Life? What really is it?

Something my husband said the other day set me thinking...

We, as doctors can have an objective view of often distressing issues and can effectively detach our emotions from some situations while maintaining a mental involvement with them. This allows us to avoid DIStress and deal with other's illnesses more objectively.

After more than fifteen years of being a doctor, I have not been able to master the art of detachment. I still cry with a sick child and still feel sorry for a dying patient. I still feel fascinated by the enigma of what really changes in the moment of death.

I have always been fascinated by the question... It is the same chemicals, arranged in the same visible formation and yet in one moment the 'electricity' goes off! The Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, carbon, etc are still there. But the vital force simply... switches off.

Where is the switch?

Where is the source? and where does it go? Does the body change in any way other than losing its ... aaahhh... LIFE?

Interestingly, there was a study done by some scientists to find out if they could identify the entity called LIFE. They found out that the body becomes fourteen to twenty grams lighter in the moment of death! The obvious conclusion was that the soul is something that weighs as much!

It is as difficult to solve the mystery of mind and the brain... The structure that is nearly ninety percent water, looks like a dirty jelly, is protected by our skull, and appears to be the seat of control of all our bodily functions, works through endless, ceaseless electrical activity, the tiny currents drive innumerable chemicals through microchannels- This STRUCTURE is the brain. The thoughts and the activity, the feelings and the consciousness, even the subconsciousness- are the MIND.

The hardware is the body. The software? Life?

Random thoughts, these. The trigger? Left somewhere in the maze of my mind. I might write about it next... Are we infecting the earth?

Mind like water

Pokhara - Phewa Lake, originally uploaded by heartthatbeats.

The martial arts to the uninitiated convey only fights, winning and violence. However, the truth could not be farther!

The driving thought behind karate is to make fight unnecessary.

The art and the execution of t he skill in karate is not in the hands or even the belt that the 'fighter' wears. It is in the mind. In the heart.

When you see smooth, undisturbed, deep waters- you see everything faithfully reflected from the surface. A calm mind likewise sees and reflects all that is within its range. See the lake? See the sky and the trees? And the high mountains? All are contained within the lake as if an integral part of it!

The calm mind accurately forms an image of the opponent. The opponent's movements, force and even psychology are equally faithfully reflected from the waters of a stilled and deepened mind. Time seems to slow down. Analysis of each component of attack is easy and complete even before the attack actually starts.

The response to the well reflected opponent, then is correct, adequate and appropriate.

Neither too little nor too much. Just enough.

Is this not what life requires us to master?

Reflect calmly. Respond adequately.

A mind that is not calm is manifested by a body that is not under control. The body is tightly wound like a spring. It not only leaves open an opportunity to be attacked, it also responds inappropriately to an attack.

Too little or too late.

Just as the water can be calm in a deep ocean as well as catastrophic in its destructive power when in motion, so the mind must simultaneously maintain the opposites. Be capable of reflection and force.

Seen the artistically stupendous movie "Hero"? It illustrates this concept of clarity and slowing down of time repeatedly. And breathtakingly.

Try.

Train to make your mind like the water.

Karate or not.

MIZO NO KOKURU....