So what is the meditation of the _Jnâni_? He wants to rise above every idea of body or mind, to drive away the idea that he is the body. For instance, when I say “I, Swâmi,” immediately the idea of the body comes. What must I do then? I must give the mind a hard blow and say, “No, I am not the body, I am the Self.” Who cares if disease comes or death in the most horrible form? I am not the body. Why make the body nice? To enjoy the illusion once more? To continue the slavery? Let it go, I am not the body. That is the way of the _Jnâni_. The _Bhakta_ says: “The Lord has given me this body that I may safely cross the ocean of life and I must cherish it until the journey is accomplished.” The _Yogi_ says: “I must be careful of the body so that I may go on steadily and finally attain liberation.” The _Jnâni_ feels that he cannot wait, he must reach the goal this very moment. He says: “I am free through eternity, I am never bound; I am the God of the universe through all eternity. Who shall make me perfect? I am perfect already.” When a man is perfect he sees perfection in others. When he sees imperfection, it is his own mind projecting itself. How can he see imperfection if he has not got it in himself? So the _Jnâni_ does not care for perfection or imperfection. None exists for him. As soon as he is free, he does not see good and evil. Who sees evil and good? He who has it in himself. Who sees the body? He who thinks he is the body. The moment you get rid of the idea that you are the body, you do not see the world at all. It vanishes forever. The _Jnâni_ seeks to tear himself away from this bondage of matter by the force of intellectual conviction. This is the negative way,--the “_neti, neti_” (“not this, not this”). VI UNITY OF THE SELF To illustrate the conclusion arrived at in our last lesson, I will read to you from one of the Upanishads, showing how these ideas were taught in India from the most ancient times.