Q: What is the Difference Between Myself And My Body?

It’s easy to understand what our body is. After all, we all have one. Each of us has hands, legs, stomach, a face etc. Yet we call them, MY hand, MY stomach, MY legs etc. No one ever refers to his hand as “I” hand or “I” face. The problem here is that we identify our self, which is spiritual with body parts that are not. We are eternal spiritual beings and are the proprietors of our hand, face or stomach. The difference between them is that our body is composed of matter and is temporary. Everyone’s body ages, becomes frail, and ultimately dies. The soul however is not subject to death. The Gita says, “For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.” (BG 2.20) The soul, our innermost self, is never subject to death as is our body is. If one fully understands this fact they will also adjust their priorities from pursuing that which is temporary to that which is eternal.