How Dogmatic Is the Back-to-the-Body Perspective?

It isn’t. The Back-to-the-Body perspective does not utter dogmas. Every affirmation from the Back-to-the-Body perspective follows the Biblical principle that you can know a tree by its fruits (Matthew Chapter 7). The effort is to stay in contact with reality, to check the “fruits,” to stay humble in face of the immense wisdom contained in body, to learn always, to make adjustments as new insights surface.

Take, for example, the Back-to-the-Body tenet that the three areas comprising the human being (namely, the areas indicated by the metonymies of “stomach,” “brain,” and “heart”) are independent and sovereign.  Here, stomach is associated with will; brain is associated with intellect; and heart is associated with emotion. The tenet of independence and sovereignty means that one area must not, and in fact cannot, interfere with another. One area must not impose itself upon another.

What does the evidence of common sense show us? Common sense tells us that those who attempt to force the will, the intellect, or the emotion of people end up in utter failure. Even if temporarily they may appear to succeed, the backlash surely comes as people regain their freedom. This is true even if a person attempts to do violence to him/herself. It will not work.

For example, a person cannot “will” a change of the laws of logic, as an attempt to impose the will on the intellect. A person cannot use logical arguments to force someone to feel one way or another. Neither can a person use emotions to force someone to act in a certain way or to think in a certain way. There is no denying that these three areas influence one another, but this is done through gentle persuasion rather than force or control.

In fact, it is precisely this kind of understanding that can bring about a solid ground for mental health, in which the three areas are tended to and cared for according to their own needs. Understanding the characteristics of the three sovereign areas of the human being (stomach, brain, and heart) leads to a balanced life of doing (stomach), thinking (brain), and feeling (heart). This is the core of mental health.

The Back-to-the-Body Perspective and Dogmatic Spirituality

The Back-to-the-Body perspective can show a way out of the impasse in which the various types of dogmatic spirituality find themselves today. A spirituality–unless consciously pursuing a balanced approach–will tend to focus in one of the three areas of the human being: the stomach (will), the brain (intellect), and the heart (emotion).

Judaism, for instance, is biased toward the will (or the stomach), in its emphasis on obedience to God’s law. Christianity is biased toward the intellect (the brain), in its emphasis on faith, especially through the doctrine of “Sola Fide,” or justification by faith alone. Islam, in its emphasis on purity of heart and submission to Allah, emphasizes the heart, or the emotional aspect of the human being.

The Back-to-the-Body perspective is an invitation to members of all faiths to root out elements of exclusivism, extremism, and religionism (see my blog for a definition of ‘religionism’) in order to focus on balanced spirituality based on the wisdom of the body.

If you are a believer of God–and you believe that God has revealed truths through the sacred texts–you will agree that any truth revealed by God through the narrowness of human language and intellect will pale in comparison to the infinite truth revealed by God in his ultimate creation, which is the human body. The body is the true Holy Book, a fountain of infinite wisdom.

I conclude my blog with a quote from Hyperion and a question:

How I hate, on the other hand, all the barbarians who imagine that they are wise because they no longer have a heart, all the coarse monsters who kill and destroy youthful beauty a thousand times over with their narrow, irrational discipline. (Friedrich Hölderlin. Hyperion. iBooks.)

My question: Who are these hated barbarians and why don’t they have a heart?

Paulo-Juarez Pereira
Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA
June 20, 2014 (During World Cup 2014)