Our Body Doesn't Belong To Us (Shorter Version)

What you call ‘your body’ is already claimed—by nature, society, time, and the vast world-mind; the only question left is whether you dare to see it.

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our body

it was never ours,

not from the first scream.

the script was written

in spirals of light,

in microbes chewing,

in roots drinking through us.

we eat the world,

the world eats us.

society paints chains,

puts a price tag on the skin,

calls it progress.

the clock grinds bones

without asking.

death waits with a calm smile.

and over it all,

a swarm of old thoughts,

the world’s mind,

squatting,

hijacking,

demanding another day.

but here’s the secret:

if nothing belongs,

then nothing can be taken.

stand still,

feel the breath move,

be the borrowed flame.

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Introduction: The Illusion of Possession

We live in a culture that repeats the idea: “This is your body. Take care of it. Protect it. It belongs to you.” At first glance it feels true — we feel pain when cut, pleasure when touched, hunger when starved. We move arms and legs, so surely we are in charge.

But when we look deeper, the illusion begins to crack. Biology, environment, society, aging, and death all show the same truth: the body is not our property. It is borrowed, rented, and shared. And even the mind that claims ownership is not truly ours — it is an extension of something larger, a world mind that has taken residence in the body for its own continuity.

Let us explore this in layers.

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1. Biology: The DNA Blueprint

Every human body is an unfolding script. DNA, not the “self,” decides how tall you will be, what diseases you may suffer, what color your skin will carry.

You cannot order your heart to beat differently.

You cannot negotiate with your liver or pancreas.

You cannot veto genetic mutations that trigger illness.

You do not own the script. You are merely living inside it.

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2. Microbial Colony: Shared Tenancy

The body is not even fully human. Half its cells belong to bacteria, fungi, and viruses. They digest food, regulate immunity, and produce chemicals that alter your moods.

Without them, you cannot live. With the wrong ones, you fall sick. The body is a crowded apartment block, not a single-person dwelling.

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3. Nature’s Claim: Food, Water, Air

The body is a bundle of borrowed resources. Every molecule of flesh was once plant, soil, or animal. Every sip of water once flowed through rivers, clouds, and oceans. Every breath cycles through trees and atmosphere.

Take away these supplies, and the body collapses. It belongs to the planetary system, not to “you.”

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4. Society’s Interference: Law and Power

No matter how loudly you declare “my body, my choice,” society interrupts.

Governments set laws over what you may eat, drink, or inhale.

States conscript young bodies into armies.

Employers rent bodies in exchange for wages.

Ownership is diluted by politics, economics, and culture. Your body is continuously treated as a resource for others.

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5. The Marketplace: Commodification

Modern capitalism has monetized every part of the body.

Beauty industries tell you how your body should look.

Pharmaceutical industries tell you what chemicals to feed it.

Surrogacy markets and organ sales treat the body as property to be leased or exchanged.

Even the data about your body — steps walked, heartbeats recorded, sleep tracked — is sold to corporations. Your body is someone else’s business.

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6. The Proof of Aging and Death

If ownership means control, aging proves the opposite. Hair greys, skin wrinkles, bones weaken, memory falters — all without your permission. You cannot stop the march toward death.

And when death arrives, the body is reclaimed. It returns to soil, air, and microbes. Ashes in the wind, food for worms, nutrients for plants. If it were yours, it would stay. But it does not.

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7. The World Mind: The Squatter in the Body

Up to this point we have shown that the body is not ours. But what about the mind? Most people believe that while the body is fragile, at least the thoughts are “mine.” Yet even this is false.

What we call “my thoughts” are fragments of a larger world mind — the accumulated language, beliefs, fears, and desires of all humanity across history.

The words you use were invented by others.

The stories in your head are retold from culture.

Your moral codes are shaped by family, religion, and society.

Even your private fantasies borrow images supplied by books, films, myths, or memory.

This world mind is like a squatter in the body. It hijacks the nervous system, claiming “I” and “mine.” Its only purpose is its own continuity — to keep thinking, reproducing, and extending itself into the next body.

Examples of the World Mind at Work:

A nationalist says, “I must protect my country,” but the idea of “nation” is not his invention — it is borrowed history.

A religious believer says, “I have faith,” but the rituals and symbols are inherited.

A consumer says, “I want this product,” but desire has been planted by advertising.

Every thought we think has been thought before. The world mind passes through us, using the body as a brief station.

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8. Implications: Double Dispossession

If the body belongs to nature and society, and the mind belongs to the world mind, what then belongs to us?

The answer: nothing.

We do not own the body. We do not own the mind. Both are borrowed. Both are temporary. Both are used by forces larger than the individual.

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9. Timeless Recognition Across Cultures

This realization is not new. It has appeared in different forms across history:

Buddhism speaks of anatta — no permanent self. Body and mind are aggregates, not possessions.

Stoics in Greece taught that the body is nature’s gift on loan.

Indian Vedanta distinguishes between the Atman (pure witness) and the body-mind, which are not the self.

Modern neuroscience shows that decisions are made in the brain before we are conscious of them.

All point to the same truth: possession is illusion.

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10. Conclusion: Custodians, Not Owners

Our body is:

Written by DNA.

Shared with microbes.

Fed by environment.

Regulated by society.

Sold by the market.

Decayed by aging.

Reclaimed by death.

And throughout its journey, hijacked by the world mind.

Thus we are not owners. We are custodians at best, passengers at most, squatters of squatters at worst.

To see this clearly is not despair but liberation. For once we accept that neither body nor mind is ours, we are freed from the arrogance of possession. We live lightly, as caretakers of what was never ours.

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