When will the Self shine with all its brilliance in us? Bhagawan describes for us the primary step in this journey.
A stomachful of food, an eyeful of sleep, a home full of children’s laughter – these, according to most people, are the highest levels of happiness. But this refers only to the interval between birth and death. What of the before and after? The body is something separate from you. You own it for some years and you feed it, foster it and struggle with it, to tame it to do your will. ‘You’ or the ‘I’ in the body is the ‘Atma’ which is One without a second. When identification with the body weakens, the effulgence of the Atma (divine Self) will be patent. Attachment to the body implies the accumulation and acquisition of things that cater to its needs and greed. Accumulation promotes exploitation; it cannot win grace. It has no limit; the thirst increases with each gulp. It always asks for more.
– Divine Discourse, Apr 21, 1983.
