Health, Longevity and Suicide
Previously I had typed a rambling tale about the miracle of consciousness which discussed how consciousness can not be created (if a collection of atoms is not already aware, there is nothing that can be added or reconfigured to add awareness). However, there is the second greatest miracle I know of which is the placebo effect, or, to be more precise, the ability of our thoughts and expectations to make measurable physical changes in our bodies. If you think about it, it is really absurd to imagine that for almost any measurable property of your body from calcium retention to blood levels of numerous components, your expectation of change can change those properties. From the point of view of evolution, that is absurd. Why would their be a physical mechanism to adjust all of those properties based on your expectations? Evolution would suggest that those values should always be optimal with no need for non-optimal adjustments based on your expectations. However, for almost every scientific human study there is a control group to measure the placebo effect and in almost every case there is a measurable placebo effect. For me, this is convincing evidence of the power of consciousness to effect our environment and, in particular, our body. Of course the fact that my thoughts can impact my body at all is amazing; my conscious decision to raise my arm results in numerous muscles working together in close harmony to produce a smooth movement. Just how are my thoughts translated into physical changes at all? It seems to me, that I ask my body to do something (commonly make a movement or series of movements as in speaking) and it does. I imagine that my consciousness asks the consciousness of the different cells of my body to do what they can to make the changes I want and they in turn ask the consciousness of the various atoms / sub-atomic particles to make the changes required to get the desired effect (as they are the only thing that is fundamentally unpredictable and so has the ability to change the physical world based on consciousness).Health
To me, the general state of our bodies (our health so to speak) is equally dependent on the rules and consciousness. Science is ideally suited for finding the rules, things which reliably and predictably change in our environment. The law of gravity is a good example of a rule which we rely on heavily in making choices. Indeed, life would be pretty awful if there weren't any rules. It is the somewhat predictable nature of the world that makes choices meaningful and we depend on them in countless ways. Of course, if everything were controlled by the rules, life would also be pretty awful as there wouldn't be any choices at all. Everything would simply be dictated by the initial conditions when the universe was created; everything after that would be pre-determined by those conditions. Fortunately we live in a universe which has a wonderful balance of that which predictable (driven by rules) and that which is unpredictable. My own conclusion is that that which is unpredictable is under the influence of consciousness. Of course for me, consciousness in its more universal form is the same as God. While we have made great progress at understanding the rules of the universe through science to improve our lives, it seems that in the West very little has been done to harness the power of consciousness. Of course, with Western thinking it is easy to benefit from the results of science, but the benefits of consciousness (in our health for example) are much more nebulous. The problem is that consciousness is intrinsically more unpredictable and can lead to harm as well as benefit if not used properly and with care. It is well understood that negative expectations can easily lead to all the symptoms of most any disease or ailment (as in hypochondria as well as, in my opinion, many of the allergic reactions we are seeing in the developed world). Indeed, it is my belief that the observed placebo effect is only a fraction of the impact consciousness can have on our health. It seems that yogis are the main group who has really focussed on developing and harnessing the power of consciousness (using meditation as a means of focussing our minds and developing our power of consciousness). Indeed yogis have demonstrated a phenomenal ability to control their bodies by intentionally making one side of their hand more than 10 degrees warmer than the other and then inverting them. They can even stop their own hearts for over 15 seconds.1 Of course to me these seem mere parlor tricks (they don't really serve any normal useful purpose), but they do show we have the potential of vastly more control over countless aspects of our body than most people imagine. My own estimate is that our health is equally dependent on the rules (such things as genetics, diet, exercise, and our exposure to our environment) and consciousness. However, when considering the full power of consciousness it is important to first focus on controlling our state of mind, reducing the more negative emotions such as anger, fear, shame, and so on. To rely on the power of consciousness without first learning to maintain some control over our thoughts and feelings can be a little like playing Russian roulette as consciousness can harm our bodies just as surely as it can cure us and it is important to insure we have a positive attitude before trying to direct the full potential of consciousness. As we start the process of getting control of our thoughts and feelings, it would also be good to start caring for our bodies based on the rules of science, e.g. improved diet2, exercise, rest, and so on. A happy and healthy