Monday 2 March 2009

Senses and SenseAbility-3: Homeostasis




Remigius de Souza writes:


Homeostasis is The Wisdom of the Body


(Continued from the previous Part 2)


Body houses our senses, perceptions, memory, mind, intellect, intelligence… and soul.

Unfortunately in the modern times, “body” is yet another four-letter word like Self, Soul, Love, Life, Work etc. that are much abused in our fast pace of hedonic lifestyle.

We take our body too much for granted: Mind has become the colonial master that colonises the body like a bonded labour and exploits it without restraint, until it is exhausted, in part or full. Just check our work pattern/s. certainly we decorate it, beautify it; it is rather to satisfy demands of our egoistic mind than to elevate.

We take even our senses for granted. While eating/ drinking, for example, most of the time, we rarely pay attention to the action of eating. We simultaneously are involved with something else: daily news, TV shows, talk over the matters of business or gossip, think over the “urgent” matters on mind, or flatter our taste buds forgetting the need of the body: We at times call it a passion.

It is almost the same situation, more or less according to our passions, with other senses (except perhaps sex impulses: We shall come to that later).

Quite often we ignore or forget, if we know, that body too has intelligence just as we have. At least, we as Indic people have recognised the body-mind connection for a considerable time.

Body, however, continues to work, whether we are awake or asleep, till the end like a “Nishkam” – without desire for fruit – Karma Yogi. And whenever necessary, when something goes wrong with the system, sends us the signal – hunger or starvation for example. But we are too busy with our mental flights, passions or addictions: We tend to ignore it.

A Case of My Ailment of Heart

My own experiences are not very different from what I just mentioned above. However I have also been aware of the “Presence of Body” on several occasions. One of them was my ailment of heart, some fifteen years ago.

I started getting palpitations. In the beginning it remained for a second of two and recurred at interval of a couple of weeks. There was no apparent cause: fear, or worry of any kind. It would appear any time. Later it was for 2-3 minutes at a few days’ interval. I had started taking medicines, including exercises in self-hypnosis under a guidance of psycho-therapy specialist. I stopped the medicines and exercises.
One day the palpitations remained from noon to midnight. That was an opportunity for check up while it was on. With a note from family doctor I met a heart specialist at a neighbourhood hospital.

After the necessary check-up he diagnosed and told me in simple words, that my heart is sound, that it is a case of “electrical short circuit” in the heart, and the present rate of palpitation is at 250 per minute. He added, if the rate increases to 400-450 per minute it would be fatal – an instant death. That was music to my ears.

For me the diagnosis was enough. The specialist, however, did not tell me why it happens. He advised me to get admitted there and then in the ICU for observation and prescribed some medicines. Of course I flatly refused both. He was furious. I returned home, remained on fruit diet, gave rest to my mind and body.

After two days, I left for Delhi to attend a workshop on “People, Law and Environment” organised by Centre for Science and Environment. It was very romantic episode though I report it in brief.

I, then started dialogues with my body, and observations – or call it meditations as I am inside my body – without judging, my likes-dislikes, prejudices etc. leaving the information baggage.

I am aware of the “Presence of Body”, and this awareness is constant like breathing, even during my pet indulgences and petty vices. There has been no palpitation for last fifteen years.

A decade or so after this episode, while reading “The Ages of Gaia” by James Lovelock, I came across the word “Homeostasis”, which now has a meaning.

Links to MINI-TEXT :1. Solemn Celebration and 2. Body Dharma



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© Remigius de Souza, all rights reserved.

4 comments:

  1. तूमच्या "रेमीची मराठी बोली" वर शरीरधर्म नावाची कविता वाचली होती.. तिचा संदर्भ लागला.. या post मध्ये.. आवडले.. विचार आवडला... पण आमचा कूणीतरी हळूच कान पिळल्यागत झालं.. म्हणून हसू येतंय.

    ReplyDelete
  2. हर्षदा,
    जे अनुभवले ते लिहिले. त्याला कोठेतरी केव्हातरी विज्ञानाचा पण आधार मिळाला.

    पण कलाकाराला या गोष्टी अगोदरच माहीत असतात, त्याला त्या शस्त्रज्ञांप्रमाणे वा पंडितांप्रमाणे सिध्ध कराव्या लागत नाहीत. कारण कलाकार संस्लेषण (synthesis) करतो - जोडतो; शास्त्रज्ञ विश्लेषण - विभाजन (analysis) करतो. विज्ञानाची ही विभाजनाची प्रवृत्ति समाजाच्या सर्वच अंगांतून भिनलेली (विषासारखी?) आहे. मनापासून आभारी.

    संवेदानांवर अजून आणखी लिहीतोय. संवेदना तर आम्हा कलावंतांची पूंजी आहे.

    -- रेमी

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  3. खरं आहे.. पण अजूनही या बाबतित, clearance of thought कमी पडतोय माझा..अजून एखाद दोन वर्षांनी थोडी मोठी झाल्यावर परत येऊन वाचेन ..कळेल कदचित व्यवस्थित.. :)

    हर्षदा

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  4. हर्षदा,
    एक सुचवू का?
    खास वेळ काढायची गरज नाही. दिवसभरातील जमेल तेव्हा कोठेही आपल्या शरीराकडे लक्ष पूर्वक ध्यान द्यायचे. हळू हळू शरीराचा मनाशी होणारा संवाद ऐकू(!) येईल. हे सर्व कोणत्याही प्रकारची धडपड न करता.

    तुम्हाला पोहता येते का? नसल्यास कुणाचीही मदत न घेता काही मिनिटातच स्वत:च पोहायला शिकणे शक्य आहे.
    मी शिकलो आणि इतराना शिकवले. या प्रयोगावर कधीतरी लिहिन.

    असेच बिनधास्त लिहित जा. Thanks

    रेमी

    ReplyDelete