QUESTION:
Does the body have a “soul” of its own, besides for the nefesh habehaimis (animal soul)? Are we able to “listen to the messages of the body” and work with it? There are Eastern methods of healing in which a person can “speak” to the body, where the body’s “energy” can give “permission” for the person to ask it questions and get answers. And there are also methods where the practitioner can say certain words and the body makes a subtle movement in reaction to certain words. Is this a separate area from the soul or is it part of understanding the body?
ANSWER:
Everything contains a “soul” in it which revitalizes it. A still, inanimate creation has in it the soul of a nefesh domemes (a soul that keeps the inanimate creation in existence), a plant is revitalized by nefesh hatzomachas (a soul that gives life to the plant enabling it to grow), an animal is kept alive by nefesh chiyuni (a life-force that sustains it), and a person is kept alive by nefesh maskeles (intelligence). The body contains the first three mentioned [but it does not contain its own intelligence, which is unique only to the soul itself]. Eastern medicine is mainly involved with nefesh hatzomachas, the same life-force that enables nurturing and growth [which is contained even in plants].
Categories
