The body is a ruthless teacher.
It has no compassion
It has great intelligence and it follows nature
But on its own it is cold and merciless.

My illness was a relentless teaching
Beyond survival
Into the realm of mind and spirit.

First it came for my body
And turned my physical life inside out.
Everything I had consumed before my teacher arrived
Was suddenly
Like poison, setting me on fire
And dragging me down
Into confusion.

Then it came for my emotion
And it tore me open
And smashed down all the walls
I had hidden behind
All my life.
It was like a dam burst open
And pain poured out.

Next it came for my mind
And it took a blade to
Every belief in anything I had ever had.
It dug at the very foundations of my self
And I fell into the void
As if dead.

And then it came for my spirit
And it taught me
Love without condition,
Without reason and without cause.
It taught me to let go
When I hold on

And most of all it taught me the great irony
Of being in the world but not of it.

Don’t let anyone tell you the body isn’t spiritual.
The body, friend, is your guru.

It teaches us all, one way or another, sooner or later.
I am still grateful for my teaching,
And not a day goes by I am not reminded
Of it.
My guru goes with me always and everywhere.