“Your mind will be like its habitual thoughts; for the soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts-”
Marcus Aurelius 121-180 Roman Emperor
This quote caught my attention today at the Body Worlds exhibit at the Franklin Institute. Powerful imagery. I don’t know that I even totally understand the quote but I see a distinction between mind and soul– and a progression. We start by infiltrating our minds and ultimately our very souls take on the color of our thoughts.
This was an interesting quote to find at an exhibit dedicated to a serious scientific exploration of the body and mind. And (as many things do these days) it put me in mind of shiva nata.
I would like to think that the Dance of Shiva is re-organizing my habitual thoughts. It is possible that new habits are forming but more than anything I do have a sense that old habits (patterns) are getting shaken up.
This exhibit also claimed that a toddler brain has twice as many synapses as an adult. And as we develop, unused synapses are pruned away. I know I talked about the ‘slowing down’ sensation last week. This week, my visceral experience of shiva nata is that some synapses have been dormant and are being revived as a result of the dance.
In any case the quote calls into question a yearning for the soul to be cleansed- in the religious sense. Because it implies that our soul will always be dyed by the color of our thoughts. The key is to choose the thoughts we want to make a habit of having. Can we? I think what shiva nata is making more possible is choosing to let go of thoughts that don’t serve me.
Your thoughts?
I’ve been thinking a lot along these lines lately…of the body-mind-soul beyond the body-mind-soul. How my thoughts and feelings affect my body. How they lodge in and reside there. And what exactly that might mean. I like the idea of “cleansing” the soul that you bring up here. Or…maybe “realigning” is the word I’m looking for. Getting my energy-body-mind-soul realigned. Cooperating. Not fighting against each other. Someday.
re-aligning is good. In my coaching work we understand alignemnt not to necessarily all be in agreement but ‘facing the same direction’ or moving toward the same goals. So maybe when we stop fighting with outselves as you say we get there. HEre is to someday!
Pearl,
Are you by chance from the Philadelphia area? If so, hi neighbor! I grew up there.
I love the quote. I think it’s so easy to get caught up in worrying and being depressed about your life. And the more you do it, the more it becomes a habit: the way you always feel, and therefore the way you should feel. Not that I don’t do my fair share of stressing and worrying, but I do try and remind myself that you want to try and break down the blocks that create it rather than sit in it.