Govindaram Posted August 4, 2003 Report Share Posted August 4, 2003 =========================================== "You Are Not Your Body." The Ultimate Self Realization Course; (A1) =========================================== My dear Bhakta's /images/graemlins/smile.gif Please accept my blessings. Today we are going to discuss what is absolutely the most important understanding for one who wants to achieve spiritual enlightenment. That is the understanding that you are not your body. Please now lay aside all other thoughts and concerns and deeply consider and contemplate the following points. How can we understand that we are not our bodies? My spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, has explained it in this way, "One can perceive one's self-identification and feel positively that he exists. He may not feel it very abruptly, but by using a little intelligence, he can feel that he is not the body. He can feel that the hand, the leg, the head, the hair and the limbs are all his bodily parts and parcels, but as such the hand, the leg, the head, etc., cannot be identified with his self. Therefore just by using intelligence he can distinguish and separate his self from other things that he sees. So the natural conclusion is that the living being, either man or beast, is the seer, and he sees beside himself all other things. So there is a difference between the seer and the seen." The point Srila Prabhupada is making is that there is a difference between the seer and the seen. The seer sits at a vantage point from which he or she can perceive the body. He can observe how the heart is beating. He can observe how the lungs are breathing. After eating a big meal he or she can observe how the body is dealing with the food. Ask yourself these questions: Are my eyes seeing, or am I seeing through my eyes? Are my ears hearing, or am I hearing through my ears? Is my skin feeling, or am I feeling through my skin? What is this body, and who am I? If you were standing by the bank of the Mississippi River and I were to point to the river and ask you what kind of water it is, you would probably say that it is Mississippi River water. But what was it yesterday? It was Missouri River water or Ohio River water. And what will be in a few days? Gulf of Mexico water. In the same way the bag of chemicals that you call yourself is in a constant state of flux. The chemicals that you think are you today were something else yesterday and will be another something else tomorrow. They are no more "you" than the molecules of water that flow through what is known as the Mississippi River. So what are you, and who are you? You are the seer, the constant factor through so many changes of body that are going on constantly. In fact the body you have now is not the same body you had when you began reading this lesson. This concept is described very nicely in the Bhagavad-gita: dehino 'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara tatha dehantara-praptir dhiras tatra na muhyati "As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change." Bhagavad-gita: 2.13 ================================================== Note: We highly recommend that you get a copy of Bhagavad- gita As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. This particular edition is the most authoritative and popular edition in the world. Studying it carefully will greatly facilitate your rapid spiritual advancement. It can be purchased from us by clicking on the following link: http:// <font color="red"> <a href="http://www.UltimateSelfRealization.Com/store" target="_blank">www.UltimateSelfRealization.Com/store </font color> </a> /images/graemlins/laugh.gif =================================================== When you were a small child the body you had was quite different from the one you have now, but yet you can remember experiences you had then. The chemicals that made up that body are long gone, but yet there is a non-material seer of the activities of the body that can remember those past experiences. Are you convinced now that you are not your body? If so, you should now write a paper describing this concept. You may repeat in your own words what has been described here as well as give your own personal realizations. Save the paper as an important milestone on your path of spiritual enlightenment. VERY IMPORTANT: If you are not yet convinced that you are not your body you need to carefully study Chapter Two of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is. If you don't yet have a copy or yet in spite of having studied it you are still not convinced, then you should phone me or email me right way for further explanation. Without your being fixed in realizing that you are not your body this entire course will completely useless. Hoping this meets you in good health and in a cheerful mood, Always your well-wisher, <font color="red">Sankarshan Das Adhikari </font color> P.S. Check out our resources page by clicking here: http://www.UltimateSelfRealization.Com /images/graemlins/cool.gif P.S.S. Feel free to contact me for personal guidance, but be patient. I have thousands of students all over the world. It may take me some time to get back to you =========================================================== Contact Information: Ph: 1-512-835-2121 Mailto:sda@UltimateSelfRealization.Com P.O. Box 143073, Austin, Texas 78714-3072, USA =========================================================== © 2002-2003 by Sankarshan Das Adhikari. All rights reserved. http://www.ultimateselfrealization.com/mail/remove.php?u=e0f7604 <font color="blue">O </font color> <font color="green"> Mind </font color> <font color="red"> Just </font color> <font color="orange">Worship </font color> <font color="black"> Krsna </font color> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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