We are indeed not our body.

Do you say, “This is my body” or you say, “I am body” – what would you say?

This is my body, right?

So who is saying, “This is my body”?

The owner and the belonging must be separate. If you say, “This is my house”, it means you are the owner of the house. So, the house and the owner must be separate. Similarly you say, “This is my body”, which means you are not body; you must be separate from body.

If we are separate from the body, then why do we suffer the pain?

We suffer the pain because of ignorance of our real Self. We wrongly believe, ‘I am the body’, and that is why we suffer the pain.

When one does not know who he really is, and hence claims to be what he is not, that is called ego. When this ego is removed, we realize the real Self.

There are three parts to our human form:

The body is effective. It is the one that undergoes the pain according to the effective karma. It is temporary and is a result of the karma one binds because of ego.

The ego is a bunch of wrong beliefs, emerging from the primary false belief of ‘I am this body and name and I am the doer.’ Hence, it binds karma and suffers the resultant pain in the body complex.

The pure Soul is the real Self. It is an eternal element with infinite vision and infinite knowledge. The Soul is an abode of eternal bliss. This is what we really are!

The body is in its inherent nature. The Soul too is in its inherent nature of knowing and seeing everything, without suffering any pain or pleasure. The result of this seeing and knowing is bliss, irrespective of the kind of pain the body may be undergoing.

The ego, due to its false belief, thinks, ‘it is happening to me; I am in so much pain, I am suffering.’ If the ego is destroyed, then we come in the true nature of the Self, which is bliss, bliss and bliss.

Let us see how the ego came into existence!

How long does it take for a shadow to arise in the light of the Sun? When anything comes in front of a mirror, how long does it take for a reflection to arise? How does this happen? This activity is natural.

In the same way, coming together of the two elements body and Self – Soul, an extra result arises – the ego (this is a natural occurrence). And due to its effect, wrong belief arises. It is the ego that takes on the wrong belief.

Let us see how the ego is removed!

This wrong belief of ‘who am I’ can only be removed through Self-realisation. When Gnani, the Enlightened One, destroys our wrong belief and sets in the right belief of ‘who am I’, our Soul is enlightened. That is called Self-Realization.

After you are Self-Realised, you are able to maintain separation from the body, which is in pain, and in the awareness of the Self, remain just the Seer and Knower of the pain as it arises, manifests and leaves. The pain is temporary and you, as a Soul, are permanent. So, you can see and know every phase of the pain and yet remain unaffected.

The moment you remain in the realm of the pure Soul and see the body as a separate entity, the physical pain will not affect you. You are a Pure Soul, and your nature is only to “See and Know” whatever the body complex is experiencing. It is that simple, provided you have received the grace of the Living Gnani, who has the divine spiritual powers to make you experientially know that really, “I am a Pure Soul!” and not this body or name.