with the Self You will observe that
there is a strong coupling between ‘I’ and the Body. If I am in disharmony, say in
anger or stress or despair, it immediately starts affecting the Body adversely. It is
now well established that there are many diseases of the Body that are caused or
accentuated due to disharmony in ‘I’. These are called psychosomatic diseases,
such as asthma, allergies, migraine, diabetes, hypertension, asthma, heart failure,
etc. On the other hand, when there is a strong disturbance in the Body manifesting
in the form of severe pain, it distracts ‘I’ from its normal functions.
Now, one more thing can to be observed. If there is Sanyam, health can be
ensured. But if Sanyam is not there, a good health can also be lost. So, Sanyam is
vital for the Swasthya. Try to work and include in your future plans. We plan to
earn and save a lot so that we get well treated in a good quality hospital when we
fall sick. But are we equally serious in ensuring Sanyam? We will discuss in detail
about these in the following sections.
What is our state today? Lack of responsibility towards the Body:
1. Lack of responsibility towards the Body
We find that our lifestyles have become very busy and rushed and we are busy
earning unlimited wealth! We have ignored ensuring heath for the body. We have
increasingly started eating at odd hours, eating junk food, and are largely ignorant
about the state of our body. We tend to look with contempt on any kind of physical
work or labour. Instead we spend most of our time in trying to earn money and
then spend on fancy gymnasiums! To add to this, we try to fulfil the continuous
needs of the Self (‘I’), namely happiness, by getting pleasant sensations from the
Body (which as we have seen before is only temporary and may not be conducive
to health). To retain the pleasant experience of sensation, we keep repeating it,
thus, ignoring the fact that we are eating for the nourishment of the Body and not
for happiness of ‘I’. As a result, the Body is abused repeatedly and falls sick. One
can easily see that there are all forms of ailments prevailing and increasing in our
modern society due to our indulgence and addictions.
2. Tendency for Medication when we are unhealthy: Our focus today seems
to be more on “fighting germs in the body” than on helping the body restore
itself to its natural state of harmony. We end up consuming a lot of harmful
substances in the name of medicines. In fact, today we are focusing a lot more
on what to do if we fall ill. We are building hospitals and inventing new
machinery rather than focusing on ensuring heath of the body so that we do
not fall sick or become unhealthy in the first place! It thus becomes important
for each one of us to become aware of our own body and its needs and how
common, simple medication can be used for simple ailments.
3. Polluted air, water, food… We have polluted our environment today and it is
directly or indirectly harming us. There is contamination in the air, water, soil,
plants and we are responsible for it. Our food has become impure. Due to
heavy use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and a lot of pollution, our food
has all kinds of toxic contents in it. The air we breathe in, is polluted by various
chemicals released from industries and vehicles, while our water is also
polluted due to chemical effluents, etc.

Q. 6 Correct appraisal of our physical needs:

Prosperity is the feeling of having more than required physical facilities. Having
discussed about Sanyam and Swasthya, we now understand that physical facilities
are meant only for the nurturing, protection and right utilization of the Body. And
the quantity of physical facilities required to fulfil each need is limited.
Understanding the harmony between the Self and the Body also enables us to
adopt an appropriate lifestyle. And it enables us to assess our physical needs
correctly. As discussed earlier, this is a pre-requisite for moving towards
prosperity. We can see that: Physical Facilities required for

Nurturing, protection & right utilization of Body are-

Food Clothing, Shelter Instruments/Equipments

Required quantity- Limited Limited Limited
It can be seen that required quantity of Physical Facilities for the above purpose
is limited. As already discussed, the feeling of prosperity has two elements-
1. Appropriate assessment of the physical needs with their required limited
quantity, &
2. Ensuring availability/ production of more than required physical facilities.
Thus with the understanding of harmony of ‘I’ with the Body, one can correctly
do the appraisal of the need for physical facilities. One way of appraisal of needs
is given below:
• Find out how much of food you consume everyday, every year. Find out how
much food is consumed in your family everyday, every year. Is this limited, or
unlimited?
• Find out how much place you need to live to ensure good health, i.e. what is the
need for shelter. Is this limited or unlimited?
• Now find out how many clothes you need in a year. Is this limited or unlimited?
With the understanding of the need for physical facilities under the three heads,
you can see the limit for each and evaluate whether you have more than required.
You will see that you already have most of the physical facilities, more than
required.
Thus, when we look at the needs of the body, it becomes clear that the need for
food, clothing and shelter is limited. We have a common misconception today
that our “needs are unlimited”. However, on considering the needs of the body in
order to maintain health, it turns out to be limited. If you look around in nature,
it turns out that in nature, the availability of facilities is more than our needs! As
long as we are looking at the needs of the Body for health, there is enough in
nature already for all of us! Example: There is more wheat grown in the world
than we can eat, more oxygen/air than we can breathe and more water than we
can drink! Its only when we see that the availability is more in nature than the
limited needs of the body and this can easily be fulfilled, there begins to be a
possibility of prosperity.

