...Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit within you. 1Cor.6:19

The Body is the Temple of God
Posted by Jeanne on June 16, 2009
During my last 10-day silent vipassana meditation retreat, I had an epiphany. In a flash, I understood the Cain and Abel story. The Bible says Cain, the hunter offered to God, meat from a kill, while Abel offered to God, fruits and vegetables. Cain was jealous of Abel because Abel found favor in the eyes of the Lord… so Cain killed him.

I used to think the Cain and Abel story was about the challenges of human relationships – portraying the first brothers - who were raised by parents who had lived in Eden – having irreconcilable differences. No doubt, there are lessons to be learned from that dysfunctional family scenario… but I realized the real issue was the finding of favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Old Bible story books depict Cain with an altar and a dead animal lying across it, while Abel’s altar is depicted with fruits and veggies. Fast forward to Corinthians and… Whoa! Paul said our bodies are a temple, therefore, what we put into our mouth (the altar?) is what we present to the Lord.
In deep meditation, I saw my body beyond muscles, cells, molecules and atoms. I saw a sacred place to worship - and that worship is expressed in what we choose to eat… in how we live… and how we love – ourselves and others, human and otherwise.

I had never really gotten that putting fruit on an altar thing. Now I get it. Our body is the temple and we offer the fruit to the life force/spirit within.

Reply by mary rose
Jeanne, the insights you bring forth here are marvelous.

I, too have often seen my body as a temple, but not the "temple of God" as you do. I see my body as a temple of "self-realization" which holds within it the "kristed" or total universal consciousness" of which i am a particle.

with love and appreciation


Reply by Jeanne
You make a good point, Mary Rose, about the temple of God vs temple of self realization. Its good to have an understanding of the semantics involved in a discussion.

Have you ever read "Science of Mind" by Ernest Holmes? I ask that, because he starts the book with that discussion... what do we call this thing? this god? this force? this spirit? ...he concludes with calling it "the thing itself". I laughed the first time I read it... knowing that my fundamentalist grandmother would be turning over in her grave if she knew my journey had brought me to a place where I called her Heavenly Father, the thing itself.

I'm thinking that what we call it, what name we apply to it, is not the point; but rather that we know what we're talking about when we talk about the thing itself that resides within each of us.

Reply by Ron Alexander

Hi Jeanne, I had to get in on this dialogue, as today's "Daily Wisdom" by Ernest Holmes deals directly with this, and I like your (Holmes) answer about "God" to Mary Rose. And thank you Mary Rose for bringing it up. Look at all the different names for God Holmes uses here - including "It".

"...your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you." 1 Corinthians 6:19

I Am Spirit Made Manifest This Instant

My body, and every part of it, is made of pure substance--God. It cannot be deteriorate. This Instant this Infinite Substance within me, which is constantly flowing through me, takes form in the likeness of perfect, whole, complete cells.
Every cell of my lungs is strong and healthy, filled with life and vitality, strength and cleanliness. My body which is Spirit in form, knows no time, knows no degree, it knows only to express fully, instantaneously.

The Divine Presence, being everywhere and filling all space, must be in me. It must be that which I am, I recognize It is within me and It is that which I am. I let this recognition of my indwelling Divinity flow through my entire consciousness. I let it reach down into the very depths of my being. I rejoice in my Divinity. I am now made vigorous and hardy. I have the stamina of the Infinite. I am sturdy and robust. I am fortified with God's perfection and right action. I am hale and able-bodied. All the life of the universe is my life. All the strength of the universe is my strength. All the power of the universe is my power. Every breath I draw fills me with perfection - vitalizes, energizes, and renews every cell of my body. I am born in Spirit, and of Spirit, and I am Spirit made manifest this instant.<

I repeat Jeanne:
In deep meditation, I saw my body beyond muscles, cells, molecules and atoms. I saw a sacred place to worship - and that worship is expressed in what we choose to eat… in how we live… and how we love – ourselves and others, human and otherwise.

I had never really gotten that putting fruit on an altar thing. Now I get it. Our body is the temple and we offer the fruit to the life force/spirit within.

I quote Jeanne:
"In deep meditation, I saw my body beyond muscles, cells, molecules and atoms. I saw a sacred place to worship - and that worship is expressed in what we choose to eat… in how we live… and how we love – ourselves and others, human and otherwise.

I had never really gotten that putting fruit on an altar thing. Now I get it. Our body is the temple and we offer the fruit to the life force/spirit within."

In the current Unity Magazine, there is an article "Blessed are the Eyes that See". It is an article about temples, and gets to "Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth within you?" 1 Cor. 3:16 Shortly, he is writing:
Charles Fillmore had profoundly tapped into this mystically metaphysical understanding of a new way of living - from a personal consciousness to a spiritual consciousness. He wrote that the meaning of "'temple of god within you" represents regeneration. Both he and his wife Myrtle demonstrated regenerating: Charles by growing a withered leg to a nearly normal length and Myrtle with a remarkable healing from tuberculosis contracted during childhood. (This was in the early 1900's). Charles wrote that "Jesus brought the revelation of the enduring temple" and "He opened the eyes of people and showed them the way into the body temple." The then made the proclamation that "everyone of us is a high priest in his own temple." He elaborated that 'when we enter the absolute we sacrifice the personal on the altar that we may realize the Christ way into the secret place of the Most High."...