As you age, health problems occur. I don't know what your problems are, but I expect you will have them. Suppose you recognize that a problem exists. You will probably ask the question: “What is wrong here?” Most likely your answer is, “I don't know. I must go to a doctor and get tested.” That was my answer for many years. However, the answer, “I don't know” is absurd. Your body must know. The body contains the problem. The statement that you do not know is equivalent to the statement that you are not your body. That makes no sense at all. If you are not your body, then who are you?
Every religion postulates that you are a mortal body and an immortal soul. These religions argue about what to call these parts, but they basically agree that that you have both. Let us assume that, for all their disagreements, the religions are right about this.
Obviously, the body is the mortal part. It is the body that is born; it is the body that dies. Let's say the immortal part is the spirit. I suggest that the body, your mortal part, plays the role of a servant. It works with your spirit to accomplish your goals and to produce and educate your children. Do you doubt that this is true? Consider, for example, the extensive research that shows that the brain – a part of the body - remakes itself, based on the changing needs of the individual. This is consistent with the hypothesis that the body's role is to to do whatever it can to ensure that the spirit overcomes his/her difficulties and achieves his/her goals.
The human, evolving over millions of years, has always lived a precarious existence. We think of early humans as hunters. Perhaps, while this is true, it was more true that the human was “the hunted.” The great problem we faced was how to ensure our survival. The primary role of each woman was to produce children and bring them to reproductive age. Each man was there to support the woman. It is only in very recent history that it has become possible to predict a typical lifetime of more than 50 years. Such a short time in our long history has little impact on how a human works.
Evolution did not design the human body to solve the chronic problems of the elderly. As far as evolution is concerned, 60-year old people don't exist. For one thing, they don't (usually) reproduce. Perhaps you have decided I have a prejudice against the elderly. Perhaps I do. However, I write this at the age of 67. I enjoy this age hugely. I wish for you the happiness I feel being 67 years old. After all these years, I am finally discovering youth! Consider the problem: how to achieve youth at an advanced age. As a physicist, I like good problems. They bring out my creative spark.
The body is the servant, and the spirit is the master. I bet, as the reader, you are accusing me of oversimplifying. Yes! You are right! I want to define this problem in all its gory details. Once I understand it, I can use my own spirit's creativity to go beyond it. Let's analyze this problem to death. Follow this oversimplification to its bitter end. As you age, the body slows down, becomes weaker, and becomes less able to help you. The servant grows weaker. Servants don't ask for help, and masters wouldn't listen if they asked. Eventually the servants die. As far as evolution is concerned, that is fine.
However, our situation is different today. The world is now dominated by humans. How many youthful mistakes can our world survive? There are more humans here now than there have ever been before. More and more, human wisdom (or lack of it) will define our present world. Not only that, our world is changing more and more rapidly. Changes that used to take 500 years, now require only a couple months. Above all else, we now need wisdom. Perhaps healthy survival to an advanced age is the only way we can become wise enough to fulfill the role our world now demands. Above all, we must stay smart as we age.
In other words, evolution designed the body to be a servant. Its job is to respond. It expects to be asked to do whatever is necessary to ensure that the spirit survives to reproduce and achieve its goals. If the body is a servant then there must be a master. The master makes the demands. Let's say that the spirit is the master. In the language of computers, the body is the server,and the spirit is the client. As a software engineer, I am familiar with the client and the server roles.
Perhaps, if we accept that the body normally acts like a servant, we can better understand why it can't blithely explain to the spirit all the medical details of its health issues. For one thing, the body doesn't use words. Only the spirit knows the dictionary. It becomes easier to understand what happens when the spirit asks the question, “What is wrong?” The body, which knows the answer, has no way to express it. Therefore the spirit answers, “I don't know.”
The body, the servant, responds to the master, the spirit The body does not make demands; it is only the servant. Look at this from the computer perspective. I use Google a lot. When I ask Google to search for the word, “penicillin,” I am the client. I define the subject of the search. The server is the computer that answers my question, and spits out the list of references. The server cannot define the subject of the search. Only the client can.
Your body is the server. The server can only respond. It cannot initiate. The server does not define the issue. But when the body contains a problem, how can it tell the spirit about it? It is not designed to do that. Furthermore, the spirit, the client, is not designed to listen. If the body started to demand attention, is your spirit willing to listen to it? Your spirit uses language. The body can't. Your spirit demands understanding and analysis. That makes no sense to the body. It is ruled by its habits.
Perhaps we can create a solution. If the body has a chronic ailment, it may need the analysis and understanding of the spirit to help it return to health. The body can't use computers, but your spirit can. Your body is not creative. It is defined by its habits. Your spirit is creative. With all of the advantages your spirit has, don't you think your spirit could help the body to solve its problem? In other words, this situation demands that the spirit and the body occasionally reverse your usual master / servant relationship. In order to solve the chronic problems of aging, the body must become the master and the spirit must become the servant. The body presents the problem and makes suggestions. Then the creative ability of the spirit becomes the server. The spirit understands and invents novel ways to solve the problem.
People aren't used to this. However, there are many well-known methods that help. Here are a few:
1 If your body communicates with dreams, a good intuitive analysis might interpret its request.
2 Yoga can provide a nonverbal communication that solves problems without words.
3 Many physical activities do this: walking, sports, dancing, music, and creative art, for example.
4 Muscle testing (applied kinesiology) provides a way to determine what the body's reaction to a proposal is. Suppose the spirit suggests a way to improve the situation. How did your body respond to the idea? Test some muscles for strength. If you feel strong, your body approves.
5 Intuitive people can sometimes listen to your body even if you cannot.
6 Energy healing such as Reiki or Pranic Healing provide a way in which the spirit can actively assist in healing the underlying fields the body uses to define its emotions.
7 Meditation can provide the quiet that allows the body to communicate more freely.
In summary, there are many well-known ways people have always used to assist when they need to reverse the usual client / server roles. What works best for me may not be best for you. The experience my wife and I have had shows us that, as we gain experience in these reversed roles, both our spirits and our bodies get better at it. We also develop enough familiarity with the roles to trust we are right. Besides, we get stronger. Even our friends will admit that. They may find my ideas incomprehensible, but they must admit they work.
Our experience has also provided us with novel methods of our own, which we will present in later chapters. Your spirit will create your own methods.
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