body can be a support in our spiritual practices. The next step of utilizing consciousness to improve health is to develop a close and loving relationship with our body. Of course it is well known that our bodies are actually vast and complex communities of many trillions of living cells. I endeavor to appreciate their contributions to my health and do what I can take good care of them. In that sense, when I do what I can to improve my health according to the rules (e.g. diet and exercise) I do it as my duty to the cells of my body, taking good care of them so that they can take good care of me. It becomes a matter of dharma rather than karma. As I develop an attitude of loving appreciation for my body, I can then ask my body to do what I request, being healthy and strong, to lead a life of service. As I connect to my body through consciousness, I develop a relationship of love and respect with all the cells of my body based on our mutual inter dependence, each helping the other perform dharma. It is a spiritual practice which has the advantage of improving my health.Long Life
For me one of the primary focusses of using consciousness for good health is to the lessen the effects of aging. Years ago I had heard numerous stories of Swami Muktananda (or Baba) who lived a relatively long and healthy life, but as the time of his death approached, he knew it and completed and finalized the important matters that were pending. He said his farewells and simply went to sleep not to awaken the next morning. This sounded quite wonderful to me as the slow decline of aging can be most trying and it would be so much better to have the opportunity to complete important matters before my death. While this sort of knowing of one's approaching death seems rather miraculous to me, I believe that I have come to have a better understanding of how it really works. Developing a close and loving relationship with the cells of my body certainly entails learning to listen to my body. I don't just ignore the various pains and discomfort that I sometimes feel, but instead seek to develop compassion for the cells of my body and an appreciation for the challenges they face. I have found that as I get older there are times when the cells of my body seem to get tired, a feeling that it is harder to continue with the tasks that have been routine. My response to that feeling is to ask the cells of my body to keep doing their duty for another thirty years or so and then they can rest. The period is not really definite, but is really just a estimate of when the 'tired' feelings are expected to exceed my desire to perform the tasks I am happily engaged with (ideally my dharma and a life of service). As my cells get increasingly more 'tired' and it becomes more difficult to get them to continue with their dharma, then I will have to balance my own dharma and finalize those tasks which are most pressing and let go of those which I can't complete. It will finally get down to me asking the cells of my body to just keep going for one or two more decades / years / months / weeks / days. I will wrap up what I can on that last day and then when I go to sleep that night, instead of asking the cells of my body to keep going for another day I will instead tell them that all is completed and that they are now entitled to a well deserved rest. I imagine that if I have developed and maintained a close relationship with the cells of my body, I will know how tired they are and when I stop asking them to continue but encourage them to take a well deserved rest, then I will simply pass away with all the organs of my body just stopping. That is how I imagine the dynamics of an ideal death.Suicide
My primary experience with suicide was when my father commit suicide. I was 29 and he was almost 62. He shot himself in the forehead. While my brother and uncle were angry with my father, I was sad. My father was not in particularly poor health and while the early signs of aging were present, he was far from incompetent. However, he had a huge fear of becoming helpless and dependent on those around him. For me, it was an issue of his own pride (and false pride at that). He had always defined himself in terms of what he could do and he was always the best (at making aircraft parts at work for example) and while he was still very good, he knew that he was losing his edge and it would only get worse, never better. To me, my father had great value irrespective of his ability to make and do things. However, he could not see that. That experience helped me correct my own values (as I tend to pride in my work and such), noting that it is relationships which make life worth living and all people have value not dependent on what they can do. I also have a friend whose mother was suffering from a debilitating disease which was worsening with only a year to live according to her doctor's estimate. Her doctor mentioned that if a person stopped eating and drinking that within a week they would die. To my friend's consternation, his mom chose to stop drinking, completed DNR (do not resuscitate) forms, and finalized her affairs. Within a week she was unconscious and her health care providers chose to follow the directions of herself and her family and they let her die. While I disagreed with my father's decision, I found that I could easily accept the deicision of my friend's mother. Why is that? One difference is a commision (shooting oneself) versus an omission (simply not drinking) but that is really a subtle difference, not a fundamental moral distinction. What makes suicide wrong in the first place? Further, if I am actually able to choose the time of my death as discussed above, wouldn't