The Body As Sacred Space

[JustGeorge]

I read a bit the other day on the concept that your body is sacred space. Its a concept I've found intriguing.

Most of us in Western culture have heard the reminder "your body is your temple". I think its a Biblical reference, and many times this statement is used to encourage some kind of physical purity or abstinence, and not to put 'lesser' substances into it(be it drugs, alcohol, or junk food). However, having spent several years as a Wiccan in my younger years, I'm reminded of the line from the Charge of the Goddess that states " all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals". Though trashing one's body is not recommended in Wicca, its not uncommon to find alcohol being used in a sacred setting, and responsible and consensual sexuality is looked on as a blessing to be engaged in, rather than a base instinct to be avoided. Here, we have two different views of the body as sacred space.

In Hindu thought, rather than having the more dual aspect of 'positive and negative', all things are said to contain the three gunas, tamas being the mode of sleep or ignorance, rajas being activity or passion, and sattva being balance and peace. Though you want to aim for sattva primarily, rajas and tamas have their place and are recommended at times. Foods and activities have these qualities, and by taking them in, we bring these qualities into our bodies. Yet another way of experiencing this 'space' we've been given.

With some ascetic practices(in various religions), rather than the body being seen as sacred, its seen as an obstacle, and there are many sense negating practices to hopefully break free from its impulses.

What are your thoughts on the body? A sacred house for a holy spirit, a temporary vehicle to be cared for, or ran through the dirt to hopefully have a little fun before you depart?

 

[Secret Chief]

I voted for a temporary vehicle to be cared for.

 

[exchemist]

I read a bit the other day on the concept that your body is sacred space. Its a concept I've found intriguing.

Most of us in Western culture have heard the reminder "your body is your temple". I think its a Biblical reference, and many times this statement is used to encourage some kind of physical purity or abstinence, and not to put 'lesser' substances into it(be it drugs, alcohol, or junk food). However, having spent several years as a Wiccan in my younger years, I'm reminded of the line from the Charge of the Goddess that states " all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals". Though trashing one's body is not recommended in Wicca, its not uncommon to find alcohol being used in a sacred setting, and responsible and consensual sexuality is looked on as a blessing to be engaged in, rather than a base instinct to be avoided. Here, we have two different views of the body as sacred space.

In Hindu thought, rather than having the more dual aspect of 'positive and negative', all things are said to contain the three gunas, tamas being the mode of sleep or ignorance, rajas being activity or passion, and sattva being balance and peace. Though you want to aim for sattva primarily, rajas and tamas have their place and are recommended at times. Foods and activities have these qualities, and by taking them in, we bring these qualities into our bodies. Yet another way of experiencing this 'space' we've been given.

With some ascetic practices(in various religions), rather than the body being seen as sacred, its seen as an obstacle, and there are many sense negating practices to hopefully break free from its impulses.

What are your thoughts on the body? A sacred house for a holy spirit, a temporary vehicle to be cared for, or ran through the dirt to hopefully have a little fun before you depart?

I've always thought of my body as an enabling machine, that allows me to do things. Naturally it needs some care and maintenance if it is to perform properly and should not be abused or overtaxed or it may break down.

These days it is matter of nursing the ageing machinery and derating it a bit, to avoid damage. Worn bearings, poor compression, embrittled seals and drive belts and rust, here and there. No leaks though, I'm pleased to say.

I've never given the body much thought from a religious perspective. Though I suppose from the foregoing you can see there is a kind of subconsciously assumed Cartesian dualism. When I think about this I am not convinced this dualism is real, but it is an ingrained attitude.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I read a bit the other day on the concept that your body is sacred space. Its a concept I've found intriguing.

Most of us in Western culture have heard the reminder "your body is your temple". I think its a Biblical reference, and many times this statement is used to encourage some kind of physical purity or abstinence, and not to put 'lesser' substances into it(be it drugs, alcohol, or junk food). However, having spent several years as a Wiccan in my younger years, I'm reminded of the line from the Charge of the Goddess that states " all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals". Though trashing one's body is not recommended in Wicca, its not uncommon to find alcohol being used in a sacred setting, and responsible and consensual sexuality is looked on as a blessing to be engaged in, rather than a base instinct to be avoided. Here, we have two different views of the body as sacred space.

