Talk

Goodbye Dualism

It was the first day of class for the 7th grade class. I turned and enquired of my friend "What is your name?". His tone of voice betraying a sneaking suspicion he replied with the accepted "My name is John Doe". My body language conveying agreement I pointed to his hand and asked "Is this your hand?". His face now revealing the same incredulity as his voice, he said "Yes".

My head nodding in agreement my inquiry continued. "If this is your hand and this is your body. Then who are you?". What followed was a sophistry that outlined the fact that the soul inhabited the body. The soul answered to the intangibles such as hate, fear, anger while the body displayed the gaugeable characteristics of weight, height and speed. Thus with out much ado I entered the world of dualism.

Dualism is the de facto assumption of most people today. Most of the world's major religions rely on dualism to entice their followers and to retain their believers' loyalty. The Judaeo-Christian religions promise the sweet rewards of heaven and the harsh punishments of hell to their followers. Even hinduism (in most forms) needs dualism to allow for re-birth. (The atman(soul) is re-born in a cycle till moksha(liberation) is achieved).

Why is dualism so appealing? Because it's simple. In general our physical manifestation is always subject to comparision and derision. Ever notice how its a great compliment to call someone a beautiful person or look for what's inside and that beauty is only skin deep. Since what's inside can't be measured and made to stand in a line up it's preferable to think that the inside is of more significance. Obviously if the physical were a result of the inside I would be a 6'4" towering work of art!

Dualism also allows the priests to guarantee that we would enjoy a wonderful life in the hereafter without the inconveniences of the current world. Which donor to a religious institution would like to learn that the chronic back pain and arthritis will accompany them to their next life. Questions of the form "Will I be young or old in the hereafter" are responded to by saying that those concepts are once again related to the physical world and have no bearing in heaven. However, conveniently we are left with our ability to sense physical pain in case we end up in Hades and have to face the wrath of Satan.

What we fail to realize is that a lof of our so called intangible nature is a result of our physical. We adjust to accomodate our physical world and the two are intertwined in more ways than we would like. We walk differently to counter a mishap to our foot. We communicate differently to accomodate a lisp. The separation of the soul is not a cleave and part operation on a butcher's block.

So what then? Monism? Your body and your soul are intertwined they are one and the same. Go a little further and let Buddhism tell you that there is no self. There is only consciousness (many different kinds of consciousness).