bythemethod.com blog

Overview

In this post we explore a way of looking at your life that will help you to gain wholeness. Life as many parts and this is just one way of thinking about them. Within this view is that we find harmony in life through the correct ordering of things. People are made up of four aspects all of which are interdependant: body, heart, mind and soul.

How are we put together?

There is an approach to life that can help build happiness and success. It finds its roots in many of the major world religions and in ancient western thought and is also grounded in modern approaches to life management.

We are made up from four different aspects. These four combine to make the whole of who we are. Within life we should seek harmony within our self. Harmony is about achieving balance through everything being in its rightful place. However each aspect of life seeks to be dominant and will take control if allowed to do so. It is up to us to maintain control within ourselves.

Self-control can bring harmony

When a choir is in harmony it is not because they all sing what they fancy but because they are controlled by the music (and usually the choir director). Self-discipline has always been an important part of success. Self-discipline is about control.

Now to most of us control might seem like a bit of a dirty word. It reminds us of dictatorships and nasty rules and regulations. If we had to come up with some words we associate with control I expect many of us would say stuff like: boredom, slavery, misery etc.

However think about athletes who reach the top of their game, think about business people who become very successful, think about pretty much anyone who has ever achieved anything, and you will discover that self-discipline and control played a vital part in that success. Far from being limiting and miserable self-control and discipline can lead to great happiness and success.

Now don’t get me wrong here. I don’t have a picture in my mind of a sergeant major barking orders at a brow beaten soldier. I mean self-discipline that is born out of knowing yourself very well and working with your self to achieve what you can. This is self-discipline not other-discipline.

Have you every tried to achieve anything and failed? Was it through lack of self freedom that you failed? Was it because you felt like you could keep going for ever but decided to give up anyway and so you did that you failed? Or was it through lack of self-discipline? Was it because you hit a bad patch and so because of the struggle you gave up?

Self-control and self-discipline are vital parts of success.

We each have: Soul, Mind, Heart and Body.

Each aspect of life is important and each aspect exerts an influence on the other. There is a hierarchy involved in those aspects following the order shown above. This hierarchy is important and is often overlooked when people talk about finding balance in life. This hierarchy enables your self to find true balance and without it there is anarchy.

These are of course just names I give to the different aspects of a person. These aspects are not different personalities living in one person but they go together to form a whole. This way of thinking is simply offered as a way of making sense of what we experience.

Let’s start by thinking about the body and working our way up.

Body (the physical)

The body represents the physical side of life. It is sometimes also described as “the flesh” or “the world” etc. Without the physical we would not be born and we would be deprived of many sensations that make up an appreciation of life. However although vital in the makeup of a person the physical is the least important aspect of life. This is shown in the truth that even if we are disabled or our health deteriorates it doesn’t make us any less of a person. The physical world is the domain of the scientist. How we experience the physical can have a profound effect both – good and bad – on the other three aspects of life. If you ever doubt this then go for a walk in the countryside or on a stormy day and you will see what I mean. If we suffer physically then we can also suffer mentally. Sadly many people spend an inordinate amount of time on only the physical and neglect the other aspects of life.

Heart

When we talk about heart we do not meaning the muscle that pumps blood around the body but a concept, an idea. The heart is the inner self. That part of us that feels and (together with the mind) decides. It is the seat of love and hate; joy and sorrow; peace and bitterness; courage and fear. The true character or personality of a person. The body has a profound effect on the way that our heart reacts but our heart tends to have a controlling aspect over the body. Without heart we are just existing and not experiencing life.

Mind

The mind is the thinking side of life. It is the understanding, thoughtful and reasoning side of life. Although we often think of the mind as morally neutral it can be corrupted as well as being the source of great good. If you doubt the evil nature of the mind then read a few history books to see how very reasonable people have taken evil courses. The mind gives us the ability to make plans and execute them. The mind must take precedence over the heart and the body. Sometimes our hearts can deceive us into believing that something that feels nice must be good but our minds help us to see through the gloss. There is a famous wise old saying that says “all that glisters is not gold”, a reminder that our minds must take precedence over our hearts. Our mind is constantly struggling to become the ruler of all. However it needs to be kept in check or it will dominate everything making our emotional life non-existent. Thankfully our mind is not the ruler of all our parts – that honour is given to the soul.

Soul

The soul is the part of us that gives us a sense of beauty and creativity. It is the essence of being human. It is the part of us that seeks the divine and the eternal. It is the part responsible for morality, justice, understanding and appreciation. It is in essence the very core of a person and that which makes him/her alive. It allows us to see beyond the physical to understand the spiritual. For most of us in the west the soul has become the most neglected part of who we are. This is not the place to debate the reasons for this but whatever the reasons the soul is much neglected to our detriment.

These four aspects of life make up a whole. If we ignore one aspect we become less that we should be but when they work together as a whole then we become more than we might have been.

Note for theologians, philosophers and psychologists

I am aware that often when these different aspects of life are talked about in ancient literature they become interchangable. The distinctions between each aspect are fluid. I don’t offer the above as an explanation of what the ancient mind was thinking but simply as a way for the modern person to make sense of the different tensions that they sometimes feel within their personality. This system is simply a way to help people make sense of life and provides a framework so that we can all understand where we are. However I certainly believe that the order of importance as I outline it here is correct and that we often neglect the truth that the physical, emotional and thinking aspects of life must be subject to the greater aspect of the spirit.