Do you feel sad when an ice cube melts?
Most of us would answer the question with a “NO”.
Consider this situation. Let’s say that you just spent $600 to have a fancy ice sculpture made for your sister’s wedding reception as a surprise. It was a hot day and the group photos after the ceremony took a lot longer than planned. All of you arrived over an hour late to the outside barn reception. Alas, the beautiful sculpture had melted and your sister did not even get to see it.
If I ask the question again, would you be disappointed, sad or upset when the ice melted?
In this context, the answer most likely will be “YES”.
What’s the difference in the two scenarios?
The basic difference is – you are attached in one and in the other you are not (detached). Paying money for the ice sculpture and having certain expectations by connecting it to your sister’s wedding only increases the value and meaning attached to the piece of ice that is going to melt for sure.
There is a link between melting ice and how we view our body and the human form. All forms and bodies will disappear one day, just as ice melts with time. When it comes to ice, however, we understand the mechanics clearly. Ice melts into water and then evaporates to vapor.
Well, you can apply a similar logic to our body. The only requirement is that we be open and accepting of the possibility that our body becomes spirit.
Its like answering the question, “Does ice become vapor or vapor becomes ice?” It can go both ways, can’t it? How much peace you have in your life is based on your perspective. If vapor is your starting point and you spend some time as an ice cube, enjoying the experience and when you turn back into vapor, you really don’t feel bad or sad. On the other hand, if you associate yourself as an ice cube, you will feel sad when you melt.
The most important point when you come from the starting perspective of an ice cube is that even when you are an ice cube, you are nervous, anxious, fearful and worried since you know that you are going to melt, just don’t know when. So, you start fearing and worrying about the temperature, the pressure and other factors that might impact when you are going to melt, all the things you can’t control. This is the recipe for misery.
If we embrace the notion that the spirit and the body are just different manifestations of the same, we can get rid of fear. Fear is the primary emotion of the Ego, and accepting the premise that the body and the spirit are just different states of the same, we can create peace.
Embrace the Circle of Life!
Up Next: The Third Bucket