Why Take Care of the Body?

You’re on a treadmill.

Or yoga mat. Or maybe pumping iron, counting reps like they’re gonna take you to the Promised Land.

Does it matter? Not really. But we do it anyway, don’t we? Sweat pouring down like some purging ritual, as if we’re ejecting our past sins from the body. Here’s the kicker, though: The body’s not real. It’s not who you are.

So why bother? It’s a compelling question…

…but it’s the wrong one.

The Body as the World's Ultimate Distraction

Non-dualism tells us the body, like the rest of Maya's circus, is nothing but smoke and mirrors.

So, why do you—why do I—keep polishing this illusion like it’s somehow going to become a diamond? Is it so we can look good? Live longer? Run faster? Nonsense. Your body isn’t doing the living; you are.

See, everyone treats this thing like it’s the vehicle for existence. Your body takes center stage, dictating whether you’ve had too much cake or not enough sleep. Doesn’t that seem a bit off? It’s like letting a puppet decide who gets to play the lead role in Hamlet. You, the so-called ‘real’ you, call that “living,” but I call it hiding. Take Julius Caesar, for example. Got stabbed to death one fine day on the Senate floor. Fit guy, killed in the prime of his life. But here’s the deal: