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The Culture of the Body THERE are, as we know,
three elements in the culture of the body: first, the body must remain healthy;
secondly, it has to become strong; and finally, it must be efficient. First,
the question of health. The body must remain free from disease, which means
that all its organs must function without let or hindrance, as in the heart's
function of the circulation of blood, the lungs in their work of respiration,
the digestive system in its work of assimilation and elimination. Besides, if
there is any defect or shortcoming in any part of the body, it too has to be
remedied; if there is an irregularity or disfunction in the shape or movement
of a particular limb, it has to be rectified, the disparity removed and the functioning
made normal. For this purpose, there are special remedial exercises to serve
the particular ends. No medical prescriptions can have the last say in this
matter, the aid of the physical culturist is also called for. But even medical
men are now prescribing yogic exercises like asana and pranayama
for health purposes. Once the body is in good health, it needs to be made
strong and given fitness and capacity. To this end we have recourse to special
exercises known as gymnastics. The third stage of physical culture consists in
making the body able and efficient; this may be described as the utilisation of
the body's strength and capacity. This is where calisthenics or agility
exercises come in, with their dexterity and beauty of bodily movements. The
major games like football, hockey and cricket may also be brought within this
category.
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this is known to us all. But what I have in view is something different,
something a little deeper. It concerns another phase or aspect of physical
culture. What I mean is that the body must not only be healthy, strong and
efficient, it must also become conscious. Ordinarily, our bodily functionings
and movements take place mostly without our knowledge, as in an unconscious
instrument or machine. The aim of physical exercises should be to render the
body a conscious instrument, through a willed and conscious process. Such
conscious movements of the body not only make the objects of the movements
fruitful in themselves, but also ensure the results in a fuller, more perfect
and speedy manner. The Mother has said that the movement of going up and down
the stairs in the course of our daily work could be made to serve as a fine
exercise if, instead of doing it in an unconscious mechanical way, we could do
it consciously and with full concentration. One must feel and know that the
movement is being performed; the legs too should be aware of the work they are
doing. Performed in this manner, it is a fine exercise for the legs. Now
there are two ways of becoming conscious. To be conscious implies becoming
conscious of one's self. This self can be the "I", that is, there is
not only the "I" who does the work, but there is also the sense that I am doing the work while it
is being done; whatever the nature of the work I remain aware all the time that
it is I who am doing the work. But the "self" that becomes conscious
may also be the individual consciousness of the particular organ or limb that
does the work; it too becomes conscious in the course of the work that is being
done. When, for instance, I run, not only do I remain aware that I am running,
but all parts of the body that are involved in this running become themselves
conscious of their action. That adds greatly to the success of the result. Thus
to make the body conscious by infusing in its organs and limbs the movement of
consciousness and vibrations of light, what the scientist
Page – 281 would describe as
"energising" the body – this is the real aim, the true utility of
physical culture and exercises. But
one need not stop with this; it is necessary to rise another step. The body
must not only become conscious, it must become rightly conscious. My
consciousness, the one that stands behind all my action, is not mine, at least
not exclusively mine; it is a deeper, wider, higher, consciousness. What works
and manifests itself through my personal consciousness is another kind of
consciousness. Thus we find ourselves within the realm of spiritual discipline,
yoga-sadhana, by following the line of physical culture. For,
we must realise that the body can become healthy, strong and efficient with any
kind of true permanence and integrality, only when its self-consciousness can
be changed into the right consciousness. By right consciousness I mean a true
and harmonious consciousness. It can come, in the first place, from the depths
of our inner and inmost being; that is the consciousness of the inner self, the
indwelling inner Being. It may be called the inner consciousness. And secondly,
the right consciousness can come, not from within or at least not primarily
from there but from the environment, from a wider expanse, a universal
wideness extending beyond the limits of the individual ego. This we shall call
the environmental consciousness. The right consciousness may on the other hand
come from above, in the for of a higher consciousness. The "above"
too has many levels or planes. The highest of these is called the Supreme Consciousness.
There may be added an intermediary level of the higher consciousness which we
term in general the Supramental, a consciousness which begins the first step
rising beyond the mind-planes including the Overmind. These
then are the main gradations or steps in the growth of consciousness: (1)
unconsciousness, (2) consciousness, (3) active consciousness, (4) inner
consciousness, (5) environmental consciousness, (6) Supramental consciousness,
(7) Supreme or Transcendental consciousness. These correspond
Page – 282 to the seven layers
of our being, sapta-kosa, the seven worlds or the seven oceans; these
are the seven tongues of the Fire-God, Agni, the seven horses of the Sun-God,
Surya. Any of these planes of consciousness can take charge of the being and
its principal knot, the ego, with attendant consequences. A
common function of all right consciousness is to drench the being in light by
transmitting its light, bring in a purity as a result of which even the body
down to its gross material elements becomes thoroughly washed and purified.
For acquiring health which is the body's first essential need, there is no
better means or a more effective medicine. In
this way, the farther we ascend towards the heights and gain a higher status in
our consciousness, the brighter becomes the light in its purity and whiteness.
Likewise, the deeper we take the plunge within, there too the consciousness
gets more and more profound and intimate and true, full of an intensity and
force. These two movements, one towards the heights and the other into the
depths, in time become simultaneous, become one in the end. The consciousness
thus perfected brings in its turn a perfection of the body as well. There
is another point to be noted. This state of being "conscious" is not
a mere outer remembrance, is not an activity of the discriminating mind, nor
the kind of memory we use in repeating a lesson; it is rather a deep
self-awareness and knowledge. To try to keep this awareness with the help of
the logical mind cannot help, it can only hinder the action. We
usually speak of getting "engrossed" or "immersed" in what
we do; we forget ourselves in our work, and it is such work as is done with
this kind of concentration, that alone can be flawless and perfect. But
concentration does not imply a state of unconsciousness. A clock continues to
give correct time unconsciously, plants and even the lower orders of the animal
world work without knowledge, unconsciously, and in most perfect order. In man
however the infusion of consciousness has brought about a distinction between
the "I"
Page – 283 and the work which the
"I" performs; I want to do my work consciously, hence I look upon my
work and consider it as something apart from me. But it is precisely this that
makes for imperfection in work, hedges it with doubt. When this consciousness
in work is changed to right consciousness, then I can get back the unity or
identity between the worker and the work; in the true consciousness there thus
comes a conscious identity between subject and object. To repeat what I have
already said: When I run, my running, the goal of my running, and myself – these
three become unified in a conscious integral whole; I am aware not only that I
am running, but also that I myself am that running and myself the goal; these
three elements become one in a mutual embrace. There is an experience and
realisation of Brahman which describes the trio of Brahman,
brahmanda and jiva, the Supreme Reality, the
manifested universe and the individual being, as forming a single unity, one
undivided Consciousness strung together in a triple thread. To be one-pointed
like an arrow, sara-vat tanmayo bhavet, does not mean that the
arrow ceases to be and only the target exists – not that, but the arrow and its
target become one, gathered together and unified as in an indivisible
consciousness. I
had to bring in all this in order to explain that to become conscious does not
mean that one becomes mentally conscious, only with the external mind. This
may serve a temporary need, namely, that of removing unconsciousness, but it
is not the true consciousness. To be truly conscious, one has to be conscious
with the inner self, and that implies a union or unification that preserves the
sense of individuality, a new kind of differentiated monism. Anyhow,
for ordinary mortals like us, however far-off this realisation might appear, at
least a first step or two are within everybody's reach. Even a slight advance
on this path gives one astounding results. So
we see how the culture of the body can lead up to the spiritualisation of the
body.
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