You will never get out of this world alive
Published: Mon, 12/03/12
Who is my enemy? Who is my friend? Does the warrior fight his
enemies and rely on his friends? Or does he realise that his only
real enemy is his own fear of death. If we are afraid of death
then we look to destroy our enemies in the hope that this means
they will not kill us. Once we know that those who we believed
would harm us are destroyed then we no longer need fear death. I
am sure you are already aware of the weakness of this argument.
The biggest problem with taking any action to remove the danger of
death is that such an action is completely futile, none of us are
going to get out of this world alive. Even if deep space travel
does become a reality within the lifetime of some of us it will
just mean that you are going to die far from home instead.
So do I have the Monday morning blues and I am starting the week
with a message of despair? Not at all, this is more a reminder
that we have a process of life and death going on within us every
day. I was going to write 'inner struggle' or
'internal battle' but that would be falling into the trap
of seeing threat when there is really none. I am referring to the
bacteria in our own bodies. If your immune system lets you down
then some of these bacteria will make you ill and one day probably
kill you. They will also decompose your body and return the
physical part of you to the ecosystem (depending upon how you are
buried of course). You may see that as the 'bad news',
but the good news is that the bacteria in your digestive system
make it possible to digest food and that is what gives you health
strength and vitality. When I had pleurisy a couple of years back
I was given two courses of antibiotics in order to destroy the
bacteria which were harming me. I then started losing weight
dramatically because the bacteria in my gut had been destroyed at
the same time. A course of pro-biotics put me right but the doctor
didn't suggest it (I am grateful to my friend Hugh for pointing
me in the right direction there). Modern medicine does often seem
to be more in the business of fighting off death and disease than
embracing life and well-being.
So inside ourselves are millions of micro organisms which are
potentially very dangerous, yet we can't live without them. So
one of the basic teachings of Stav is to eat a daily staple food,
oats being the ideal one for Northern Europeans , but it would be
rice, maize etc elsewhere in the world which feeds your gut
bacteria and keeps them healthy and strong. Then your digestive
system will work well and you will be healthy and strong.
This is good health advice but even more than that is is a
profound lesson in the necessity of overcoming fear and accepting
that we are all connected to the web of life.
I am still developing the details but embracing the web of life is
going to be the theme for the 2013 Stav Camp
http://www.stavcamp.org