In plain words
What we feel in one state we cannot experience in another. In the dream state you see some death and grieve. But in the waking state do we weep for the one who died in the dream? That belongs only to the dream state; to the waking state it is unreal. Or again, in the state of sleep do we grieve for one who died in the waking state? That is true only for the waking state; for this state of sleep it is unreal. That is why the principle that is in all three, waking, dream and deep sleep, is the principle of the Ātma. It does not bow at all to place, time or circumstance. It is a principle beyond them. To recognise this principle of the Ātma is man's chief duty.
This body is the temple of God, and this temple is not permanent or fixed. It is a temple that is always moving. Wherever this body goes, God is there. Whether you go to the market, sit in a bus, go to the cinema or go to the office, wherever you take this body, God is in that body, with you at home, beside you on the way, your companion before your eyes, and He goes on protecting you. But what is it that moves this inert body? The Prajñāna within it. That is what makes them move. That itself is called consciousness. If we put pieces of iron in one place and set a magnet there, the pieces of iron run this way and that. But pieces of iron have no legs! So in this world all the senses are like pieces of iron.
This body is a worthless iron box; as jewels are placed in a box, in the body dwells the God who is the Ātma; this word of Sai is the true path.
We keep very precious jewels safe inside a worthless iron box. The box has no value, but the things inside have great value. In the same way, this body has no value, but the consciousness in this body is of the greatest value. We find fault with such a precious principle of the Ātma, the principle of Prajñāna. For this worthless box we are striving. The body is indeed essential for wearing all the jewels. If there were no body, what would we do with all these jewels? When someone cut off a head and was making off with it, one man wept, it seems, ‘The head is gone, let it go; but the earrings and jewels are gone!’ In the same way we forget what is called the principle of the Ātma, put our faith in the inert body alone, and offer up our time, our action and our body for its sake.