Mercedes De Acosta - (Maharshi's answers)

[Guest guest]

Question: Are the world, the mind, ego and the body all the same

thing?

 

Bhagavan: Yes. They are one and the same thing. The mind and the ego

are one thing, but there is no word to explain this.

You see, the world cannot exist without the mind, the mind

cannot exist without what we call the ego [itself, really]

and the ego cannot exist without a body.

 

 

Question: Then when we leave this body, that is when the ego leaves

it, will it [the ego] immediately grasp another body?

 

Bhagavan: Oh, yes, it must. It cannot exist without a body.

 

Question: What sort of a body will it grasp then?

 

Bhagavan: Either a physical body or a subtle-mental-body.

 

Question: Do you call this present physical body the gross body?

 

Bhagavan: Only to distinguish it--to set it apart in conversation.

It is really a subtle-mental-body also.

 

Question: What causes us to be reborn?

 

Bhagavan: Desires. Your unfulfilled desires bring you back.

And in each case--in each body--as your desires are

fulfilled, you create new ones. You must conquer desire

to be absorbed into the One and thus end rebirth.

 

Question: Can sex change in rebirth?

 

Bhagavan: Oh, surely. We have all been both sexes many times.

 

Question: Is it possible to sin?

 

Bhagavan: Having a body, which creates illusion, is the only sin,

and the body is our only hell. But it is right that we

observe moral laws. The discussion of sin is too difficult

for a few lines.

 

Mercedes De Acosta - Here Lies the Heart