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A thirsty deer, misled by mirage, sees water in the distance and runs towards it with all its might! But since that mirage is not real water, just an illusion, it keeps receding as the deer approaches! The poor deer keeps running in vain, chasing its false hope! Similarly, a traveler crossing a desert at noon sees a mirage of water in the distance. Thirsty, he runs towards it, but the water remains just as far away! Because that water is false, a mere illusion, a visual deception created by the sun's rays. So, he is left disappointed! In the same way, these feelings of attachment to the body, house, etc., are like mirages. They are not ours, yet they appear to be ours due to our lack of understanding, our illusion, our false perception! So, a foolish being, like a deer, considers them his own and runs after them, driven by a desperate desire to possess them! But how can something that is not truly ours ever be obtained? As this being runs after them, they keep receding, mocking him! It's as if they are cruelly making fun of him, playing a trick on him!
Because in this endless cycle of existence, this being has taken on countless bodies. Which body does this being consider its own? The body that this being mistakenly considers its own, it abandons, like a thief, leaving it behind! And this being, like a sheep, keeps rubbing its hands in vain! If this body, which is constantly changing, is not truly ours, then how can we be attached to possessions like houses, etc., which are dependent on that body? If this soul, like milk and water, resides in this body for a short time, and even this body is not truly ours, then how can other things, which are completely different from it, be ours? Therefore, these external feelings, like the body, are illusory, like mirages, as a person with right understanding clearly sees.
Great souls, who wander in the form of bodies, always focus on the eternal, immortal, infinite soul that resides within the body. Even though this soul may have taken on many bodies, which body does it consider its own?
Sri Mansukh Bhai Kirchand's "Srimad Rajchandra's Life Story." Or, these feelings of attachment to the body, house, etc., are like castles in the air, created in the sky.