parts of the whole

The ancient Greek world completely changed the face of Western Civilization. It was the Greeks that devised the idea of mind, body, and soul, as separate entities contained within one being. Before such a philosophy became common place, many parts of the world believed in a more interconnected, unified whole. Ancient semitic peoples from whom civilization itself sprang, made no distinctions between body and soul. Illnesses (of both the physical and spiritual nature) were treated comprehensively. If one had a stomach ache, not only would one chew a sprig of mint, but one would also naturally pray or engage in some sort of proto-meditation. This form of medicine is unfortunately rejected by the mainstream, and as a result we currently live in a society that treats symptoms with little distance gained in actual real cures.

As a method of self analysis however, the Greeks by far and away outpaced the ancient Hebrews and their contemporaries. The idea of dividing body, mind, and soul into distinct parts of an overall whole was revolutionary in its time. It has fundamentally determined how many of us think and interact with ourselves. This too is unfortunate when we allow such an examination define us–as we must realize that we, as individual human beings, were conceived as, and exist to this day as unified wholes. Recognizing such divisions as inherently and invaluably interconnected, while using them for self reflection and to analyze our world view, is of immense value and importance.