The Book of Secrets - Deepak Chopra [3]
In a sweeping medical revolution, scientists have stepped into a hidden dimension that no one had ever suspected. Cells have been outthinking us for millions of years. In fact, their wisdom, more ancient than cortical wisdom, could be the best model for the only thing more ancient than they, which is the cosmos. Perhaps the universe has been outthinking us, too. No matter where I look, I sense what cosmic wisdom is trying to accomplish. It is much the same as what I myself want to accomplish—to grow, expand, and create—the main difference being that my body is cooperating with the universe better than I manage to.
Cells have no problem fully participating in the mystery of life. Theirs is a wisdom of total passion and commitment. So let’s see if we can link the qualities of bodily wisdom with the hidden dimensions we want to uncover:
THE WISDOM YOU ARE ALREADY LIVING
Identifying with the Body’s Intelligence
1. You have a higher purpose.
2. You are in communion with the whole of life.
3. Your awareness is always open to change. From moment to moment, it senses everything in your environment.
4. You feel acceptance for all others as your equal, without judgment or prejudice.
5. You seize every moment with renewed creativity, not clinging to the old and outworn.
6. Your being is cradled in the rhythms of the universe. You feel safe and nurtured.
7. Your idea of efficiency is to let the flow of life bring you what you need. Force, control, and struggle are not your way.
8. You feel a sense of connection with your source.
9. You are committed to giving as the source of all abundance.
10. You see all change, including birth and death, against the background of immortality. Whatever is unchanging is most real to you.
None of these items are spiritual aspirations; they are facts of daily existence at the level of your cells.
Higher purpose: Every cell in your body agrees to work for the welfare of the whole; its individual welfare comes second. If necessary, it will die to protect the body, and often does—the lifetime of any given cell is a fraction of our own lifetime. Skin cells perish by the thousands every hour, as do immune cells fighting off invading microbes. Selfishness is not an option, even when it comes to a cell’s own survival.
Communion: A cell keeps in touch with every other cell. Messenger molecules race everywhere to notify the body’s farthest outposts of desire or intention, however slight. Withdrawing or refusing to communicate is not an option.
Awareness: Cells adapt from moment to moment. They remain flexible in order to respond to immediate situations. Getting caught up in rigid habits is not an option.
Acceptance: Cells recognize each other as equally important. Every function in the body is interdependent with every other. Going it alone is not an option.
Creativity: Although every cell has a set of unique functions (liver cells, for example, can perform fifty separate tasks), these combine in creative ways. A person can digest food never eaten before, think thoughts never thought before, dance in a way never seen before. Clinging to old behavior is not an option.
Being: Cells obey the universal cycle of rest and activity. Although this cycle expresses itself in many ways, such as fluctuating hormone levels, blood pressures, and digestive rhythms, the most obvious expression is sleep. Why we need to sleep remains a medical mystery, yet complete dysfunction develops if we don’t enjoy its benefits. In the silence of inactivity, the future of the body is incubating. Being obsessively active or aggressive is not an option.
Efficiency: Cells function with the smallest possible expenditure of energy. Typically, a cell stores only three seconds of food and oxygen inside its cell wall. It trusts totally on being provided for. Excessive consumption of food, air, or water is not an option.
Bonding: Due to their common genetic inheritance, cells know that they are fundamentally