Instead, he considers carefully the faults in the mechanism of
his body or mind and tries to set them right. On the contrary, a person who does not make this distinction
between the body and himself cannot improve himself at all. "This body, this lump of flesh,
this image of clay, this is me" - if a man thinks thus, how could he
improve himself? Improvement becomes possible only when we begin to realize that the body is
given to us as a means, an instrument.
When someone points out that something is wrong with my
charkha, do I get angry? On the contrary, and fault found in it, I set
right. The body too is exactly like this. The body is a tool with which to
cultivate the field of the Lord. If it gets out of order, it should, of
course, be set right forthwith. The body being an instrument, we should keep ourselves detached
from it, and try to get rid of the defects in it. I am separate from
this instrument; I am its master and owner; I make it work and receive
its noble service. From childhood onwards, we should cultivate this attitude of
remaining separate from the body.
9. As the spectator who stands apart from the game sees most
clearly its merits and defects, it is only when we stand aloof from the body, mind and intellect that we can observe the merits and defects in them. Some people
say, "My memory is getting feeble. Please tell me what to do about it." When a man says this, it is clear that he
looks on himself as different from his memory. He says, "My memory has become dull," as he might say of any
other of his instruments, that it has lost its quality.
One may mislay one's child, one may mislay one's book, but
one cannot mislay oneself. When at the end he dies, the body it utterly lost
and turns to nothing, but he himself remains the same. He is whole, and
free from all diseases. This is a thing to understand. Once we understand
this, we are released from many conflicts and difficulties.
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