"I am not this body." I have heard this so many times it has become a truism.
Yes, yes, I am spirit. Not matter.
Chanting japa all night…the full moon overhead…the crickets and night
sounds…an occasional peacock call and every now and the croaking of a frog or
two. It is cool. The insects are not active.
To say, “I am not this body” is generic. Tonight I realized, “I am not a
human being.” Identifying with this body means I think I am a human being, part
of the human race, and bound to act accordingly. None of us are humans. Only we
have taken this birth which will not last. Then what will we be?
If I say to someone, "I am spirit. I am not this material body."
It may sound unusual to them since people generally don't have much dialog on
this. But it does not cause alarm.
But if I say, "I am a not a human being?" There is some apprehension
there. If I am not a human then I must be less than human since human is the highest
life form I can perceive through my senses. This is the problem…proud of this
human body. What I perceive through my sense I have faith in because I am
proud.
That is why we are so slow to make spiritual progress. It is not just
that we identify with this body, but we identify with being human. We are proud
of this human body.
This is a subtle point. The difference between, I am not this body, and I
am not a human being. It is the same thing…but elicits a different response.
What am I? I am in the darkest of ignorance. Therefore I must take the help
of self-realized souls.
The Bhagavad gita as it is as spoken by Krishna to Arjuna
shines a light in the darkness.
No comments:
Post a Comment