I think a big part of what Niki is saying is that our physicality is not at all trivial, and that the trivialization of the flesh is one of the pitfalls of Western philosophy. At least that's how I understood it, and that's my understanding of the body/soul relationship. Our bodies aren't mere containers for our Self, but our soul pervades (not a perfect word, but the best one I can come up with at the moment) our bodies, manifests in our bodies, the way God is pervasive and manifest in the universe. Soul and body are not separate, anymore than God and creation are. And yet one is eternal and one is not. Yay, paradox!

I have some weirdo beliefs about why this is, and what exactly the body is to the soul, but it's ewigweibliche's post so I won't get technical.