"By ignoring the body"

By ignoring the body, we cannot fulfil our promise to God. At the same time, we have to remain aloof from the demands of the body. The body, vital and mind are like mischievous monkeys. We have to keep these monkeys under control by becoming one with the soul. That means that we become the boss in our life. We have to be very strict. If three of our workers go on strike, then we shall immediately force them to go back to their job. We have to threaten these workers and warn them that they are doing something wrong. Naturally, they know that it will not be easy for them to leave us because they will not get a better salary elsewhere. Just because they are our body, our vital, our mind, they have a special connection, an inseparable link with us. They cannot break that connection. Eventually they will come to know that we are telling them the right thing.

If the demands of the body will not allow the seeker to make progress, then those demands have to be discarded. But if the body is participating consciously and soulfully in the soul's task, then we have to feel that the body is doing absolutely the right thing. The integral way is for the body, vital, mind, heart and soul to go together. They are all members of the same family. But we have to know that the soul is the oldest and wisest member. Whoever is the oldest and the wisest should take the lead. What we need is not the path of indulgence, but the path of alertness, the path of acceptance of the soul’s light. This is what we want from the body.