At the time of writing this, I have had to endure a bad breakout of acne, particularly over the forehead region of my face. Acne is never a welcome occurrence for any human at any age. More so for a man in his thirties.

I mean, wasn’t acne supposed to be one of the myriad things that a teenager is supposed to tackle?

Adulthood wasn’t supposed to be a time to deal with acne amongst the various challenges of the adulthood package!

Dear Krishna, you definitely were spot on in describing this material world as a place of misery.

I also recalled what one of my teachers often quotes in his classes:

ज़माने ने एक ही बात सिखायी है, नया दर्द ही पुराने दर्द की दवाई है 🥲

The universe, too, seemed like having a bit of fun at my expense because, as luck would have it, even the dermatologist that I consulted erred in judgment and could not help out with my concerns. Well, my astrologer did warn me about skin health concerns going into 2024, so I can blame it on the stars.

But I am not engaging your time and attention, dear reader, to moan about my skincare concerns. (Though suggestions for trusted dermatologists are much appreciated.)

As always, the smiling panda and his Krishna have something more profound to share than skin issues.

THE JOY OF SATHSANG

One habit that I feel is a blessing is reading. I cannot thank God enough for inspiring me to take up this habit.

One day, I was reading a small book of wisdom from one of the greatest yogis from India— Paramhamsa Yogananda jee. In one passage of the book, the master mentions how if one is reading a spiritual text, one shouldn’t read it like a novel or casually. While reading a spiritual text, like the Bhagavad Gita, one should meditate upon its verses and see how the wisdom can be applied in our life.

As if on cue, that same evening, when I sat down to read a few verses from the Bhagavad Gita, one particular verse seemed to be addressing me and my skin’s health-related anxiety.

Talk about the power of sathsang!

Yogananda jee’s words inspired me to pay more attention to my Krishna’s words and something that I’d have never expected to happen:

I realised I could use the Bhagavad Gita to help with skin health concerns!

अव्यक्तोऽयमचिन्त्योऽयमविकार्योऽयमुच्यते |
तस्मादेवं विदित्वैनं नानुशोचितुमर्हसि ||

In verse 25 from chapter 2, Shri Krishna explains that the soul is invisible, inconceivable, and unchangeable, knowing which one should grieve for the body.

Reading it felt as if Parmaeshwar Krishna was chuckling at my anxiety over a temporary situation of my outer covering as if the lord was nudging me to use this concern to detach from identifying with the body.

REAL IDENTITY

Finding it hard to come to terms with the current reality of acne-induced anxiety, I started skimming through some of my old pictures.

I started noticing my skin over the years, which, especially after my yoga teacher’s training, was clean and clear. I realised that such a trip across my phone’s photo gallery didn’t serve the purpose of reducing my anxiety but rather accentuated it. Sigh.

However, while scanning my gallery, I went way back into 2015. Back when I had to endure one of the most excruciating experiences of this life— chicken pox. Not only had I to be isolated in my room for almost a month, but my body (and face in particular) was filled with black spots in the aftermath of the virus.

Funnily enough, while looking at the pictures when skin health was good didn’t alleviate my concerns, looking back on a time when the skin looked worse made me laugh.

Why?

Because I was reminded that back then, having all those dark spots over the face felt so terrible, but the power of time is such that those scars and marks faded away. And just like that moment in time passed away and skin healed, so too will my present concerns.

Such rumination led to a more profound realisation— one that the sages, saints, and yogis keep reminding us about.

Who am I really?

Am I just this body?

Even if I am, it has kept on changing since childhood, teenage, and adulthood.

As a child, collagen, tanning, skincare, etc., weren’t even words that were part of my lexicon. But there was a yearning for other things.

Teenage brought other kinds of yearning, and long gone were the needs of childhood. And so is the same with adulthood that I am experiencing now.

Body, mind, and ideas all have gone through transformation. Childhood and teenage pictures bring about laughter and fun when we look at them in our adulthood. None of us look the same, feel the same, or have the same desires or ideas.

Amidst all these changes, something remains constant. Some part within us that constantly observes has observed and will observe ahead all these changes.

That observer, that द्रष्टा (as it is termed in Sanskrit), is what we call the soul or आत्मन.

That is what the Upanishads, Vedas, and, of course, Shri Krishna refer to as the eternal, unchangeable, REAL identity of each individual.

WORDPLAY

What studying scriptures and then meditating upon them does is help us overcome and rise above reality— no matter how challenging it is.

And this स्वाध्याय (self-study) can even lead to a change in language.

How?

Let me share a couple of examples:

Rather than saying I suffer from an acne breakout, I can tell my skin health needs work.

Rather than saying, I have a cold, I have a fever, I may choose to say, my body has a fever; my body is suffering.

It may not be a constant, conscious experience that my real identity is beyond this body, mind, and thought-generating machine. But switching the words I use to describe my experience reduces my attachment to the situation to the body and helps reduce my agony and anxiety.

To give you another example, I got, nay body (wink wink) got fever and cold lately. We all know how tiring and agonizing these things can be.

Now, I do not know if this was a direct result of me switching my inner dialogue that I am sick to my body is experiencing sickness that I did not feel low or just a coincidence that I healed much quicker.

I can certainly say that I didn’t feel as bad about the suffering as I previously had while completely identifying with the body.

A natural question may come in people’s minds: that wouldn’t disidentification with the body lead to apathy concerning it?

Not at all.

Rather, with this method of dis-identification with the body and establishing a connection with the आत्मन, we can take better care of the body sans any anxiety.

For example, I am looking to apply medicines and seek counsel from experts on how to help my skin. When I was, nay, my body (ahem) was sick. I took my medicines, gave my body ample sleep, drank more water, and took some ayurvedic remedies as well.

But as I have mentioned above, while doing all of the above, I was less anxious, worried, and pained.

Thanks to the fresh impact of the words of the master Yogananda and, of course, my lord Krishna, I was more at ease; I was aware of the ever-changing nature of this world, life, my body, and, of course, situations. Thus, my act to help myself was not driven by desperation but by consciousness.

If nothing else helps, it is so important to remind ourselves of an essential piece of wisdom for all ages, as summarised by Sharon Shalzburg:

‘Don’t pick a fight with reality.’

Thank you for taking the time to read this piece.

Tell me what you thought of this idea of dis-identifying with the body. How do you think you can apply in your life?

I look forward to hearing from you as I go and apply a paste of Multani Mitti on my face 🥲

Kushagra Singh