Looking Through the Body

If you see your brother as a body, you have established a condition in which uniting with him becomes impossible. (A Course in Miracles)

When you go by pornographic movies it appears that the bigger the penis of a man, the more turned on the woman will be in the sexual act. And when you go by the locker room chat of guys, the smaller the penis, the less of a man he must be. Yet, based on surveys of female preferences, the findings are all over the place. For the majority of women, a variety of penis sizes are considered pleasurable in the sexual act; it is just that the smaller endowed man has to work a bit harder to make his impact felt, just as the well-endowed man has to be more careful to make the sexual act pleasurable for the woman.

A similar problem statement exists for the female anatomy. A small chested woman may try to hide this fact by wearing loose clothes, just as a woman with big breasts may on occasions get tired that she is often perceived as a sex object and not as a person. And just as for men, some women who are in fact proportionately just right, aspire to be bigger to satisfy the distorted expectations of society. A body is a spiritual learning device, the Course in Miracles states. Spirituality has it that we are souls, not bodies. The body is simply there to relate to others, whether it is for communication or in a physically loving relationship.

The ego aspires to be different than is, and over time the voice in our head becomes so dominating that it affects our vision as well. Do you know that the problem of anorexia is that the affected perceive a bigger body in the mirror than it is actually the case? That's what the ego does, creating trouble where there is none. We are too short, too tall, or not tall enough. We have too much hair, too little hair; we are too fat, or have no six-packs to speak of. The list goes on and on and on. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, so why don't you leave it up to your soul partner to appreciate you just as you are. He may have a more realistic vision of you than you have!  When you observe children you see that they respect each other just as they are. Apparently they can still see with their spiritual eye and the annoying voice in their head hasn't established itself yet.

The question of course is, what can you do when you hear that annoying voice in year head that your body should be somehow differently. Well, what prevents you from getting your dream body? Perhaps it is an invite to eat better or to get more exercise. Perhaps you can spend more attention on your clothes or treat yourself to a nice vacation or a spa. Spirituality is an invite to view the world differently than you have in the past. It is a way of looking with an artist's eye. What have you overlooked in your interactions with others? Are you perhaps hanging out with the wrong friends? Spirituality claims that the people who appreciate you will be ready for you once you are.

If the perspective of the Course in Miracles is right, the thoughts regarding your body or other people's bodies will merely cease along a spiritual path. The body is a communication device, a vision of sorts. There is nothing to think about and nothing to change. Trust that your body is perfect in getting your spiritual message across to your brother. And when you hear that annoying voice in your head that claims otherwise, look right through it.