76
THE SCIENCE OF SELF-REALIZATION
“Anyone who accepts this bodily bag of three elements [bile, mucus, and air] as his self, who has an affinity for an intimate relationship with his wife and children, who considers his land worshipable, who takes bath in the waters of the holy places of pilgrimage but never takes advantage of those persons who are in actual knowledge—he is no better than an ass or a cow.”
Unfortunately, in these days we have all been turned foolish by neglecting our real comfort and identifying the material cage with ourselves. We have concentrated all our energies for the meaningless upkeep of the material cage for its own sake, completely neglecting the captive soul within. The cage is meant for the undoing of the bird; the bird is not meant for the welfare of the cage. Let us, therefore, deeply ponder this. All our activities are now turned toward the upkeep of the cage, and the most we do is to give some food to the mind by art and literature. But we do not know that this mind is also material in a more subtle form. This is stated in the  Gītā  [7.4]:
bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca ahankāra itīyaṁ me bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā
“Earth, fire, water, air, sky, intelligence, mind, and ego are all My separated energies.”
We have scarcely tried to give any food to the soul, which is distinct from the body and mind; therefore we are all committing suicide in the proper sense of the term. The message of the Ācāryadeva is to give us a warning to halt such wrong activities. Let us therefore bow down at his lotus feet for the unalloyed mercy and kindness he has bestowed upon us.
Gentlemen, do not for a moment think that my Gurudeva wants to put a complete brake on the modern civilization—an impossible feat. But let us learn from him the art of making the best use of a bad bargain, and let us understand the importance of this human life, which is fit for the highest development of true consciousness. The best use of this rare human life should not be neglected. As it is said in the  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  [11.9.29]:
labdhvā sudurlabham idaṁ bahu-sambhavānte mānuṣyam arthadam anityam apīha dhīraḥ