Health is not just physical fitness or absence of disease. In our ancient past, the term health had a much wider connotation; it was something that went beyond physical and mental dimensions. The spiritual dimension reinforces and also uplifts the physical and mental dimensions of health. We humans are unique in that God has endowed us with capacity to comprehend not only the outer physical world of objects but also His divinity that is innate in us. Our fulfillment and well-being in real terms requires us to go beyond physical, mental and emotional dimensions of health.
Ironically, however, men ignore health and the love of the eternal and infinite, and deem riches, fame and sensual pleasures as the highest good. Our wise ancestors regarded sound health as the highest gain in human life, whereas the modern materialistic view of life is a huge departure from that approach. We forget that the sense gratification is invariably followed by repentance, and the hunger for fame and riches is never satiated. Also, the love of fame compels us to order our lives by the opinion of others. Diseases of body and mind are fallouts of this. Desire is never satisfied by enjoyment of objects of desire; it grows more and more as does the fire to which fuel is added.
We need to be healthy not only at the physical and mental level but also at the spiritual level. Attainment of God is the foremost duty enjoined upon human beings. Every other work we undertake is for satiation of senses. Worldly obligations are indeed to be performed, but with detachment. We must dedicate all our actions to God, and never nurture the feeling of being the doer. The physical body is, thus, essential both for the attainment of God and for undertaking mundane duties. Efficient and effective worldly life calls for a sound and disease-free body.
We must regard mental health as no less important. A person cannot be said to be mentally healthy if he continues to be afflicted with vices like lust, anger, greed, attachment and ego. We do a lot to cure physical ailments, but precious little to cure mental maladies. Mental afflictions constantly torment the soul and are even responsible for physical ailments. This leads to serious malfunctioning of body and mind as well.
To achieve balanced development, it is essential that body and mind work in tandem with each other. So, a sound body, mind and spirit help human beings attain the zenith of perfection. It calls for spiritual illumination, which begins with a transcendental experience of the universe. Scriptures say that without the soul knowledge, physical and mental health is of no consequence. Without soul knowledge, even an otherwise healthy person is likely to indulge in negative tendencies.
