Absent of Meaning

Where we find our body is the only place it can be. There is no other possibility of action for any given moment. This removes choice in the way we generally think of it. Without the option of choice, we are left with the physical conditions of our body and its activity, no differently than how we must contend with the physical conditions of the weather on any given day.

I like the term “physical conditions” because it implies neutrality. The word physical tends to relay a sense of non-bias, no meaning. We don’t judge things we consider to be physical because we suppose they have no power to choose. We don’t think of our innards, or the weather, as having “options” of action. We also don’t place meaning on their behavior the way we do with that which we deem to stem from mental causes.

For me, I am only a body, which is fully physical. At any given time that I see my body, I can observe the physical conditions of its existence. When comparing these to the physical conditions of the weather, as they are all of the same physical particles, based in the same laws, I am in complete understanding and calm because I know my bodily activity will continue, as it will, for the rest of my life. It will be what it will be, absent of meaning, as, and in coordination with, the weather and all other physical conditions around me. I find mental freedom in the neutrality of physical activity everywhere.

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