In Hindu thought, rather than having the more dual aspect of 'positive and negative', all things are said to contain the three gunas, tamas being the mode of sleep or ignorance, rajas being activity or passion, and sattva being balance and peace. Though you want to aim for sattva primarily, rajas and tamas have their place and are recommended at times. Foods and activities have these qualities, and by taking them in, we bring these qualities into our bodies. Yet another way of experiencing this 'space' we've been given.

With some ascetic practices(in various religions), rather than the body being seen as sacred, its seen as an obstacle, and there are many sense negating practices to hopefully break free from its impulses.

What are your thoughts on the body? A sacred house for a holy spirit, a temporary vehicle to be cared for, or ran through the dirt to hopefully have a little fun before you depart?

I see the body as a living and communicating community within what is essentially, an organic 'mech'.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

This reminds me of a quote from Eduardo Galean:

“The church says: The body is a sin.
Science says: The body is a machine.
Advertising says: The body is a business.
The body says: I am a fiesta.”

For me, my body is sacred, and in that way, being a "fiesta" it is a spiritual celebration of being an experience in a particular pattern of space and time. Even when it suffers, my body is experiencing; it is an expression of the Universe.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

The first question I had on reading the thread topic is, "what, exactly, does 'sacred' mean?"

 

[Apostle John]

I think of the body as a temple for the Holy Spirit. I have noticed the more care you put into it (healthy food and spiritual sustenance) the better you feel mentally. It’s no coincidence seven day adventists are among those that live longer in the flesh. I think they take diet more seriously than other Christian denominations.

 

[Brickjectivity]

What are your thoughts on the body? A sacred house for a holy spirit, a temporary vehicle to be cared for, or ran through the dirt to hopefully have a little fun before you depart?

I can't see it this way. There are a lot of nice things, but I don't think of it as a temple.

Its true that it can be like a temple. I can see that. I think a temple should be:
1. A place to meet people
2. Where you settle disputes permanently.
3. Where you begin long term associations such as business deals, marriages, other unions.
4. Where you have fun, perhaps play games, dance.
5. A place to learn.
6. A place where you are welcome to do nothing at all if you wish.
7. A place which has the power to hold people to their agreements.

 

[The Hammer]

What are your thoughts on the body? A sacred house for a holy spirit, a temporary vehicle to be cared for, or ran through the dirt to hopefully have a little fun before you depart

All of the above? Is that an option.

The body is a temple, so you may as well decorate it.

It's also only our current temporary form, and therefore we need to make sure we take some care of it.

But there is no reason why you can't have a little fun, and run it through the mud a few times.

 

[rational experiences]

A human body owner built a temple.

Did a human manifest a temple out of their body?

No.

Do theists speak correct aware conscious human identification,?

No.

The theist didn't say in my human body ownership I built the temple.

The temple is of God meaning the mass history used to build owns no space within ...as it's body full. A mass.

Not any type of biology living conditions whatsoever. A temple.

Now which temple was first?

Science temples with machine battery powered transmitters were. That communicated to a gold tipped crystal mass in the pyramid for lower beam science projections.

Alchemy philosophers stone science.

What did you temple owner cause? Big huge man world community of liars. India..Mayan..China..America.. Egypt?

New sin..sink holes. Wrapped dead entombed God mass was set alight in earths body came to life in light gases burning then disappeared.

Man's sin.

Humans have biological sex two DNA bodies damaged. Why is my baby born sacrificed?

As man introduced new sin from which vacuum void mother womb took down away. Saved the rest of body earth. Sin..K holes.

Heavens cold mass changed human life attacked.

K was mans old scientific symbol.

He did it as gods science the science temple.

Now liar Satan science of men community is historic. Did you then rebuild a holy temple to heal by bells chants music vibrations the hurt human cell body.

So said now the body is your temple?

As human healers using technology a building was now in a new format?

Yes.

Is it too difficult to think reasonably then?

 

[rocala]

The body is a temple, so you may as well decorate it.

That is a great phrase and one that I will remember.

 

[Hermit Philosopher]

What are your thoughts on the body? A sacred house for a holy spirit, a temporary vehicle to be cared for, or ran through the dirt to hopefully have a little fun before you depart?

I love the way you phrased the question!
Perhaps the answers will depend on what purpose one chooses to have in life?

