The younger and less thoughtful a person is, the more he believes that the essence of his life consists in his body. The older and wiser he is, the more he understands that the foundation of life, both his own and of the universe, lies in the domain of the spirit.
It is good to remember more often that our true life is not just the external, corporeal life that we live here on earth, but that alongside this life there is another life, the inner life of the soul.
Our visible corporeal life is the same thing as what scaffolding is for the construction of a building. Scaffolding is only necessary while a building is being constructed. When the building is ready, the scaffolding is no longer needed and is taken down. It is same with our corporeal life. It is necessary only for the construction of the edifice of spiritual life, and when this edifice is ready, the body is destroyed.
When we see enormous, tall scaffolding fastened by iron around a building that is only just rising up above its foundation, it seems to us that it is all about the scaffolding. We imagine the same thing when we view the body as the whole of our life.
It is good to remind both yourself and others that just as the purpose of scaffolding is to construct a building, the purpose of the body is to develop our spiritual life.
Look at the sky and the earth and think: all these mountains and rivers, and various forms of life, and works of nature—all this is transient. All this shall pass. The moment you grasp this clearly, enlightenment will come at once, and you will know that which is and does not pass.
— Buddhist saying
We are awestruck by the scale of mountains and celestial bodies, we count millions of cubic feet and pounds in them, and yet all these seemingly great things are nothing compared to that which knows about it all. The most powerful thing in the world is invisible, inaudible and impalpable.
Remember that it is not you but your body that is mortal, that what is alive is not your body but the soul within it. It is not your body that forces your soul to understand your life and the life of the world, but the soul that dwells within you, which animates, feels, remembers, anticipates, controls and directs your body and your actions. And, as there is an invisible force that controls your body, there must likewise be an invisible force that directs the universe.
— After Cicero
It is only by freeing himself from the deception of feelings, which consider the corporeal world to be real and important, that a human being can understand and fulfill his inner purpose.
