"The Difference Between a Living Body and a Dead Body."

"The Difference Between a Living Body and a Dead Body."

If we have a little common sense and a sincere desire to know things as they are, there are so many things we can learn just by studying things around us. For example, even by observing the difference between a living body and a dead body we can understand some of the basic underlying facts of reality. Amazingly this basic information remains unknown even to the leading so-called educational institutions on this planet. When Srila Prabhupada was preaching one time at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) he inquired, "Where is the department at this university that teaches the difference between a living body and a dead body." Nobody could answer him because there is no such department.

Why are we attracted to a living body and repulsed by a dead body? The chemical elements are the same. The difference is the presence or absence of the living spark, the atma, the spirit-soul. In the living body the spirit-soul is present, and in the dead body the spirit-soul is absent. So what is actually attractive and meaningful is the spirit-soul, not the material body. Yet in spite of this simple, easily understood point we invest practically our entire life's energy in catering to the demands of the material body, which is a mere covering of the actual self.  And we practically complete ignore the needs of the eternal soul.

Such a misspent life is utter foolishness. It leads to frustration and ultimately devastation at the time of death when everything is ripped away from us. The best thing is to mentally detach ourselves now by understanding and realizing, "I am not this body." Understanding means to grasp the philosophical concept, and realization means to fully imbibe that understanding in our every thought, word, and deed. In other words to always think, speak and act on the platform of being a spirit-soul, rather than a material body. 

How do we accomplish this? We have to engage ourselves fully on the spiritual platform by engaging everything in the service of God. This automatically elevates us to the spiritual platform without any necessity of the gymnastic system as practiced in hatha yoga or the system of mental speculation as practiced in jnana yoga. The platform of bhakti yoga (devotion to Lord Sri Krishna) immediately situates us on the transcendental platform. This can easily be realized by engaging all of senses in the service of the Lord. Through this simply purifying process we gradually awaken the dormant enlightened consciousness, the Krishna consciousness, which has been sleeping within us for countless lifetimes.