I think that -like with most worldly things- the key to inner peace and outer harmony (my own premises for being of service to others), is always a balanced stance and approach.

The body is a necessity for physical life and as such -while we live- it requires attentive care and respect. But I do also think of the body as a spiritual obstacle that can be transcended in order to acquire a broader perspective on existence.

My approach has been to seek the right balance between attentively “listening” to the body (which is very wise and often knows what it needs to be able to function properly before we do) and attentively “listening” to the spiritual connection that I have nurtured within myself.

It is not that they stand opposed to each other (one provides me with insight of what is to be done and the other, with the means to do it) but rather that I have struggled to find a good balance in my own concentration of the two.

I think I’d say that I am somewhat ascetic, in that I provide my body with what it requires to function and dedicate both it and the rest of my being to that which I see as my spiritual calling.

Humbly,
Hermit

 

[Viker]

I see the body as sacred and inviolable. The body's flesh, mind and spirit/soul all in one and to be celebrated. I take care of it the best that I can (I quit smoking and reduced all other junk).

 

[Viker]

The first question I had on reading the thread topic is, "what, exactly, does 'sacred' mean?"

Highly regarded or revered, often spiritually/ritualistically, not to be harmed, infringed upon or dishonored.

 

[SalixIncendium]

What are your thoughts on the body? A sacred house for a holy spirit, a temporary vehicle to be cared for, or ran through the dirt to hopefully have a little fun before you depart?

My body is a vehicle of experience. I take care of it much as I do my car. The better I take care of it, the longer it will last me. If I keep it clean, do preventive maintenance, put the right fuel in, and drive defensively, It will last me for many, many years. If I don't wash off the salt, don't change the oil, and don't pay attention to what fuel I put in it, or don't rotate/change tires, it probably won't be dependable or last as long. If I maintain it correctly, but drive "fast and furious," it may not last as long as it would have had I driven defensively, but oh what an awesome ride it will be!

Over the years, I've stepped outside the car briefly from time to time and have seen that there is an entirely different perspective outside of looking at life through the windshield (windscreen for you Europeans). After seeing this, I spend much more time walking than driving.

 

[SalixIncendium]

The first question I had on reading the thread topic is, "what, exactly, does 'sacred' mean?"

Remind me next Christmas to buy you a dictionary.

 

[Viker]

Remind me next Christmas to buy you a dictionary.

And get him a thesaurus.

 

[RestlessSoul]

More Abbey than Temple in my case…

 

[Spiderman]

This is a terrible question, but it has been proven, the soul has weight. When you die, when the Spirit has left the chapel/temple of the body, the body actually loses weight.

I think about the fact that the body is a temple for the spirit, and in the New testament there were people of possessed by legions, many spirits. It reminds me more of a Shinto Honda such as yasukuni shrine, where the only people that enter the room that is closed and reserved for the Kami, ghosts, spirits, are the deceased, the more than two million 400,000 people enshrined on the walls or written is it in the book of souls.

This is the terrible question, but I have always wondered, if someone is trying to stay a virgin for their whole life, like some of the priests and nuns, and that person kills somebody, practices necrophilia, abuses the corpse in a way that would be losing one's virginity if it was alive, but if it doesn't have a soul, it isn't a human being, it is an inanimate object like a robot or blow up doll, you are still a virgin right, if your partner is a robot?

So, if a virgin has a sexual encounter that would be losing their virginity, if their partner's temple had the eternal soul of a homo sapien, would the person who took a vow of perpetual virgin necrophilia, still be a virgin, as long as the soul has exited the temple.

I had a dream there was a convent of virgin nuns, sisters, keeping my corpse from decomposing, like North Koreans do to Kim Jong Ill.

They took the wood of the crosses people carry, turned it into Sawdust, then Venus (Lucifer morningstar), converted it to Stardust.

It works as Viagra for my corpse they demonstrated and claimed in Stardust commercials, but Stardust treats remedies just about everything.

 

[exchemist]

More Abbey than Temple in my case…

View attachment 71805

BINGO! That is Lindisfarne Priory (- and I claim £1000. )

I went there with my son, on our road trip back to Scotland at the end of last summer, having taken in Barnard Castle and Durham Cathedral. I recognised it immediately. We went on to Iona, from where the monks came, sent for by King Oswald of Northumbria, to found it, in the c.7th.