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Bondage and Liberation
The wise one is not conditioned by the body, though he is in the body, like a man aroused from dream. But the foolish man who has a wrong notion is conditioned by the body like one in the dreaming state. The ignorant man identifies himself with the body, like the man in dream.
The senses perceive the objects of the senses. The wise one does not identify himself with these. He is, therefore, not affected by them.
The ignorant man, however, while dwelling in this body which is under the control of past actions, in which the senses act, thinks that he is the doer and becomes thus bound down.
The wise one, being thus free from attachment in such acts as sleeping, sitting, walking, bathing, seeing, touching, smelling, eating, hearing, etc., does not bind himself like the ignorant man; for, in those acts he realises that the Gunas [1] perceive and not his Self. He does not identify himself with them. He stands as a silent witness of the activities or experiences of the organs. Even though he is living in the midst of Prakriti, still he is untouched by it like the sky, the sun and the air. He dwells in the body, but is not attached to it. The sun becomes reflected in water, but is not attached to water. The air moves about all around, but does not become attached to any object. Akasa is all-pervading, but it is not attached to anything.
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