Our Real Life 29

from this false identification—thinking that I am this matter,
although I am seeing every day, at every moment, that I am not
this matter. Soul is permanently existing, while matter is
changing. This misconception, this illusion, is called ahankara,
false ego. And your liberation means when you are out of this
false ego. What is that status? Aham brahmasmi. I am Brahman,
I am spirit. That is the beginning of liberation.

Of course, one may be suffering from disease, from fever,
and the temperature may come down to normal, 98.6 degrees.
So he is now normal, but that is not the cure. Suppose for two
days he has a 98.6 degree temperature, but with a slight change
of diet, a slight change of behavior, the temperature rises im-
mediately to 100. Relapse. Similariy, simply purifying the
mind, rejecting this false ahankara identification—I am not
this body,I am not this matter; I am soul—this is not liberation.
It is only the beginning of liberation. If you stick to this point,
and continue—just as you might continue your activities and
keep your temperature at 98.6 degrees—then you axe a healthy
man.

For exampie, in the West now there is some propaganda for
taking intoxication. The people want to forget the bodily
existence. But how long will you forget? There will be a re-
lapse. You can forget for one hour or two, by intoxication, and
think that I am not this body. But unless you are actually on
the platform of understanding yourself by knowledge, it is not
possible to continue. Still, everyone is trying to think, “I am
not this body.” They have experience that they are suffering
so much on account of bodily identification, and so, “If only
I could forget my bodily identification!”

This is only a negative conception. When you actually realize
yourself, simply understanding that you are Brahman will not
do. You have to engage in thé activities of Brahman. Other-
wise you will fall down. Simply flying very high is no solution
to the problem of going to the moon. Nowadays the fools are
