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statue and a statue cannot look at itself. The soul has no physical shape or outline and is unaffected by time. The body has a shape which is subject to time. From childhood to manhood it grows in size and then gradually gets worn out and is finally destroyed. The fine muscular frame of youth becomes a bag of bones in old age and finally becomes a handful of dust. The body is subject to growth and decay and is, therefore, transient.
“How can one distinguish between the body and the soul:" I was once asked by a young man. This man was an amateur photographer and his camera had been his constant companion since childhood. I told him, “That which is subject to the laws of time, that which grows and finally comes to decay, is the body. That which is immortal, indestructible, is the soul. You tell me that you are fond of taking selfportraits with your camera. Well, take your photographs from childhood to the present and arrange them in a chronological order. Then ask yourself, 'Which of these am I? This little boy or this young man:' You will understand then that the thing which changes day by day is not your real self. This is only your outward form. Your true self is formless, it is ageless.” 66
