bodyThese various examples enable one to understand that the significance
and meaning of blood changes, depending on the context within a par-
ticular religion and can appear to be contradictory. Blood is associated
with both life and death, sacred and profane, pure and impure distinc-
tions. Blood is a dangerous fluid associated with pain, procreation, and
life. It also plays significant roles in rites of passage and sacrifice.Further reading: Bettelheim (1962); De Groot (1969); Eliade (1958); Roux
(1988)BODY
The human body is conceived in a multitude of ways by diverse religious
traditions. Hindus view it as a vehicle for the soul, as illusory, and as
something that must be controlled in order to make spiritual progress,
whereas Buddhists depict it as a trap or a heap of rubbish. The Zen mas-
ter Dōgen refers, however, to the human body as a means of attaining
liberation. Hindu and Buddhist forms of Tantra have envisioned the
human body as a microcosm of a larger macrocosmic reality. Christians
view the body in a variety of ways, from that made in the image of God
to serving as a prison for the soul.
In many religious traditions, the body is an entity always changing
within the flux of time from that of infant, toddler, adolescent, adult, to
old person. This process comes to an end with the death of the body. The
human body also performs certain necessary tasks such as working, run-
ning, walking, eating, sleeping, and performing ritual tasks. Humans
encounter other beings within the world as embodied entities. The human
body is, moreover, associated with polluting activities such as urinating,
defecating, spitting, crying, sexual intercourse, or menstruation, which in
many religions are considered sources of impurity. At its margins, the
body discharges secretions such as urine, feces, semen, menses, saliva,
phlegm, tears, skin, and sweat. These types of impurities involve neces-
sary social precautions to avoid polluting others or of being polluted
oneself. Therefore, the integrity of the human body is constantly under
threat by the continual inflow and outflow of impurities. The human body
is both resilient and fragile because, although it enables us to do creative
physical acts, such as jumping, running, or throwing, it is easily injured,
maimed, or destroyed. In order to protect the body, we clothe it, wash it,
feed it, and give it medicine when ill.