The Body is Not the Self

Ashtavakra: "Tell me, O King - when your body was that of an infant, where were you? When it becomes old and bent, where will you be?"

Janaka: "I suppose I was present then and will be present in old age as well. The body changes, but I..."

Ashtavakra: "Exactly! You say 'my body' just as you say 'my chariot.' The chariot is not the king, and the body is not you. You are the owner, the witness, the knower of the body - not the body itself."

Janaka: "But I feel so identified with it. When the body is in pain, I suffer. When it is pleased, I am happy."

Ashtavakra: "Does the space within a pot feel the pot's temperature? You witness pain, you witness pleasure - but these are movements in awareness, not awareness itself. The body is born, grows, decays, dies. But that which witnesses this entire drama neither comes into being nor passes away."

Janaka: "Then what is this body to the Self?"

Ashtavakra: "A wave to the ocean. A shadow to its source. The body appears in you - you do not appear in the body. When you dream, entire worlds arise within you. Upon waking, where did they go? The waking body is no different - an appearance in the vast awareness that you are."

Janaka: "So disidentification from the body is the key?"

Ashtavakra: "Not disidentification as an act of will, but simple recognition. You do not need to push away the body - simply see clearly what you are. The body will take care of itself. You were never in it to begin with."