‘I’ is the only independent form. Everything that falls under ‘My’ is alien and not related to the Self. The body (cosmic flux of input and output) also falls under ‘My’. In the relative world, you have to say “my” or “this is mine”, but from within, your internal understanding should be that ‘it is not really mine’. When a person achieves this understanding, nothing bothers him. There is nothing wrong in speaking this way but from within, one should decide what really belongs to him. If a police officer makes an inquiry at your house and asks whose house it is, you will have to say, “It is my house”, but from within you should have an understanding that it is not yours. It is the inner understanding that makes the difference. The real ‘I’ has no possessions.

‘My’ is the ‘relative department’ and it is a temporary state, while ‘I’ is the ‘Real department’ and it is the permanent state. ‘I’ can never be temporary. Therefore, of the two, you need to pursue ‘I’.

If I tell you to separate ‘I’ and ‘My’ with a ‘separator’, would you be able to do so? Do you not think it is important to separate the ‘I’ and ‘My’? Eventually, you will have to know this. Separate ‘I’ and ‘My’. Just as there is a method to separate curd and whey, there is a way to separate the ‘My’ and the ‘I’.

Now, do you identify with the ‘My’? Is the ‘I’ alone or is it with ‘My’?

Questioner: ‘My’ is always there.

Gnani: What all things fall under ‘My’?

Questioner: My home and all the things inside my home.

Gnani: Are all of those things yours? To whom does the wife belong?

Questioner: She is also mine.

Gnani: And these children?

Questioner: They are also mine.

Gnani: And this watch?

Questioner: That is also mine.

Gnani: And these hands, whose hands are these?

Questioner: They are also mine.

Gnani: Then you will say “My head, my body, my feet, my ears, my eyes, etc.” All these parts of your body fall under ‘My’. But then who is the person that is saying this word “My”? Who is the one that says all these things are “mine”? Have you ever thought about that? When you say “My name is Chandulal” and then you turn around and say, “I am Chandulal” do you not think there is a contradiction in this?
Questioner: Yes, I think so.

…to be continued in next part…

–from the book shivoham

–Shikha Punjani