Life's delicate balance between mind, body,...and soul
Life's delicate balance between mind, body,...and soul
Uncover the connections between practical philosophy, the spine, and ancient wisdom, to live a life in intentional balance
Life may be brimming over with experiences, but somewhere, deep inside, all of us carry a vast and fruitful loneliness wherever we go. And sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths, or the turning inward in prayer for five short minutes.
—Etty Hillesum, An Interrupted Life and Letters from Westerbork
Life, much like the human body, is an intricate web of interconnected parts moving in unison.
Our experience of the world is a holistic interplay of body, mind, and spirit, where existence becomes an ongoing experiment in intention, seeking balance, movement, and purpose.
This understanding clicked for me when I started seeing the spine not just as a physical structure but as a metaphor for navigating the complexities of life.
The spine’s metaphor of life (Kabbalistic Tree)
Picture your spine: 33 vertebrae, divided into five regions, each playing a specific role:
cervical (C1-C7), grants us flexibility in our youth, allowing the mental agility needed for growth, but it is vulnerable to strain.
thoracic (T1-T12), like our capacity for compassion and empathy, supports and protects the heart and lungs, reminding us to remain open yet resilient.
lumbar (L1-L5), much like our core values, carries the weight of our responsibilities, providing stability and balance.
sacral (S1-S5), connecting upper and lower body, mirrors how family, community, and belief systems ground us in life.
coccygeal (Coccyx), often overlooked, represents our foundations, the remnants of evolutionary history that anchor us in the past while propelling us forward.
Each region of the spine serves a unique purpose, much like the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, where each vertebra supports the body just as each Sephirah reflects divine or human qualities, with each spinal region corresponding to specific Sephirot1:
The cervical spine, associated with flexibility and thought, corresponds to Keter (Crown) and Chokmah (Wisdom), signifying higher consciousness and abstract understanding.
The thoracic spine, which supports balance, mirrors Tiferet (Beauty) and Gevurah (Strength), embodying harmony and discipline.
The lumbar spine, known for its stability, aligns with Yesod (Foundation), representing the grounding force that channels creative and sexual energy into action, just as the spine supports physical movement and strength.
The sacral spine, connecting the upper and lower body, parallels Netzach (Eternity) and Hod (Glory), symbolizing endurance and humility.
Finally, the coccygeal spine corresponds to Malkhut (Kingdom), representing the foundation of physical reality and the manifestation of divine energy into the material world.
[For more information about Kabbalah, click here.]
The comparison between the spine and the Tree of Life shows how both systems balance higher wisdom and earthly existence through strength, flexibility, and intentional action, while also reflecting spiritual and emotional alignment2.
The shadows of our reality
From this understanding of balance and alignment, I naturally reflected on Plato’s allegory of the cave.
For years, like the prisoners in Plato's allegory, I was focused on immediate goals and reacting to life without considering deeper meanings, much like the spine working unnoticed until something goes wrong, revealing its true importance.
Plato’s cave teaches me to look beyond surface-level experiences, just as reflecting on the spine reveals deeper structures, where realizing many tasks were mere shadows of a deeper purpose was like correcting a necessary but painful misalignment for clarity.
The power behind choice (determined free will)
Immanuel Kant’s philosophy changed how I see choice3.
He taught me that it’s the intention behind our actions, not the outcome, that matters, transforming obligations from burdens into opportunities to align my actions with my values, giving purpose to even the most ordinary tasks.
Like the sacrum grounding the body, Kant’s philosophy emotionally anchors us, allowing us to act with intention so that mundane tasks become expressions of who we are, and life’s long-term goals feel like natural extensions of our daily choices.
By choosing to act with purpose, we lift the fog of routine and live in harmony with what matters most, shaping life instead of just enduring it.
Duty vs. Desire
Life often feels like a balancing act between duty and desire, a constant pull between responsibility and personal longing.
We all experience moments when the weight of expectations—whether from work, relationships, or societal pressures—becomes overwhelming, much like how our spine quietly bears the load of our physical existence.
It’s easy to feel torn between the need to fulfill our obligations and the desire to pursue our personal passions, especially in a world where curated images of success and freedom on social media spark feelings of jealousy or inadequacy.
Sometimes, I catch myself judging others based on these surface-level glimpses, without really understanding their full stories.
It’s as though my desires distract me from my deeper sense of duty—a duty to contribute to something greater, a concept known in Judaism as Tikkun Olam (repairing the world)4.
[For more information about Tikkun Olam, click here.]
The metaphor of the spine becomes meaningful when we see each region serving a role, much like our intentions bear the weight of our moral and emotional lives; it keeps the body aligned, with our actions and values , which brings balance and clarity.
It’s not about choosing between duty and desire, but finding harmony between the two.
Life’s demands can feel like illusions, but as Kant teaches, acting with intention turns duties into opportunities, allowing us to balance duty and desire, live authentically, and make our responsibilities meaningful.
