The spiritually evolved being has no connection with the body or with its actions and their consequences. When one comes to understand that one's own existence is different from that of the body, and that one is therefore neither fat nor thin, one reaches the highest level of spiritual realization. On the contrary, one who is unaware of his true identity remains chained to the material world because of his bodily concept of existence. At present, all of humanity lives with this bodily consciousness. Spiritual intelligence enables one to understand this truth and thereby elevate society to the level of perfection. One who ceases to be affected by the bodily concept of existence in its various aspects can rise to devotional service to the Lord. The more we free ourselves from all bodily concepts, the more firmly we establish ourselves in devotional service and the more happy and peaceful we become.
The being free from any bodily conception of existence lives separate from the body, even while living in this material world.
The path to sense gratification is paved with insurmountable difficulties.
The incarnate spiritual being wanders the paths of the material universe, which are very difficult for him to traverse, and he must be born and die endlessly. Subjugated by this world under the influence of the three attributes of material nature: virtue, passion, and ignorance, he has only one thing in mind: the three kinds of fruits of action: good, bad, and mixed. He thus clings to pious deeds, the pursuit of wealth, sense gratification, and the monistic theory of liberation, which consists of merging with the Absolute. He toils day and night like a merchant who goes into the forest to exploit the riches he will later resell at a profit. Nevertheless, he cannot truly find happiness in this material world.
It is very easy to understand that the path to sense gratification is paved with insurmountable difficulties. However, one who is not aware of this falls into the cycle of death and rebirth and must successively assume many different bodies, human, animal, plant; material existence thus plunges him into suffering. Perhaps a person now believes he is enjoying life as an American, an Indian, an Englishman, or a German, but in his next life he will have to assume a body belonging to one of the eight million four hundred thousand (8,400,000) species. He will have to immediately accept this new body according to his karma. He will be forced to enter it, and it will be of no use to him to protest. Such are the intransigent laws of nature. Because it is ignorant of its eternal, blissful nature, the separate soul attaches itself to material acts under the spell of maya, the illusory energy akin to Satan. Although it can never know happiness in this world, it nevertheless continues to toil laboriously for this purpose. This is what is called maya, illusion.