that be another form of suicide albeit through omission as I simply stop asking my body to continue living. Of course almost all religions disapprove of suicide, but what makes it so wrong? I think it is because, for one thing, it is a betrayal of the trust which the cells of your body have placed in you. If you commit suicide you are giving them all an untimely death and that is not a kind and loving thing to do. Further, there is the total waste of a life. I believe that we are given a life so that we can face our challenges and learn and grow as we become stronger, develop good habits of thought, more disciplined. However, if you commit suicide you are not facing the challenges which you need to face. It is my expectation that after any death (and that certainly includes a suicide) we first go into an extended dream state where we get to experience the consequences of the choices we made in our previous life. If we lived a dharmic life, treating others kindly, as an extension of our self, then we will have very sweet dreams where we experience the consequences of people treating each other well with love and respect for all. If however we have treated people poorly, taking advantage of them and basing our lives on the illusion that we are separate from those around us, then we will have unpleasant dreams full of the consequences of people taking advantage of each other and the resulting fear, anger, shame, etc. that results. So, the waste of suicide is that the challenges we are running from will simply follow us into our dreams and then, certainly, into our next life (as we still don't have discipline or strength that got us into the pickle in the first place). Running from problems via suicide is ineffective as they follow us into the next life and wasteful as we could have progressed onto better sweeter lives by facing our challenges and developing our spiritual discipline. In that light, the form of suicide with a terminal illness and simply stopping drinking is still a little wrong, but to a much lesser degree. It is much less of a betrayal of the cells of your body as the illness was terminal and they didn't have that long to live and it wouldn't be a very pleasant time for them either. That said, the remaining time could have (and perhaps should have) been spent on developing new skills and insights; learning to be loving to those around us; coming to terms with our own false pride; and letting those around us help us even if it is hard, all the while facing the pain and other challenges that our illness and conditions present. That would be a wonderful use of the time remaining with a terminal illness. Of course, that still leaves me with the question of whether choosing to let my body die by stopping asking it to live is wrong, yet another form of suicide? The great scriptures all say that we should learn to accept that which comes to us naturally and let go of that which leaves us naturally. It is not that we need to avoid material wealth and comfort, but rather that our first goal should be to do that which is right, being the kind of person that we want to be. If that brings us material wealth, that is fine. If not, that is fine, too. Applying this principle to life itself, we should neither cling to life nor seek our early demise. So an advanced practitioner who can really sense when the cells of his body are ready to die, balancing the needs of his dharma with the abilities of his body to continue can rightly know and to a certain degree choose the time of his death; neither hanging on to life nor seeking an early demise. To the degree that we are able to correctly determine when our death is appropriate, then it is a wonderful (though difficult) example of dharma or right action. Click here to see the next rambling tale. __________________________________1 Dr. Elmer Green of the Menninger Foundation made a series of these studies, some of which are documented at http://www.neilslade.com/Papers/Rama.html.
2 In trying to be kind to our bodies according to the rules of science, it is important to rely on the rules of science versus the hysterical pseudo-science which is becoming common today as discussed previously. Science has clearly shown that lead, asbestos, and smoking is bad for our health and should be avoided. Science has not been able to demonstrate conclusive harm from powerlines, cell phone usage, or silicone breast implants (though I think breast implants of any form are generally superfluous and not worth the harm of surgery). Until science can demonstrate conclusively that things are harmful it is probably better to focus on the known harmful things rather than worrying about things whose harm is at best negligible. It is better to stop smoking, fasten our seat belt, and remain alert when driving rather worrying about things which have not been shown to have reliable and measurable harm (i.e. don't harm according to the rules of science). A pet peeve of mine is that science has not identified any quantifiable advantage of 'organic' foods. If one looks at all the costs in a careful and consistent fashion, 'organic' and locally grown foods can have a far greater footprint than their cheaper counterparts; indeed, cost is often a surprisingly accurate measure of the 'footprint' of an item. By allowing hysteria and other irrational fears to guide our actions, we are allowing the negative effects of consciousness to harm us. Until we are able to control our thoughts and feelings to insure that consciousness is moving us in a positive direction, it is better to be guided by science (e.g. the F.D.A.) rather than the popular non-traditional practitioners.
This page was last updated on May 31, 2010