Neem Karoli Baba, popularly known as Maharajji, was a revered Hindu guru and a devotee of Lord Hanuman. He helped many renowned figures around the world discern a clear and effective life path, including Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and Ram Dass, a Harvard psychologist and psychedelic researcher who later brought his teachings to the West.He once talked about the idea that the world often measures truth by what we can see, touch, and hear; Neem Karoli Baba’s words invite us to look beyond the surface, into a reality where consciousness is not limited by flesh and bone.He compels us to ask: are we only our bodies? Or is there something in us that is larger, freer, and more connected than we even know?
Quote of the day
The great sadhus don’t have a human body. They are omnipresent. If a saint changes form, he doesn’t necessarily have to take on a human body. The soul is the small form and the human body is the huge form
Neem Karoli Baba
What does the quote mean?
At first glance, this can sound paradoxical. How can the soul be “small” and the body “huge”? To understand this, we need to see what exactly he means to say.When Neem Karoli Baba says “the soul is the small form,” he means to signal the inner essence of a being, which is pure consciousness, awareness, or love, that is subtle, formless, and beyond measurement. It is “small” not in value, but in the sense that it cannot be grasped by the senses.By calling the human body the “huge form,” he highlights how much of our identity is actually visible, be it the name, face, history, roles, and appearances. The body and its story feel enormous because that is where we place most of our attention.For “great sadhus,” however, identification with the body loosens. They no longer see themselves as confined to one physical shape. That is why he says they are “omnipresent.” Their presence is felt through love, memory, teachings, and the places they sanctify.
His teaching is quite relevant even today
When we over-identify with the body, or the physical appearances, health, status, we become fragile. Remembering that there is a “small form” within us that is not limited by the body can reduce fear, comparison, and insecurity. But being a saint is not what is needed to fulfill what Maharajji teaches us.One can do this by sitting quietly and feeling: “I am more than this body; I am the awareness in which this body appears,” and treat their own body with respect, but not as one’s entire identity.