Q. 7 Program to ensure sanyam and health:

To ensure harmony with the body, we need to take into account the following:
1. Nurturing of the Body: While selecting food for the body, I need to make out
the elements which make a complete food so that it gives required nutrients
and energy to the body. The process of taking food, digesting it and throwing
out the unnecessary part is also important. Thus the following also become a
part of our program:
 Ingestion: The first thing we do after taking the food in the mouth is that we
chew it. There are certain elements in food that get digested only after it is
chewed well. This also helps to simplify the work of the organs further down
in the digestive system.
 Digestion: Once swallowed, the digestion of the food starts. We will not go
into details of digestion here as you might already be aware of it from your
previous lessons in Biology. But on the basis of understanding of the harmony
of the Self with the Body, we can see that the food needs to be eaten only when
we feel hungry. The choice of food has to be such that it is easily digestible
and the food needs to be taken with proper posture (body) and in the right
quantity.
 Excretion: Once the food is taken and the nutrients are absorbed, the
unnecessary or undigested part needs to be thrown out. This is also very
important. If not done properly, it starts to adversely affect the body and causes
multiple problems in the Body.
2. Protection of the Body:
The second issue is the protection of the Body. The clothes and shelter we choose
for protection need to be such that they ensure proper interaction of the body with
the environment. The right amount of exposure of the body to the air, water and
sun is required to ensure its proper functioning. To ensure the heath of the Body,
we need to take care of the following-
i) Ahar-Vihar,
ii) ii) Shram- Vyayam,
iii) iii) Asana-Pranayam and
iv) iv) Aushadhi-Chikitsa.

 Proper upkeep (Vihar) of the Body: When we work, the Body gets tired.
When we take rest, the Body becomes fit to work. But again, there is a limit
to the amount of work and rest we need. We also need to ensure proper
time, posture and ways to work and to rest. We need to provide hygienic
conditions for proper functioning of the Body. These issues are included in
the upkeep of the Body.
 Labour: Labour is another requirement. It means employing the body
physically for production and maintenance of physical facilities. The
labour we do helps each part of the Body to function properly.
 Physical Exercises: You are aware of physical exercises. While doing
labour, some parts of the Body may get stressed much while others may
not get employed to that extent. With exercises, we can employ all the parts
of the Body in the desired way.
 Asan-Pranayam: This is another way to keep the Body function properly.
In Asanas, we give the body proper postures by sitting or lying, and in
Pranayam, we ensure reguation of the breathing.
 Treatment of the body: When the Body gets hurt, or is in disorder by
either misuse or because of the adversities of the environment etc., there is
a natural tendency of the Body to heal and come back to its desired state of
health. We only need to facilitate this process, and not suppress it. Thus,
when unpleasant sensations come from the Body indicating disorder, they
are to be properly interpreted and attended to.

[Link] utilization of the body (Sadupyog): Right utilization of the Body as an

instrument necessitates understanding the purpose for which this instrument is to
be used. Normally we tend to believe that the Body is an instrument for sensory
enjoyment, which is not correct. We also happen to use our Body to exploit other
human beings or rest of the nature which is also not right utilization. It is
important to realize that the human body is an instrument to facilitate right
understanding and its actualization in life. This is an important issue. I need to
ensure that I use my Body for right behaviour and work. When I do so, it has
favourable effects on the Body. On the other hand, if I use it for acting in
opposition with other human beings or nature, like quarrelling, fighting, hitting,
it has adverse effects on the Body. I also need to arrange for equipments/
instruments for right utilization of the body. They increase the efficiency and
capacity of the body.