To take the body seriously is to allow the world to control you

The following is an excerpt from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

नाहं देहो न मे देहो बोधोऽहमिति निश्चयी।

कैवल्यं इव संप्राप्तो न स्मरत्यकृतं कृतम्॥

~ अष्टावक्र गीता (अध्याय ११, श्लोक ६)

Neither I am this body, nor this body is mine.I am pure knowledge. One who knows it with definiteness gets liberated in this life. He neither remembers acts done in past nor worries of future.

~ Ashtavakra Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 6)

Question: “Nāhaṁ deho na me deho (Neither I am this body, nor this body is mine).”

How is the statement, “Neither I am this body,” different from the statement, “Nor is the body mine”?

Acharya Prashant (AP): It only means that the sage wants to attack your illusions from both sides. On one hand, he is saying, “The body cannot be my identity,” on the other hand he is saying, “I do not need to possess the body.” Both of these are related, both are like looking at the issue from different directions.