SLOKA OF THE DAY:

Bhagavad Gita As It Is -
Chapter 7 Text 4
bhumir apo 'nalo vayuh
kham mano buddhir eva ca
ahankara itiyam me
bhinna prakrtir astadha

bhumih--earth; apah--water; analah--fire; vayuh--air; kham--ether; manah--mind; buddhih--intelligen ce; eva--certainly; ca--and; ahankarah--false ego; iti--thus; iyam--all these; me--My; bhinna--separated; prakrtih--energies; astadha--eightfold.

TRANSLATION

Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego--all together these eight constitute My separated material energies.

JOURNAL:

Srila Prabhupada writes in his purport; In the material energy, the principal manifestations are eight, as above mentioned. Out of these, the first five manifestations, namely earth, water, fire, air and sky, are called the five gigantic creations or the gross creations, within which the five sense objects are included. They are the manifestations of physical sound, touch, form, taste and smell. Material science comprises these ten items and nothing more. But the other three items, namely mind, intelligence and false ego, are neglected by the materialists.

Generally, I try not to identify with my body. But here I learn that I am also not my mind, intelligence or false ego. When I lose myself in the practice of japa I can get a small glimmer of this but, for me, it is a hard realization to come by.