Why we love/hate ourselves

 

 

Imagine I came to you and said “I love you very much, from now on anything you request I will do.”

 

The very fact you have such a commitment – to do what you want, itself, would give you great pleasure.

 

So ultimately love comes from pleasure.

 

Now who exactly are we – on a practical level we are the mind – the observer.

 

So the mind begins to observe the body and it realizes that the body does what it wants, as the Talmud says “where the heart wishes, the feet run to.”

 

For this reason when the body does what the mind wants, the mind is enamored by the body – like the original example, it’s simply to good to be true.

 

But the converse is also true – what happens if my body does not do what I want? – this is the state of depression where I have a desire but my body – who alas I have begun to rely on and see as my robot – cannot fulfill my wishes! – be it the circumstances is beyond my control, God-forbid, an illness, perhaps being in jail – then the mind may very well begin to hate the body.

 

This hate is so real that as we know a dangerous side effect of depression is murder – of one’s own body.