A test to check your level of identification with the body

*** Important Note: This spiritual technique, though enormously beneficial, might be too extreme for certain people due to the hard emotions that might arise during the practice of this technique. It is intended to be used only by advanced seekers. Do not run this test in case you are not sure you are emotionally stable, balanced and strong enough. This test is not recommended for people with mental problems or/and extreme fear of death. In case you feel that the emotions experienced are too strong, stop the test immediately and continue later, in moderate stages ***

Introduction

Spiritual teachers often tell you that you are not the body, you are just identified with it. They urge you to recognize this fact and believe in it. You try so hard and yet this belief remains as a solid barrier, whoever tells you this, whatever trust you have in him/her, you still feel a strong conditioning within you that says "I'm the body, the body is me, I am definitely the body..."

So instead of being stuck in frustration, there is an ancient technique you can use to test the strength of identification with your body and by this also to start weakening the accumulated conditionings that prevent you from breaking this identification.

How to run the test

The following is a simple test you can run occasionally to test your level of identification with the body, that is to say, to what degree you still believe that you are the body.

The more extreme are the emotions you experience during the test, the stronger your identification with the body is. Lack of extreme emotions does not necessarily mean that you are not strongly identified with your body but usually means that these emotions are suppressed deeply in your subconscious and not yet brought up to conscious experience. Try it over and over and they will surface very soon.

The experienced emotions may be very painful and very strong. You may feel tremendous grief and sorrow. The test might be hard emotionally but is worthy and the emotions will soon subside. Don't worry. Try the best you can to stay aloof and just observe and accept whatever emotion arises.

It is extremely important that you run the test not from an intellectual point of view, that is to say, not from your rational mind, but rather from an emotional stand. If you feel the thinker within you is currently more dominant and your emotional "I" is less, consider postponing the test to a later time.

The Test:

    * Sit comfortably. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths with ease and pleasantness. Relax for a few minutes with your eyes closed.

    * Observe this sense of "I" that always accompanies you, this feeling of your identity, this intimate mental entity of yourself that without it, you can not refer to yourself when saying "I am reading", "I am observing", "I am running this test right now", etc. If you cannot locate this sense of "I", ask yourself: who is it that tries right now to locate this sense of "I"?, follow the mental pointer in this question, don't try to answer the question, let the question lead you to this sense of "I" within you. Stay focused on this sense of "I" for a few minutes.

    * Open your eyes and look at your body and feel it from within for a few minutes. It is better to look at areas of your body which are not covered by cloths. Try not to move your eyes from your body, you can scan the body, part by part or look at it in general but try not to stir your look to outside of the body. If your look gets off the body sight, gently return it to the body. Inspect the patterns of your skin, the hair that grows on it, the wrinkles, the spots, the cells.

    * Reflect deeply on the following: you know very well that immediately after you die, this body you are looking at right now, this body you are feeling, this dear body you are sure is you, this body will decay, rot, decompose, cease completely to exist. You know this very well. This is a certain fact, beyond any possible doubt, right? Contemplate on this but not only intellectually, try to realize it from deep inside.

    * Look very good at your body and feel it as it is you, your flesh and blood, and slowly try to imagine this factual certain process after your death in which this you, this body, is decaying, breaking, changing to strange dark color, to unpleasant odors. This very you, not some other object, your body, you, the subject that observes and runs this test right now, the "I" will decompose like a piece of beef forgotten outside the refrigerator for a few hours.

    * Now, look at a certain part of your body, preferably your hand. Read and run again the previous bullet while focusing only on the selected part and not applying it to your whole body as before.

    * Admit, this is such a sorrowing fact, such an outrageous destination. Observe the feelings and the body sensations you feel right now, if you feel.

    * Stop the test. Focus on your breath and relax for a few minutes. Give yourself the time in leisure until you feel you returned to your balance.

How to break this identification with the body?

Another use of this test is to work on decreasing this attachment to the body by simply accepting and observing the emotions that appear while you run this test.

Whatever you observe with acceptance is weakening and so are these emotions. As these emotions subside with the practice, your level of identification with the body will decrease. This identification is directly due to these emotions, due to their field of energy within your subconscious, due to numerous past conditionings they represent.

Shared by enlight on Guru's Feet.Credits to her teacher Riktam Kantu.Republished with permission.