Unmasking Our Identity (Overcoming Body-mind Identity)

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It is fashionable to talk of the need of love. It is quite pertinent, however, to ask how one can love others without rising above this body-mind complex that clutters our perception of others. If we go on stressing our caste, language, race, family and regional or even national characteristics, where is the possibility of our love becoming universal and all-inclusive? Declared Swamiji:'It is love and love alone that I preach, and I base my teaching on the great Vedantic truth of the sameness and omnipresence of the Soul of the Universe.'

But how do we overcome this restriction imposed on our awareness? Overcoming body-mind awareness, paradoxically, begins with controlling them, which means becoming aware of them in the right perspective. One cannot rise above body-mind covering without taking care of them. According to the Hindu concept of life, though unborn, we are born because of this identification. We do not die with the death of body. Until we realize our inherent divinity, our mind keeps travelling from one 'body-mind casing' to another. Till we reach the Goal, becoming 're-established' in our Divine identity, we keep taking rebirths repeatedly, in human or non-human forms. And the only way to come out of this cycle is through right action and right thinking which is possible only in human body and mind. The human body-mind are thus called the summit of creation.

The most vital step to overcome the body-mind misconception, therefore, lies in training and purifying the body and mind. This process of inner training is called austerity (tapas). Explains Swami Brahmananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna:'Real austerity is based upon these three principles: First, take refuge in the truth. Truth is the pillar to which you must always hold while performing any action. Second, conquer lust. Third, renounce all cravings. Observe these three principles. That is real austerity, and the greatest of these is to conquer lust.'

Of all the important disciplines for this training, chastity is held to be the cornerstone. For nothing binds us to body-mind more than sex-consciousness. Sex thrives on duality. A person wanting to rise above his body-mind awareness must live a chaste life. Truthfulness, chastity and renunciation of all worldly cravings is what constitutes real austerity. And this breaks open the age-old identification with body and mind. To identify oneself as divine means treating others with same sense of divinity. One can regard oneself as pure, free from all worldliness or one can identify oneself as a child of God—both amount to same.

In sum, although we have many identities born of physical, intellectual and social factors, to recognise our spiritual identity, our true, lasting identity, we need to undergo a process of inner purification. Mere intellectual acceptance or proclamation, though a good beginning, cannot make us discover our lasting identity.