'Look at yourselves in a dish of water, and whatever of the Self you do not understand, tell me.' The two looked into a dish of water. Prajapati asked them: 'What do you see?' They said: 'Revered sir, we see this whole self of ours, a likeness exact down to the hairs and the nails.'
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Source
- Tradition
- Hindu
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- Chandogya Upanishad
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- Chandogya Upanishad
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- ChU.8.8.1
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- Self-KnowledgeBodyIllusion
Same theme, different voices
Two birds, bonded companions, cling to the same tree. One of them eats the sweet fruits; the other, not eating, simply watches.
Just as 'I' is not the house, similarly, 'I' is not the body even. 'I' is in fact a spirit originating and flowing from God, a ramification of the divine entity. The value of human life or importance of the human body comes from the very realisation of this fact.
Whoever is ignorant of himself is yet more ignorant of other things; and inasmuch as a man is bound to know God, he must first know himself, in order that by rightly perceiving his own temporality he may recognize the eternity of God.
Those seeking to satisfy their desires and experience pleasure will instead find spiritual dryness and distraction, as true fulfillment can only be found through introspection.