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For the basics of wellness, i.e. the associated ideas and approaches, are people, who deal with the topic of wellness because of a certain spiritual background, very important indeed. The buzzword wellness would not have its meaningfulness, if it weren't filled with meaning in certain parts - and that meaning comes from different ones, … Continue reading “you want to play back”

For the basics of wellness, i.e. the associated ideas and approaches, are people, who deal with the topic of wellness because of a certain spiritual background, very important indeed. The buzzword wellness would not have its meaningfulness, if it weren't filled with meaning in certain parts - and that meaning comes from different ones, mostly spiritual backgrounds, who aim to change the general consciousness and who want to help people, to recognize themselves as a whole and thus their quality of life, but also to improve their understanding of themselves.

Most ideas, associated with the modern concept of wellness, come in one way or another from Asia. Important backgrounds can be found above all in the Chinese, but also of Indian and Japanese culture, in which more philosophically oriented ideas of religion prevail (compared to relatively dogmatic religions such as Christianity, Judaism or Islam).

Of course, with such a comprehensive cultural and historical background of wellness ideas, one cannot simply outline them, what's behind it, since many different representatives also have different opinions. However, there are some similarities, which are to be worked out here, so that it is easier to understand, what wellness means in spiritual terms.

Probably the most important thing that Eastern philosophies have in common, that have such a strong influence on the wellness area today, is the idea of ​​the unity of man. Against the background of these philosophies has just dualism, which has such important philosophical and religious significance in the West, a rather subordinate rank – the question, if we even have a soul, In these philosophies one does not usually ask oneself and therefore does not need to spend any time on a separation of body and soul.

Rather, most of these worldviews are of the view, that body and soul are inextricably linked (at least during the time of our physical existence) and that there are also relationships between these two areas, that go beyond the obvious.

The Christian thought, that body and soul are to be separated relatively strictly, and that the body is more or less the "anchor"., who connects us with the world and who during life "keeps the soul away from the kingdom of heaven", is completely foreign to these philosophies. Of course they assume so, that the soul is in a sense immortal, while the body perishes after life; but this doesn't change anything, that they give the relationship of soul and body a far more important meaning than we traditionally do.

It is assumed in the Buddhist teachings, that a soul resides in several bodies over several lifetimes; but not in shape, that it is always the same person, inherent in different bodies.

This view, which is not easy to understand, then reveals itself, when one hears the Buddha's description of reincarnation: he describes the body as a torch, on which a fire burns. The fire is passed on to another torch through rebirth, so that after the first torch is extinguished another burns - but it is the same fire, which shines there?

This metaphor is the clearest example of the relationship between body and soul over several lifetimes within Buddhist teachings. Contrary to what is typically assumed in the West, Buddhists do not assume this, that it is a "consolation"., that in this way we are immortal - rather they assume that "life is suffering" and strive towards a state, by not being born again.