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Do not get attached to this evanescent body; utilise the body as an implement. Consider yourself as separate from this destructible body, created out of the conjunction of the five Elements. Know yourself as the indestructible Atma. As the house in which you dwell is separate from you, so is the body, which surrounds you for a little time, also separate. The body is the root cause of all the grief, all this calamity and all this slavery. Understand this well; make the body obey your will; never bow down to it and follow its whims. Be prepared to cast it away; resolve to control it and keep it under strict control. You have to deal carefully with the body; you have to train it with great attention.

Though all that was said above related to the Atma, some activities have to be undertaken by everyone. How to use the body as an implement, as a boat for example, to cross the stream of life? Until the other bank is reached, or in other words, until the Ultimate Truth is attained, you must take care to see that it is not damaged or broken or leaky. Let not the boat fall to pieces; be on the look-out for the signs. That is to say; moderate food of good Sathwic quality at the correct time and disciplined physical activities for the body should not be given up. Such activity directed to the spiritual becomes the discipline needed for real Sadhana. This is what is referred to as Dhyanam, Smarana, Puja and Bhajana. When the discipline is practised, as well as later, you must be joyful and not gloomy. This should not be forgotten; never get tired or timid. If however the Sadhaka gets tired, then he can eat at the end of the day's Dhyanam, a few groundnut kernels or almond seeds soaked well in water. These will cool the body and endow it with strength.

Thus every many must develop the virtue of contentment, through Dhyana-Sadhana. Contentment is a Sathwic quality; it will not transform you into an idler; no, not at all! It will, on the other hand, permit the mind to travel towards the Lord; It will grant peace. It will also hinder inessential activities which have profit for oneself as the aim. The contented man will be fully Sathwic: he will lead an inner life, in communion with the Atma, He can do any work, without rest and without complaint. The waves of the mind, which sway in many directions, get a single aim. The Rishis, Bikshus and Yogis of the past realised the goal of life by means of the peace that come to them through Contentment. It gives all Sadhakas the enthusiasm and the vigour necessary for treading the path that leads to Sakshathkara. Contented, the Sadhaka can ignore the dangers and difficulties of that path. He treats as poison all the impermanent things of this life; he discards them as trash. Through Contentment, Discrimination, and Renunciation the spirit of inquiry develops. The story of Meera is an example of this. Understand well the stories of Radha, Jayadeva and Gauranga. They will teach you the Truth. Next