INTRODUCTION

Whyhavesofewseekersbecomefinders?
On the level of the body, humans are very dose to
animals. All the basic bodily functions — pleasure, pain,
breathing,eating,drinking,defecating, sleeping,the driveto
finda mate andprocreate,and of course birth and death —
wesharewiththeanimals.Alongtimeaftertheirfallfroma
state of grace and oneness into illusion, humans suddenly
wokeup in what seemed to be ananimal body —andthey
found thisverydisturbing. "Don't fool yourself. You are no
morethan ananimal."This seemed to bethe truththat was
staring them inthe face. But it wastoodisturbinga truthto
tolerate.Adam and Eve sawthat they werenaked, andthey
became afraid.Unconsciousdenialoftheiranimalnatureset
in veryquickly.Thethreat thattheymightbetakenover by
powerful instinctual drives and revert back to complete
unconsciousness was indeed a very real one. Shame and
taboosappearedaroundcertainpartsof thebodyandbodily
functions, especially sexuality. The light of their
consciousness was not yet strong enough to make friends
withtheiranimalnature,toallowittobeandevenenjoythat
aspect ofthemselves—letalonetogodeeplyintoittofind
thedivinehiddenwithinit,therealitywithintheillusion.So
they did what they had to do. They began to disassociate
fromtheirbody.Theynowsawthemselvesashavingabody,
ratherthanjustbeingit.
When religions arose, this disassociation became even
more pronounced as the "you are not your body" belief.
CountlesspeopleinEastandWest throughouttheages have
triedtofindGod,salvation,or enlightenment throughdenial
of thebody.Thistooktheform ofdenial ofsensepleasures
and of sexuality in particular, fasting, and other ascetic
practices.Theyeveninflictedpainonthebodyinanattempt
to weaken orpunishitbecausetheyregardedit as sinful.In
Christianity, this usedtobecalledmortificationoftheflesh.
Otherstriedtoescapefromthebodybyenteringtrancestates
or seeking out-of-the-bodyexperiences.Many still do.Even