The journey forward
In reflecting, I've come to see that life, like the intricate design of the spine, is a delicate balance between strength and flexibility, duty and desire, and action and reflection, supporting us as we navigate existence.
As Ursula K. Le Guin wrote in Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching:
Living people are soft and tender. Corpses are hard and stiff. The ten thousand things, the living grass, the trees, are soft, pliant. Dead, they’re dry and brittle. So hardness and stiffness go with death; tenderness, softness, go with life. And the hard sword fails, the stiff tree’s felled. The hard and great go under. The soft and weak stay up. [Chapter 76]
Both the Tao Te Ching and the reflection on life’s balance emphasize that true strength and resilience come from flexibility and adaptability, much like how the spine balances strength and flexibility to support us in navigating the complexities of existence.
Philosophy is a science of intentional living, where aligning our actions, like aligning our spine, leads to purpose and fulfillment—a lesson I strive to remember as I focus on balance, alignment, and moving forward with intention.
In the delicate balance between duty and desire, are you letting life's demands control you, or are you consciously aligning your actions to reflect your deepest values and intentions?
The Sephirot (plural of Sephirah) are ten attributes in the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, each with unique qualities, interconnected to form a pathway through which divine energy flows, representing different aspects of God's creation, interaction with the universe, and stages of spiritual development:
Keter (Crown): Represents the highest will or divine consciousness, the origin of creation, beyond human understanding.
Chokhmah (Wisdom): The initial spark of insight or wisdom, representing pure, unstructured potential.
Binah (Understanding): Represents understanding and structure, turning the potential of Chokhmah into form.
Chesed (Loving-kindness): Symbolizes boundless love, mercy, and giving.
Gevurah (Judgment or Severity): Represents discipline, judgment, and restraint, balancing Chesed.
Tiferet (Beauty): The harmonious balance between Chesed and Gevurah, representing compassion and balance.
Netzach (Eternity or Victory): Symbolizes endurance, persistence, and the drive to overcome obstacles.
Hod (Glory): Represents submission, humility, and the power of surrender.
Yesod (Foundation): The connecting point, symbolizing communication and the foundation of the material world.
Malkhut (Kingdom): The final Sephirah, representing the physical world and the manifestation of the divine in reality.
Together, the Sephirot illustrate a system of balance and interdependence, representing both the divine process of creation and the spiritual journey of the individual.
For further exploration of this concept, see:
Gershom Scholem, Kabbalah and On the Kabbalah and Its Symbolism
Israel Regardie, The Tree of Life: A Study in Magic
Rene Guenon, The Reign of Quantity & the Signs of the Times
Aryeh Kaplan, Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Creation and Meditation and Kabbalah
Rav Michael Laitman, The Zohar [Click here to download.]
Willis F. Whitehead (edited), Three Books of Occult Philosophy or Magic, Henry Cornelius Agrippa
These texts offer a comprehensive overview to the subject of Kabbalah, including the Nature of God and Divine Emanations (Sephirot), the Tree of Life and cosmic structure, creation and cosmology (including Tzimtzum, Shevirat HaKelim, and Tikkun Olam), the soul and its elevation (e.g., Nefesh, Ruach, Neshamah), the mystical interpretation of the Torah (Sod, or “secret”), the role of angels and divine beings, mystical union and meditation (Devekut), and evil and the concept of the Sitra Achra (“the Other Side”).
For a further exploration into the symbolic relationship between the spine and the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, consider the chakra system, and its correspondence to the flow of spiritual energy.
Below is a breakdown of the correspondences to the Sephirot:
Crown Chakra (Sahasrara) → Keter (Crown): Represents unity with the divine and spiritual enlightenment in both systems.
Third Eye Chakra (Ajna) → Chokmah (Wisdom) and Binah (Understanding): Balances intuitive insight (Chokmah) with structured thought (Binah).
Throat Chakra (Vishuddha) → Da’at (Knowledge): Governs communication and expression of spiritual knowledge.
Heart Chakra (Anahata) → Tiferet (Beauty): Reflects emotional balance, love, and harmony as the central point of both systems.
Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura) → Gevurah (Strength) and Chesed (Mercy): Balances personal power (Gevurah) with compassion and love (Chesed).
Sacral Chakra (Swadhisthana) → Yesod (Foundation): Governs creative and sexual energy, forming the foundation of existence.
Root Chakra (Muladhara) → Malkuth (Kingdom): Represents grounding, stability, and connection to material reality.
Immanuel Kant’s philosophy, particularly in Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals (1785), reshapes how we understand choice by emphasizing intention over outcome.
His categorical imperative encourages us to act only on principles we can will as universal laws, shifting focus from personal gain to moral duty.
Kant teaches that actions with moral worth come from duty, not inclination, emphasizing true freedom through rational moral law and the need to treat others as ends, guiding us to make choices based on ethical principles rather than self-interest.
This idea calls for us to actively seek ways to make the world better, to support others even when it feels overwhelming or beyond our means.
But how can we balance this sense of duty with our personal desires?