Flesh and Spirit - living between two universes, where one transitions into the other

 

केनेषितं पतति प्रेषितं मनः केन प्राणः प्रथमः प्रैति युक्तः
केनेषितां वाचमिमां वदन्ति

"Moved by what flies the sent-out mind?
Yoked by what goes forth the life breath first?
By what is sent out this speech they speak?

(Kena Upanishad 1,1)

Beyond man, there is a 'what,' which although it does not belong to man, nevertheless belongs to him. Man is the medium through which 'what does not have the nature of life' becomes part of life. The immaterial enters the material through these doors: mind, breath, and word.

However, the unresolved question remains: केन, kena, 'by what?' By what do mind, breath, and word originate? These elements transcend man because they originate from beyond him.

But that केन, kena, needs the flesh, the bones, and the word of real humanity to find expression in the world. Already Saint Augustine had made a distinction between two different worlds (civitates): [...] civitates duas secundum Scripturas nostras merito appellare possemus. Una quippe est hominum secundum carnem, altera secundum spiritum vivere in sui cuiusque generis pace volentium [...] two cities, according to the language of our Scriptures. The one consists of those who wish to live after the flesh, the other of those who wish to live after the spirit (De Civitate Dei, XIV, 1).

The flesh in itself, in its nature, is not evil; even Saint Augustine admits it: [...] quid sit secundum carnem vivere (quod profecto malum est, cum ipsa carnis natura non sit malum) [...] what is it to live according to the flesh (which is certainly evil, although the very nature of the flesh is not evil) [...].

(De Civitate Dei, XIV, 2.2).

This is why that केन can adhere to the flesh and be what it is and will be.