When we do not feel well, we often say, “I am not well” or “I have this or that (illness)”. But if we are not our bodies, then we are not our illnesses too!
Because man is not his body, but his Soul, how can he be unwell or be struck by any kind of disease that happens to his body?
It is only the body that has become contaminated somehow, but never the Self. It is right to say, “My body is not feeling well, etc.” but never say, “I am not feeling well” because health does not play any role with the great Soul – It is ‘Spirit’.
Sages say that we have to be careful when saying words such as the above because we might believe them (as we have), and then the being or spirit also starts to feel weak. The spirit of a person is separate from his body. This is Spirit, so it cannot be physically contained, contaminated or trapped in anyway. It exists in the human body as the spirit that lights up the faculties of the body, but never mistake the Spirit or Self for the limited and puny body.
Birth, childhood, adulthood, old age, disease and death, are the stages of life on earth by Cosmic design for every being. These are all given to the body only, not to the Self. The Self is not the body.
“As the embodied Soul continuously passes in this body from childhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A wise person is not bewildered by such a change.” – Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, Verse 13
Since we are not our bodies, and birthless and deathless also, we are not some physical organism that is susceptible to any kind of germs or diseases – It is not like a human body that can fall ill. Nothing on earth can possibly touch the real Self of an individual – It is that powerful and incredible, and must be understood well.
“For the Soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He (Soul) has not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever existing, and primeval. He does not die when the body is slain.” – Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, Verse 20
Simply by the power of the realisation that “I am not the body or mind” we get to overcome the setbacks or limitations of the body and mind. We may choose to say, “I am unwell” and let the spirit feel weakened by this false and ignorant statement, or we could choose to say, “I am not the body, I am immortal. Ever blissful and free. Nothing can contaminate me, I am in control of my body and mind…etc.” – which is the Absolute Truth. We can wield the mind in anyway we want to, it is only the “words” we say to ourselves, let them be right and wise.
"He who beholds the imperishable Supreme Lord, existing equally in all perishable beings, realizes the truth." – Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 13, Sloka 27
We can see now why thinking (ignorantly) that we are our bodies can bring us sadness and sorrow, but thinking we are the great Soul, literally liberates us and leads us to joy! (No matter what our bodily condition is).
“A person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the Soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.” – Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, Verse 22
* Extract from the book 'OUR REAL IDENTITY' (Not Knowing Our Real Identity Is The Root of All Problems In Life), by Joy Nandy
