Tools for navigating the material world

Practicing asanas, deliberate initiations of movement vs. stillness, does develop an appreciation of the utility of the physical body.  I have legs, feet, arms, hands, and so forth.  I never considered my arms or legs to be my “self,” though.

Practicing deep relaxation and meditation, cultivating the “space” between inner experiences, develops a similar appreciation of the utility of the mind.  I can perceive and interpret sensations, emotions, and experiences. I think in words. pictures, and so forth. My mind recalls the past and anticipates the future, able to reconsider, to plan ahead, to imagine things beyond direct experience. 
Is my mind my “self”?  

More and more, my “self” is experienced as one ray, one photon, of a great Light.  

And though the mind is much less obviously material than the body, it seems just as much to be a tool for the Light to participate in, and navigate, the material world. 

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