The beginning of spiritual life is to understand that “I am not this body.” That is the beginning. So if I am properly trained up to understand that “I am not this body,” then where is my tāpa–traya, miserable condition? Because miserable condition is due to this body.…

So when one understands that “I am not this body,” he is not very much affected.Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, deha–smṛti nāhi yāra,saṁsāra–bandhana kāhāṅ tāra. Deha–smṛti: it is simply to understand. Just like I have given several times this example: you are in a very nice car, Cadillac, and you are very proud of it, and if by chance the car is by accident broken then your heart breaks. Why? You are not the car. But because your thoughts are absorbed in the car, that “This is my car,” therefore your heart becomes broken. Actually you have nothing to do with the car. Even the car is broken into pieces, you are not affected. But because I have got affection for the car, therefore I am… So this affection can be withdrawn by cultivation of knowledge. That I am not this car, it is a fact, but on account of my ignorance and attachment I am thinking, “Now I am finished because my car is broken.” It is simple truth. Similarly those who are too much absorbed in the thought that “I am this body,” their sufferings are more on account of this misconception that “I am this body.“

… Here in this material world we are advanced in so-called civilization, but we are very much attached to this body. This is misconception. This is called illusion. This is, the dog is also thinking like that: “I am this body.” So where is the difference? If the dog thinks, “I am this body,” “I am Indian…” I think, “I am Indian”; Americans thinks he is… So where is the difference between the dog and me? There is no difference. Simply by dressing nicely… If you dress a dog very nicely, does it mean that he becomes a human being? A dressed dog, that’s all. Dog dancing. So śāstra says that if one is still in the bodily concepts of life, then he’s no better than animal.Yasyātma-buddhiḥ kuṇape tri-dhātuke [SB 10.84.13]. Tri-dhātuke.