'I' and 'mine' represent the body idea.......

[Guest guest]

…… " Once Kondaji's (a Marwadi) stack of hay took fire. Baba tried to

prevent it by sending him to go and look at it. But he returned

without seeing it properly, and then said there was no fire. Then

Baba pointed out to the smoke issuing from the stack. He then ran up

and found that the whole thing had been reduced to ashes. People in

the neighbourhood, with neighbouring stacks, were all afraid that the

brisk breeze that was blowing would set their stacks also on fire.

Baba then came up, and going round Kondaji's stack, drew a line of

water round it, and said; `Only this stack will be burnt'. Kondaji,

however, was very sorry that he had lost his property. Then Baba

said, `How stupid is this? The marwadi talks of himself as his body,

that is, the form made up of flesh, bones etc. Hay is something

totally different. What has he to do with the stack or the stack to

do with him? Hallo, Marwadi, you better make up for this loss in some

other transaction'. Thus, Baba gave him some practical advice to get

over his grief, and at the same time pointed out that philosophically

speaking, there was no basis for the notion of either `I' or `Mine'.

It is ruinous for any soul that desires its true welfare to go on

dwelling over and over again upon `I' and `Mine'. When he thinks of

the `I' it does not get to the real inwardness of the `I'. On the

other hand, it centres its emphasis on everything unimportant. For

instance, if you ask a boy whom you meet, `Who are you?' you may get

ten different answers, such as, `I am a boy, I am named Rama, I am

the son of Krishna, I am a Hindu, I am aged 16, I am a boy attending

St. Peter's School', etc. That is, every one of these things is not

he, but it is an accident attached to him which he mentions as he.

What is the central core round which all these accidents gather? That

he does not know. Philosophers might say, `There is a piece of

Chaitanya or Pure Consciousness which, however, changes its purity

and gets attached to some external body, and then a particularity

comes into it, namely, a red haired youth. So, the `I' becomes a red

haired youth. Thus we develop various notions of I, which stricty

speaking are not true, and which do not help us in the ultimate goal

that we have to reach, however useful some of them may be for our

progress in our material circumstances. Therefore, Baba tried to

rebuke this egotism especially when it showed itself in offensive

forms. Abhimana means overfondness of dwelling on this particularity

you call `I' connected. with the body, and it also comes in relation

to property, Therefore, the most important thing to be attained in

the case of a sadhaka is to lessen and remove this abhimana to

dissociate himself from the body idea. `I' and `mine' represent the

body idea. " ……