how is yourself connected to your body?
Answers
All mental events take place in the brain and the brain is very much a part of the body. However, cognitively, the mental operation known as the self has very little sense of the body it operates in, unless of course there is some sensation that is strong enough to attract the attention, such as pain or discomfort. And then, the relationship is usually one with a bit of resentment at the body for causing the attention to be attracted out of the cosy thought stream and into the body part where the pain is.
There is another way for the attention to be attracted to the body other than pain or sensual pleasures. It entails the deliberate act of focusing the attention on the sensation of the entire mass of vibrating energy constituting the physical body. It’s an extraordinary experience, and it is very rarely sought after. But the possibility for that experience is always there and thus there is an ongoing if somewhat tenuous relationship between the attention and the body.
Regarding the mental operation broadly referred to as the self, it is a multiplicity. There are two fundamental “selves” or navigators. There is the navigator of the physical terrain and the navigator of the social terrain. The social navigator is composed of a surprising number of mini-selves, each one adapted to every social situation and dependent on who is being related to. We have a self for our bosses, our colleagues, our underlings, our spouses, children, other peoples’ children, friends, acquaintances, strangers, neighbours, pets, the list is quite long and we all have a self for each one of those situations. These selves do not know each other and do not need to know each other; in fact they would interfere with each other so they are kept apart, unless one or another self acts badly and makes a mess that other selves then have to clean up. Normally, they are best off in ignorance of each other. You can regard your many selves like the horses on a merry-go-round.
There is only one attention, and each self takes turns at the helm, commanding the attention for its particular needs. None of those social navigator selves have a very good relation with the body. For that to develop, it is necessary to create a self for that very purpose, and it is already there but not yet engaged in that relationship on consciousness.