Mind and Body
A review of the required literature, Robert Thurman's "Wisdom" (Thurman), Karen Armstrong's "Homo Religiousus" (Armstrong), and Oliver Sacks' "The Mind's Eye: What the Blind See" (Sacks), gives significant insights into how the mind and body must work together to create our lived experience. Though the three authors may initially appear to discuss somewhat different topics, they have vital commonalities. The readings will lead the thoughtful reader to a three-pronged thesis: that mind/body coaction ideally involves knowledge of the genuine "self"; that there is a common experience of "self-delusion"; and that "universality" is of ultimate importance. The "self" is approached uniquely by each author. Thurman's is a Buddhist perspective explores the different concepts of "self" from self-ish to the self-less ideal. While Thurman does not speak specifically about mind/body interaction, his deference to the power of the mind is clear. Armstrong also speaks of the self's importance, though she does so in addressing religion across the board. In Armstrong's viewpoint, the crucial nature of the self and mind are also clear. Sacks specifically speaks of the self's/mind's crucial interaction with the body in his study of sightless subjects and the effects their selfhoods have on their bodies' adaptations to blindness. Self-delusion is also discussed by these three authors. Thurman addresses self-delusion as a necessary result of our "I vs. I" and "I vs. Them" tendencies. Armstrong discusses self-delusion in the human tendency to see our relationship with God as uniquely our own. Sacks' observations of living subjects delves into subjective reality, delusion and its effects on the body. Finally, all three authors uphold the ultimate importance of universality. Thurman stresses the liberation of self-less-ness connecting every human to everyone else in the universe. Armstrong stresses the universality of common religious experience. Finally, Sacks' observations and analysis of his human subjects accentuate the universality of mind/body interactions and adaptations.
Analysis: How the Mind and Body Must Work Together to Create our Lived Experience
Analysis of the Mind/Body coaction invariably involves the "self" and ideally involves knowledge of the true "self." Robert Thurman and Karen Armstrong seem to dwell primarily on the mind while Sacks shows the application of the mind to the body and vice versa. Robert Thurman addresses the crucial discovery of the true self from a Buddhist viewpoint in "Wisdom." Thurman's explanation of Buddhist philosophy, which is distinct and often at odds with Western thinking, believes that discovery of the true self is a beneficial form of selflessness that "does not mean that you are disconnected," but that we are all "still totally interconnected" (Thurman). Thurman goes on to say that this selflessness allows us to exceed the limits of human potential (Thurman). For Thurman, the realization of the true self brings liberation and enormous potential for the mind. Also adopting a religious scrutiny of the self, Karen Armstrong's "Homo Religiousus" explores the commonality of all genuine religions, again relying on the importance of the true self. For Armstrong, the "self" is discovered by "ekstatis," which is "stepping outside the norm" and by "kenosis," which is the emptying of the self (Armstrong). The emptied self that is examined by Armstrong becomes a liberated and potential-rich source of power, as well. It is in Oliver Sacks' work that the power of the mind and its interaction with the body are most clearly seen. Sacks also emphasizes the centrality of the "self" in "The Mind's Eye: What the Blind See." Examining various mind/body adaptations by people blinded at different stages of their lives by different circumstances, Sacks finds that "control is only defined by one's self"(Sacks). Outlining a remarkable variety of adaptations, the bases of which sometimes seem to conflict, Sacks focuses on "the relationship between the mind and the brain, along with the self and experience" finding that all are intimately interconnected and vital to adaptation by the blind. In sum, the true "self" is honored by all three authors as the gravamen of genuine existence, reposing in the mind and ultimately illustrated by Sacks as being capable of initiating, fostering...
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