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 our-
selves. 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 try 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 Gita [7.4]:

bhiimir apo ’nalo vayuh
kham mano buddhir eva ca
ahankara itiyam me
bhinna prakrtir astadha
‘‘Rarth, fire, water, air, sky, intelligence, mind, and ego are all My sepa-
rated 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 Acaryadeva 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 high-
est development of true consciousness. The best use of this rare human
life should not be neglected. As it is said in the Srimad-Bhagavatam
(11.9.29]:

labdhva sudurlabham idam bahu-sambhavante
manusyam arthadam anityam apiha dhirah
