Why Is The Body Needed?

[Guest guest]

Jaya Guru Datta,

 

Here is today's saying:

 

"Question: If Moksha is not a state of nothingness and if the Self is not

attached to anything, why is the body needed? You say that the body comes from

the five natural elements. Because the five elements have been there in the

creation always, it has to be said that no one has achieved Moksha till now. If

no one has achieved it till now, there is no reason to believe that it can be

achieved at all! Why should we bother about something which has neither been

achieved till now nor can be achieved in future also?

 

Answer: This question arises only when we say that the body comes only from the

five natural elements. What is the use if there is a huge lump of clay? Can a

pot come in to existence on its own? Does it not require a potter who can make

use of the clay to make the pot? Similarly, it is of no use if only the potter

is there and there is no clay. To make a pot, both clay and the potter are

required. Both are causes and pot is the effect. In a pot, from whichever

direction you may see, you can see only the clay. You can not see the potter.

That cause which remains even after the effect manifests is called as ‘Upadana

Karana’ (proximate cause). The cause which can not be seen thus is called

‘Nimitta Karana’(instrumental cause). For any Karya (effect), it is not enough

if one of the causes is present. Both Upadana and Nimitta causes must be

present.

 

 

Sri Swamiji

Lessons in Vedanta - 33 part VIII

Bhakti Mala, August 1998

 

Sri Guru Datta,

Swamiji Says

 

 

 

________

Outgrown your current e-mail service? Get 25MB Storage, POP3 Access,

Advanced Spam protection with LYCOS MAIL PLUS.

http://login.mail.lycos.com/brandPage.shtml?pageId=plus&ref=lmtplus